2024/6/28
Shizuoka Cancer Center
Dr. Ken Yamaguchi, the President Emeritus of the Shizuoka Cancer Center assumed the position of the 9th Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Princess Takamatsu Cancer Research Fund on June 21, 2024. Her Imperial Highness the Princess Takamatsu was a grandchild of the Prince Yoshinobu Tokugawa, the 15th shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate, who lived in Shizuoka for decades after the retirement. That may have made Her Imperial Highness feel close to Shizuoka. The Princess Takamatsu Cancer Research Fund was established by Her Imperial Highness jointly with the alumni from the Gakushuin Girls’ School in 1968, aiming at supporting cancer researches in Japan, and is the only one public interest incorporated foundation bearing the name of the Imperial Family. His Imperial Highness the Prince Hitachi is currently serving as the president of the organization. For more than 50 years, the Fund has been actively supporting Japanese cancer researches including hosting international symposia, presenting academic awards and prizes, and granting research subsidies, which has made it the most internationally-acknowledged cancer research support organization in Japan. The major reasons for Dr. Yamaguchi’s appointment may have included his long-time contributions to cancer medicine, as well as his devoted medical services as the healthcare supervisor for Their Imperical Highnesses the Prince and the Princess Takamatsu since 1987, which later led him to taking up an appointment by the Imperial Household Agency to serve as the healthcare practitioner for the Imperial Family, while running the Shizuoka Cancer Center at the same time.
