HOME会社案内 ＞ company outline  Company Outline  A Brief History of
IGAKU-SHOIN  In 1881 the late Torasaku Kanehara, great-
grandfather of our current president, Yu Kanehara, started
importing medical books, having no knowledge of foreign
language. His first business was with German publishers, which
is recognised as one of the first in the book importing business
in Japan after the long seclusion under the Tokugawa dynasty.
Judging from the vast demands for imported medical books, he
decided to publish medical books and journals by his own hand.
Getting much help from Japanese medical doctors, who were his
customers, he succeeded in publishing his first book under the
imprint of "KANEHARA SHOTEN" in 1882.  According to the rapid
progress of medical sciences in Japan, by the end of 19th
century, his business grew into the largest company in
publishing and importing medical publications. In 1944, just
before the end of the World War II, Kanehara Shoten was divided
into two companies by the order of the government: