Lanzhou University Vice President Jing Tao

(This article is based on an original story written by Yoshinori Ishii translated and edited by David Tharp)

Four former Chinese recipients of educational exchange scholarships to study in Japan returned to Tokyo recently and paid a courtesy call on The Nippon Foundation’s Chairman Yohei Sasakawa. Three were medical practitioners, and one a professional translator.

The three doctors received one year scholarships to study their specialties in Japanese hospitals and the fourth recipient attended an intensive Japanese language course. They were able to do so due to scholarships provided by the Sasakawa Memorial Health Foundation and the Sasakawa Japan-China Friendship Association.

Director Li Xianzhu of Heilongjiang Research Institute which teaches the integration of Chinese and Western medicine

The three physicians are today at the forefront of China’s medical world, and they discussed how their exchange scholarships helped them to develop their expertise and contribute more to their medical communities when they returned to China.

The four visitors were Dr Jing Tao, Vice President of Lanzhou University, who studied in Japan from 1995 to 1996 at Yamagata University School of Medicine; Dr. Li Xianzhu of Heilongjiang Research Institute which teaches integrating Chinese and Western Medicine, who studied in Japan from 1991 to 1992 at Nagoya University School of Medicine; Professor Ran Yuping of Sichuan University’s Huaxi Hospital, who studied at Juntendo University School of Medicine from 1989 to 1990; and Li Zhongjin, General Manager of Beijing Yada Translation Company, who studied at Waseda University’s Center for Japanese Language from 1993 to 1994.

Professor Ran Yuping of Sichuan University’s Huaxi Hospital

The scholarships were provided by the Japan-China Medical Association and the Sasakawa Memorial Health Foundation. Since the medical scholarship program was started in 1987 on the basis of an agreement between the Chinese Ministry of Health and The Nippon Foundation, there have been 32 groups of Chinese medical personnel who have come to Japan to study, for a total of 2,098 persons.

These scholarship recipients have studied at a total of 200 universities, hospitals, and research institutions, and after returning to China they have formed a core of personnel who have contributed their enhanced expertise to Chinese medical organizations and medical treatment.

This fall will mark the 33rd group of scholarship recipients who will come to Japan. They arrive in Japan on 1 September.

Li Zhongjin, General Manager of Beijing Yada Translation Company

The four former scholars visited Chairman Sasakawa at The Nippon Foundation, where he encouraged them to work together as equal partners with Japan, saying that in the past they studied the state of Japanese medicine, but now they should work to solve problems about the two countries’ medical systems.

One of the physicians mentioned that at the time of the Sichuan earthquake, there was a gathering in Sichuan of doctors from throughout China who discussed medical help for the earthquake-affected people and exchanged a great information about this. It was noticed that most of the doctors who had gathered in Sichuan were recipients of a Sasakawa scholarship.

Dr. Jing said, "In the future, China needs Japan's support to determine medical treatment and health policy in terms of redistribution of medical resources."

Director Li said the Sasakawa scholarships helped bridge the gap between Chinese and Japanese medical practitioners, and added “Those of us who have had the chance to study here, have learned first-hand about the hardworking attitude of Japanese doctors.”