Hiro Fujimoto

Hiro Fujimoto is an Assistant Professor at the Heidelberg Centre for Transcultural Studies, Heidelberg University. His research explores global perspectives on modern Japanese medical history, focusing on transnational exchanges between American medical missionaries and Japanese Christian physicians. He has received the prestigious 2022 Yakazu Medical History Award for his monograph Medicine and Christianity: American Protestant Medical Missions in Japan.

• PhD in History of Science (The University of Tokyo, 2019)
• Former JSPS Research Fellow (2013–2016, 2021–2023)
• Visiting appointments at Yale, Harvard-Yenching, Freie Universität Berlin, and National University of Singapore

His research spans three interconnected areas:

• Transnational Medical Missions: Collaborative efforts between American missionaries and Japanese Christian doctors, including St. Luke's International Hospital's development
• Gender and Medical Professions: Pioneering studies on Japanese and foreign women doctors' roles across East Asia (1894–1970s)
• Media in Medical Education: Analysis of hygiene and surgical films' role in knowledge dissemination (1920s–1940s)

Recent publications examine:

• Medical film circulation (2020)
• Christian dietary reform movements (2022)
• Gender dynamics in Meiji medical education (2020)
• Pre-WWII public health film initiatives (2023)

Scientific awards:

• 2022 Yakazu Medical History Award
• 2020 Japanese Society for the History of Science Academic Encouragement Award
• 2013 Wide Science Course Encouragement Award