A Man holding a test tube in Ueno park

A man holding a test tube

Who is he? Hint is a test tube he holds while standing in Ueno park.

The front side of 1000 yen also shows his portrait.

1000 yen bill

He is a Bacteriologist well known among all Japanese people.

The statue of Hideyo Noguchi, bacteriologist stands in front of the National museum of Nature and Science at Ueno Park.

Story of Hideyo Noguchi

Hideyo Noguchi was born in Fukushima prefecture as the eldest son of a very poor farm family. When he was one and half years old he accidentally fell into a fireplace and suffered burn injury on his left hand. Although the fingers were mostly gone, he was able to receive surgery on his elementary school days thanks to generous donations from his teachers and friends. Then Noguchi decided to become a doctor to help those in need. He passed the medical examination at the age of 20, showing a sign of great talent.

Noguchi Hideyo

After working at the institute of infectious disease he went to US and worked at Rockefeller institute in New York City. Then he discovered the agent of syphilis in 1911 and was awarded the imperial prize from Japan Academy. In 1918 he traveled to Central America and South Africa for the research on a vaccine for yellow fever, but he contracted the disease and died in Ghana at the age of 53 in 1928.
Every Japanese school child reads his story on the text book.