ん ル タ〔殉たノ″猪 Inponese EontactLens - Menicon

f o r A m e r i c a n s o l d i e r s .W e h a v e a p r o b l e m b e c a u s et h e J a p a n e s e eyeglassesdon't fit Americansvery well. Couldyou visit our hospitaland meet our director?"He headedto the Fifth Air ForceHospitalby jeep along T a m a m i z u y a ' sp r e s i d e n tS y o z a b u r o T s u d a .K y o i c h i e x a m i n e dv a r i o u s Americaneyeglasseson the spot H e a l r e a d y p o s s e s s e de n o u g h k n o w l e d g eo f U . S .p r e s c r i p t i o ne y e giassesbecausehe had worked with A m e r i c a n s o l d i e r sa n d t h e i r f a m i l y m e m b e r si n J a p a n . S o h e w a s a b l e t o g i v e i m m e d i a t ea n s w e r st o t h e q u e s t i o n sm a d e t o h i m t h r o u g h a n interpreter. "Youare wonderful.From now on, we would like to put you in charge o f m a k i n g t h e e y e g l a s s e sf o r o u r hospital." He receiveda speciallicenseas the hospital optician, and his life began t o t a k e o n a n i n t e r n a t i o n a lf l a v o r . He went to the hospitalevery day to s e e i n j u r e d s o l d i e r sw h o c o u l d n o t visit Tamamizuya.ln the beginning, an interpreter helped him, but after a while, he had to handlehis job w i t h o u t a n i n t e r p r e t e r .H e w o r k e d very hard while communicatingwith his limited Englishand gestures.Not only did customers and their family memberswho receivedprescriptions from the hospitalcome,but Americans r e s i d i n g i n N a g o y aa l s o b e g a n t o arrive at the store.Therewere some Americansoldierswho bought 10 to 2 0 p a i r s o f e y e g l a s s e tsh a t K y o i c h i d e s i g n e d ,a n d t h e n w e n t b a c k t o a battlefield and sold them to their fellow soldiers.Kyoichi'seyeglasses were stylish and fit the Americans' facesvery well. Thanksto this special licenseas an optician at the Fifth Air ForceHospital,salesat Tamamizuya steadilygrew evenfurther. The concept of the contact lens O n e d a y i n 1 9 5 0 ,t h e w i f e o f a commanderin the Allied Occupation Forcescameto Tamamizuyato get her eyeglassesadjusted.The woman had cometo the store severaltimes.It was at that moment she spokethe words which were to change Kyoichi'slife forever. "I havea pair of contactlenses." C o n t a c tl e n s e s " ' s i n c ee n t e r i n g the eyeglassfield, Kyoichi had been aware of work being done in America a n d E u r o p e o n c o n t a c t l e n s e s .I t w a s a l m o s t u n t h i n k a b l et o b e a b l e t o s e e s u c h l e n s e sh e r e i n J a p a n !A person who had actual contact lenses w a s s t a n d i n gr i g h t i n f r o n t o f h i m . Naturally,Kyoichiwanted to see them at all costs.He askedher, "If you have them with you, cotild you kindly show them to me?" She replied "Oh no! They are very e x p e n s i v ea, n d i t w o u l d b e t e r r i b l e s h o u l d t h e y b r o k e n" W r a p p i n g h e r arms around her handbagshe did not let him see them, no matter how hard he pleaded A t t h a t m o m e n t ,h e t h o u g h t t o himself."Since.I have no choice.I will makethem on my own." Kyoichiwas the type who hated to lose at anything.Not being able to see t h e l e n s e sh , e b e c a m ei n c e n s e da n d determinedto make them by himself any way he could.It is ironic-had the woman showedhim her contactlenses without hesitation,he might not be the personhe is today.He would have likely endedup being a shopkeeperof a small eyeglassstoresomewhere Encounter with the commander's wife

Inventirg the contact lenses from scraLch From that day on, Kyolchi became Now with drawings and material absorbedwith creating the contact lens in hand, he needed to obtain the that he had never seen machining tools to actually make the From his work with eyeglasses,he lens From that day on, after work, possesseda basic knowledge of lenses he started to look for small lathes, and optics; however,he had almost no grinders, and other tools by visiting medical knowledge or the necessary the shantytowns in Osu, Kanayama, tools and Kamimaezu These areas had H e s t a r t e d b y l i r s t o b s e r v i n gh i s been bombed and burnt during the eyes in front of the mirror As soon war They were the only places to look as he got home after work, he sat in for machinery and hardware in the front of his mother's tripartite mirror aftermath of the conflict It was hard to and accurately drew a detailed sketch find lathes to make such small lenses, of an eyeball while looking straight but after looking for a long time, he into it, from the right and from the left finally found a suitable lathe and s i d e s S o m e t i m e s ,h e p e e r e d i n t o t h e polisher. They were in extremely bad e y e s o f h i s b r o t h e r . T o y o y a s u .f o r shape,having been burned and become additional research From an outside quite rusted. He cleaned off the rust, observer's perspective, Kyoichi and polished the machine with oil so would have surely seemed insane He that lt could become useable.He ended managed to complete drawings for a u p u s i n g t h i s m a c h i n ef o r a l o n g t i m e prototype contact lens based on these 6 early drawings Next, he had to find a suitabie lens K y o i c h i ' isn v e n t i n gn o t e s He went to lens factories to find materials for polishing lenses Not only did they give him lens polish, but material He focusedon airplane they also introduced sales outlets to windshields,the material of which (commonly known as "PMMA") was him. Thanks largely to his position often used for the frames of eyeglasses people helped him to complete his He obtained some left over PMMA from project as Tamamizuya's top salesman, many an eyeglass craftsman Nlaking a contact lens It was Februaryof 1951 It had been three monthssinceKyolchihad heard Aclpan.cr: rpith a hronrl rtiew 1968 Havea broadperspective and constantly moveforward. Don'tremainin thesameplace. Continueto advancelikea gearand alwaystry to think fast. about contact lensesfrom the American commander's wife He finally had made Take thc initicttive 968 Takecontrolof your own work.lf you work for themanufacturing department, takeinitiativeand freelyuse themachinerydo not be usedby themachines. lf you work for the salesdepartment, utilizeyour knowledgeof theproductsand your psychological skillsto satisfythecustomer mentallywithyourproducts, and take the initiative with good sense. Re:rrternLter t /t e k i t t rl t t ess o.f-1n, ry,lc 1970 I am gratefulthat our company markedits 13thanniversary and truly oppreciate our customersand employeeswho have beensupportingthe company. I wouldliketo makethe utmosteffort whileremembering the kindnessof people.

what appeared to be a contact lens "l flnally did 1t This should work be able to function with the other " His well " to Kyoichi's strong determination However, he had made only the family's concerns eventually gave way lenses No one had worn them yet. However, it was not that he was not at all scared. "lt'11be all right. I made Although he was confident about his t h e s e l e n s e s .T h e r e w i l l b e a g o o d lenses,clinical testing needed to be outcome,"he kept telling himself, as if conducted He had no choice but to use casting a spell for a few days before he hls own eyes to test his new creation "Kyoichi,please don't do it It ls put the contact lenses in his eyes He dangerous What 1f you lose your on himsell eyesight?" was performing a type of self hypnosis He finally put a lens in his eye People around him, including his It did not hurt Well, it wasn't as if father and mother, opposed his risky there wasn't any discomfort, but it plan. "l have two eyes, so there shouldn't be a problem " Kyoichi replied, "Even if certainly wasn't unbearable pain After one became blind in one eye,I still will and design of his lenses. that, he repeatedly used his eyes as guinea pigs and improved the quality The contact lens situatrcln in those years Let's provide some information service for the Great Buddha of Todai about contact lens situation in Japan Temple in Nara in March of 1195 at that time. This latter man had held the reins of After the famous Leonardo da government after defeating the Heike Vinci had experimented with contact However, the plan was unsuccessful lenses derived from basic theory in Kagekiyo was captured and sent to 1508 (durlng the Muromachi Period Kamakura There is a legend that in Japan),many researcherscontinued Kagekiyo put fish scales on his eyes to to study them in Europe In 1892 and pose as a blind person It is also said 1 9 1 1 ,C a r l Z e i s s ,a p r e s t i g i o u s l e n s t h a t i t w a s K a z u s a g o r o b ew h o w o r e c o m p a n y i n G e r m a n y ,w h i c h b e c a m e fish scales in his eyes, rather than interested in the potential of contact Kagekiyo In either case, it seems that lenses, manufactured sclerallenses at least one of them put fish scales i n c o o p e r a t i o n w i t h r e s e a r c h e r si n d i r e c t l y o n h i s e y e b a l l s ,f o r m i n g a different countries. Then, the company thln layer, in order to pose as a blind manufactured corneal lensesmade p e r s o n w h i l e h e c o u l d s t i 1 1f a i n t l y of glass in 1912 and used them to see It is said that fish scales were determine refractive error After widely utilized by ninja and spies that, plastic was invented in Germany to observe the movements of their and the U S around 1934, and low enemies This idea is similar to the risk lens manufacture that used concept behind current contact lens, plastic instead of glass began to be and in a way, it is the origin of contact s t r r di e d . T h e l' *a' br' p' e r s" c l e r a ll e n s e s lensesin Japan gradually developedinto corneal lenses. Contact lenses were brought to Japan in 1913 Dr Shinobu Ishihara In medievai Japan,Kagekiyo,known i n t r o d u c e d g l a s s s c l e r a ll e n s e s m a d e as Akushichirobe, who was the third b y C a r l Z e i s s i n G e r m a n y .I n 1 9 3 4 , son of the brave Heike commander Dr Tsutomu Sato made a glass scleral Kazusanosuke Tadaharu, tried to kill lens in Japan, but it was not put to Yoritomo Minaritoto at a memorial practical use. Before the Second S c l e r alle n s( l e f t ) c, o r n e a l e n s( r i g h t )

World War, Dr. Minoru Nakajima,a p r o f e s s o ro f o p h t h a l m o l o g ya t t h e NagoyaUniversityHospital,ordered g l a s ss c l e r a l e n s e sf r o m C a r l Z e i s s , used his own eyesto test them, and admittedthe superiorquality of these lenses. The first Japanesecontact lens, from Kyoichi's hands In 1949,GinichiOkadawho, at that time, worked for the eyeglasssection o f t h e N a k a m u r aD e p a r t m e n tS t o r e and researchedartificial eyes,took a hint from contactlenses.He borrowed sclerallenses,with which PhD.Minoru N a k a j i m a h a d e x p e r i m e n t e d ,a n d s t o r e d t h e m a t N a g o y aU n i v e r s i t y H o s p i t a l H e s t a r t e d r e s e a r c hw i t h I s a m u H o s h i n o ,w h o w a s t h e h e a d of the ophthalmologydepartmentat the Japan Red CrossHospital,and he served as an advisor.After that, Dr YutakaMizutani at the ophthalmology department of NagoyaUniversity Hospital started researchand made a plastic sclerallensjointly with Ginichi Okadain 1950.The lens was used in an animal study. Professionalresearcherswere able to obtain information about contact lenses.However,it was difficult for a salesclerklike Kyoichi at an eyeglass store in a small town to obtain such information, and it was impossibleto obtain real contactlenses. Underthesecircumstances, Japan's f i r s t s m a l l c o r n e a ll e n s e so f 1 l m m to ll.5 mm in diameterwere created by Kyoichi,basedon his unique ideas. Kyoichilearnedof Dr. Mizutani'sstudy Go baclr.to the starting point 977 A goal for thisyear is to "go bockto the stortingpoint." I would like eachof you to wnte your own goalsdown on a blankpaper and makethe utmost to occomplishthem. ,effort in a newspaperand visited him with the contactlenseshe had createdat the endof 1951. "l have been researchingcontact lensesas well,"he said as he showed him his lenses. D r . M i z u t a n i w a s s h o c k e dw h e n Iooking at the lensesthat Kyoichihad brought.This was becausehe thought that it would havebeen impossiblefor Kyoichi,who was a young salesclerkof an eyeglassstoreand neithera scholar n o r a d o c t o r , t o r e s e a r c hc o n t a c t Ienses. "Well,this is interesting.Thesecan T h e f i r s t c o r n e a ll e n s e sd e v e l o o e da n d in JaDan manufactured be used as test lensesfor measuring the cornealcurvatureradius.I propose that we work together from now on," said Dr. Mizutani. Following the encounter,Kyoichi heard that an Americanoptometrist had contactlensesand askedhim to show them to him. The lenseswere very similar to the ones Kyoichihad created.The optometristgave him a documentregardingGermancontact lenses.After reading it, Kyoichi felt certain that his researchhad been on the right track. T h e t e s t l e n s e st h a t K y o i c h i d e l i v e r e dt o D r . M i z u t a n i w e r e p u t En()ision a dreant 978 Havea dream,envisionit, and toste it. That is the keyto success. Envisiona successfulfutureand continueto chaseit. A broad outlook and 360-degreerltinking I 980 era. Wearein a systems-thinking things Weshouldconsider fromalldifferent aspects, goalsat all costs. andthenachieve

on patients' eyes, and patients were pleasedwith their performance "Doctor, I can see very clearly with these lenses They don't fall out even dawn and finally became ill "Tanaka, are you all right? You don't look very well " When looking at Kyoichi's pale face, when I look down and they don't hurt the president of Tamamizuya was I'11take these." worried about him. He recommended At first, Dr. Mizutani could not that he receive a checkup at the accept that the corneal lenses Kyoichi hospital. At the hospital, after taking had developed were contact lenses an X ray, it was found that there was However, after hearing evaluations a shadow in Kyoichi's lung He was from several patients who wore the suffering from tuberculosis, which lenses,he accepted them as contact was consideredan incurable and lenses He and Kyoichi devoted greatly feared diseaseat the time The themselvesto joint research more president of Tamamizuya was worried than ever. As patients reported about him and gave him one month's excellent lens performance and leave in order to hopefully recover. comfort while they wore them, cho′estab ished in 1 952) However, Kyoichi, being absorbed manufacturing could not keep up with with contact lenses, could not stop the increasing number of orders for working with them He foresaw that the lenses that Kyoichi created Since eyeglasses would be replaced by Kyoichi was assigned a position of c o n t a c t l e n s e s .W h i l e o n l e a v e , h e great responsibility at Tamamizuya, decided to leave Tamamizuya, where he worked on contact the lenses from he had worked for seven years, and nine or ten o'clock every night after start his own company. work. He made lenses from dusk until Establishing the Nippon Contact Lens Research Institute Toyoyasu, Kyoichi's brother,,had Sato from Juntendo University This helped their father with his bamboo was the origin of the radial keratotomy, sculpture business However, he or RK The procedure was the focus became interested in contact lenses of international attention Dr Sato as he watched Kyoichi's enthusiasm visited Nagoya to attend a meeting for and began to help him with his doctors and other person involved at research. They establishedthe Nippon the Asahi shrine in Naka-ku. On this Contact Lens Research Institute in occasion,Dr Mizutani made a case cooperation with Dr Mizutani just presentation of a young man who wore before Kyoichi's 21st birthday in c o r n e o s c l e r a ll e n s e s t h a t M i z u t a n i July 1952. They remodeled a room in produced on his own, rather than the their house in Kisogawa-cho into a corneal lenses that Kyoichi created, and laboratory and started to manufacture Dr Sato showed a strong interested in and sell contact them. After that, Dr. Mizutani started lenses on a comprehensive scale for the first time to research corneoscleral lensesjointly in Japan The history of the contact with Dr. Hisao Magatani and Hironobu l e n s i n J a p a nb e g a n a l t h i s p o i n t . Atsuzawa (this effort later resulted Drrrinpthat vear. Dr Mizutani in the Tokyo Contact Lens Research presented contact lenses created by Center,which became Seed Contact Kyoichi at a conference, and the lenses Lens). were well received At that time, an However, fortunately or not, this innovative operation for correcting led an intense discussionover the myopia was preseiited by Dr Tsutomu corneal lenses developed in the West N K W e s l e yO , D l e c t u r i n ga t t h e C o n t a c t L e n sR e s e a r cl hn s t i t u t e( K y o i c hTi a n a k a p a r t i c i p a t i nign a q u e s t i o na n d a n s w e r s e s s i oinn N 4 a 1 y 9 5 7w h e nh e w a s2 5 y e a r s o l d)

and corneoscleral lenses developed in the nation People involved in the the East every time ophthalmologic industry considered Kyoichi's contact conferences were held Eventually, lensesinnovative and replacedtheir they concluded an agreement under eyeglasses Since the average starting whlch Kyoichi's Nippon Contact Lens salary for high school graduates was ResearchInstitute, formerly called the 4,600 yen in 1952, a pair of contact Japan Contact Lens Laboratory,was to lenses,which cost 8,000 yen, was very develop corneal ienses and the Tokyo expensive However, this price stayed Contact Lens Research Center was to unchanged for eight years. The price d e v e l o p c o r n e o s c l e r a ll e n s e s I n t h i s was about the same as a man's three way, they wouid not invade each other's piece suit K y o i c h i d e v e l o p e dc o n t a c t l e n s e s territory. During this period, the Japan after his encounter

a The contact lens situation in those years a The first Japanese contact lens, from Kyoichi's hands o Establishing the Nippon Contact Lens Research Institute oDeciding to devote his life to contact lenses o Developing machines to create high quality contact lenses by hand a Competition in the corneal contact lens market The Populari zal'jon of .