Yasunaru Kawashima

Abstract

In addition to his clinical contributions, on a par with these other giants in the field of paediatric cardiac surgery, Yasunaru Kawashima also devised and introduced surgical devices that were truly epoch-making. Furthermore, it is not only as a surgeon, but also as an educator that he has played such an important role in the field of cardiac surgery in our country. He has presided over our major domestic associations concerning cardiovascular diseases. Without question, he has been undoubtedly one of the most active and academic surgeons anywhere in the world. It is my privilege to describe his remarkable strides in cardiac surgery. I met him first when he moved from Osaka University to the National Cardiovascular Center of Japan as a general manager of its hospital in 1991. Of course, I had already known his name and his achievements, but I did not know him as a person at that time. He left a vivid impression, at least to me, when he entered, for the first time, our morning surgical conference. Immediately after he walked in, all of us in the room straightened ourselves in our seats, and the atmosphere within the room became tense. He simply said "Good morning" with a calm smile. But we could all sense the enormous energy and aura that surrounded him. Eventually, he became the president of the institution. He allowed me to go abroad to study. Thanks to his support, I was able to spend almost 2 years in London studying cardiac morphology under the guidance of Bob Anderson. This experience has proved extremely important for me, both in terms of my professional life as a cardiac surgeon, and the construction of my philosophy as a human being. Without Yasunaru's help and support, I would not now be in my current shape. I am sure that there are many other people like me around him, thanking him greatly in their minds. Having taken this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to Yasunaru Kawashima, I would now like to start to describe his personal history and affairs. Studentship Yasunaru was born on 23 August 1930, in Osaka, as the third son of his parents. His father was a gynecologist, and his mother was the daughter of a military officer. The Second World War broke out when he was an elementary school student, the nightmare ending