During the Meiji Restoration (starting in 1868), Japan actively sought to modernize its institutions, including medicine, by bringing in foreign experts (oyatoi gaikokujin).
Although Dutch medicine had already influenced Japan during the Edo period (through Rangaku, or Dutch Studies), the Meiji government decided to model its modern medical education system after Germany, which was then considered the most scientifically advanced.
German physicians like Erwin Bälz, Leopold Müller, and Julius Scriba were invited to teach at the Tokyo Imperial University Medical School and elsewhere.
These doctors taught in German, using German textbooks and terminology, and insisted that Japanese medical students learn German in order to access the latest research and training.
Why German?
At the time, Germany was the global leader in clinical medicine, particularly in pathology, internal medicine, and surgery.
Japanese students studying abroad were often sent to Germany, where they learned directly from the leading minds of the era.
Japanese universities began requiring proficiency in German for medical students.
Medical theses and case notes were frequently written in German well into the 20th century.
When Did It Change?
This German influence persisted well into the postwar era—many doctors and medical professors in Japan still had to read or write German until the 1980s or even 1990s.
Eventually, English overtook German as the international language of science and medicine, especially with the rise of American medical journals and global research collaboration.
By the late 20th century, English became the new standard in medical schools and academic publishing in Japan.
Fun Fact
Even today, many older Japanese doctors can still recall memorizing German anatomical terms or reciting German-language medical texts as students. Some medical dictionaries still include German-origin terminology side by side with English.