May 20, 1935 – May 5, 2020
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Dr. Kaneko was the first to introduce Orthomolecular Nutrition in Japan; he also brought inspiration to many around the world, including Orthomolecular pioneers, Abram Hoffer and Hugh Riordan.
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Masatoshi Kaneko, PhD, engaged in research in the field of biochemistry. In the early 1970s, during a fellowship in the United States, Kaneko met Dr. Rei Kitahara, from Kumamoto University Medical School, which ultimately led him to orthomolecular medicine and meeting Linus Pauling. This, Kaneko says, was “a major turning point of my life.”
With iatrogenic (doctor-caused) disease on the rise, Dr. Kaneko realized that an understanding of nutritional medicine was absent among Japan’s medical establishment. Wishing to spare the public from the dangers of invasive and often unnecessary medical procedures, he began educating the people of his homeland in the art and science of managing their own health. The Kaneko School and the Know Your Body Club (KYB) were formed, and a new movement in Japan’s modern health care system was born.
Since 1984, the vision of Dr. Masatoshi Kaneko has nurtured the growth of the KYB Club in Japan. His goal is to provide the public with valid scientific information on the proper use of nutritional supplements and to promote a healthier nation. Affiliated with orthomolecular pioneers Linus Pauling and Abram Hoffer, the KYB Club today now represents over 30,000 professional clinicians, registered dieticians and orthomolecular medical nutritionists all over Japan, and encompasses the Orthomolecular Nutrition Laboratory, the KYB Medical Services and Clinic, and the non-profit Orthomolecular Medical Nutrition and Associates. The group has hosted several symposia in Japan, and Dr. Kaneko has participated in conferences in the USA with other orthomolecular doctors including David Horrobin, Hugh Riordan, Julian Whitaker, Michael Janson, and Michael Lesser.
When the KYB Club invited Abram Hoffer to Japan, his reluctance to travel such a distance at age 89 led Dr. Kaneko to the wonderful idea of holding their meeting in Vancouver, Canada. The unique “Healing Cancer Convention” took place on September 15, 2006, and brought together leading orthomolecular researchers and physicians from both countries. Participants from Japan, numbering close to 200, were provided with instant translation of the English lecturers, and the Canadian doctors heard English translations of the Japanese presenters. Following the full day program, the KYB Club hosted a marvelous gala dinner in honour of Dr. Hoffer and Dr. Kaneko. The grand finale featured a well-rehearsed choir made up of KYB Club members, who sang a specially written song of appreciation for Dr. Kaneko. This was a singularly historic event, one that will be fondly remembered by all the participants for years to come.
Dr. Masatoshi Kaneko was inducted into the Orthomolecular Medicine Hall of Fame in 2007
