Time: May 18, 2017 
Interviewer: Bu Yuqin (Nanfang Metropolis Daily)
Photographer: Li Zhanjun (Reporter of Nanfang Metropolis Daily)
Publisher: JNU News Center

(Prof. Kurihara directing students doing experiments )

(“Yuanyuan Liuchang,” by Prof. Kurihara)

(Prof. Kurihara practicing calligraphy)

Kurihara Hiroshi, winner of the 2011 International Science and Technology Cooperation Award of the People's Republic of China, is a professor of pharmacology in JNU’s School of Medicine and an honorary citizen of Guangzhou.

Born in 1954 in Liaoning province of China, Prof. Kurihara spent his childhood and studied there. After graduation, he moved to his ancestral Japan, where he did pharmaceutical research at research institutes and companies, including at the Kitasato Institute, Hokkaido University and the Suntory Company. At the invitation of Prof. Yao Xinsheng, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and honorary president of JNU School of Medicine, Prof. Kurihara returned to China in 2003 to study susceptibility to disease and the study of tea today. In 2014, he changed his research direction to Chinese herbology. He and his team have been committed to research on susceptibility to disease for 13 years, publishing over 200 papers in China and abroad, including 100 SCI papers.

His team includes only three teachers but a dozen students. Two of the doctors in his team, He Rongrong and Li Yifang, have been named Extraordinary Youth of Guangdong Province, and He also one of the Ministry of Education’s New Century Excellent University Talents and the ministry's Excellent Youth Scholars.
Prof. Kurihara teaches a pharmacology course to doctoral students. He also teaches public electives, including "Traditional Chinese Medicine" and "Health Care Products" to other students who are interested in such knowledge. "More than 500 students choose my courses during an academic year," he said. "I have been teaching these courses for 10 years, so I think the number of students who have taken my courses is over 5,000."

Prof. Kurihara usually returns to Japan for three to five days during summer or winter vacations, so he spends almost all his time in China. He likes to use WeChat to communicate with his wife and children, who live in Japan.

At 63 he still likes to spend much of his time doing research in laboratory. In his spare time he practices calligraphy and draws pictures. His childhood experiences in China influenced his life deeply.

"I want to do more things I like to do," Prof. Kurihara said. "My greatest wish at present is continuing to do these things and do the best in the country."