About the Department

My name is Takeshi Fujita. In April 2026 I was appointed Professor and Chair of the Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, Division of Surgery, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine. I would like to introduce myself and our department.

I was born in Okayama and grew up in Kobe from early childhood. I entered Kobe University School of Medicine in 1999 and graduated in 2005. After my initial residency at Konan Hospital (now Konan Medical Center), I joined the Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery at Kobe University in 2007 and trained across the full breadth of the specialty. From 2012 to 2013 I learned the fundamentals of ear surgery at Mitsui Memorial Hospital under Dr. Taeko Okuno, a leading authority in middle-ear surgery. In 2014 I moved to Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts Eye and Ear as a research fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Konstantina Stankovic, now Professor at Stanford University. After returning to Japan, I gained experience in auditory implant surgery, including cochlear and middle-ear implants, and in skull base surgery at Kindai University under Prof. Katsumi Doi, before rejoining Kobe University in 2019. I also served as the physician in charge of otolaryngology–head and neck surgery at the Kobe International Cancer Center for Clinical Research (ICCRC), and was appointed Professor on April 1, 2026.

My specialty is otology and the care of hearing loss. My surgical practice ranges from tympanoplasty and stapes surgery to auditory implant surgery and surgery for malignant tumors of the temporal bone. As a board-certified ear surgery supervisor of the Japan Otological Society, I am also committed to training the next generation of ear surgeons. In hearing care, I work actively on the genetic diagnosis of hearing loss as a certified clinical geneticist. In research, my goal is to understand and treat sensorineural hearing loss, using molecular and cell biology, imaging technologies, and omics analysis, and I have worked with engineers to develop surgical robots for ear surgery and AI-based analysis of ear surgery.

Our department was founded in 1944, together with the opening of Hyogo Prefectural Medical College. Its first professor was Dr. Ryotaro Nakamura, then head of otolaryngology at the prefectural hospital. He was followed by Dr. Ryozo Asai, the founder of head and neck surgery in Japan; Dr. Hiroshi Hattori, a leading figure in hearing care; Dr. Mutsuo Amatsu, who developed the "Amatsu method" of voice restoration after laryngectomy; and Dr. Ken-ichi Nibu (April 2001 to March 2026), who led Japanese head and neck surgery from Kobe through clinical work, research, education, and public awareness in head and neck cancer, and built the department's unshakable foundation.

Going forward, we will faithfully carry on this tradition while adding otology and hearing care, my own specialty, as a new pillar, and build a department capable of top-level clinical care and research across every area of otolaryngology–head and neck surgery. Our aims are the steady training of specialists who support regional health care, the training of clinicians grounded in science, and the development of next-generation leaders who lead the world. Centered on the university hospital and the core hospitals of Hyogo Prefecture, we will train outstanding otolaryngologists and head and neck surgeons while respecting diverse career paths and life stages, so that every member of the department can shine in a leading role.

Together with the members of our department, I will devote myself wholeheartedly to the further development of otolaryngology–head and neck surgery. I sincerely ask for your continued guidance and support.

Takeshi Fujita, Professor and Chair