Nishimura's collection of human embryos and related publications

Abstract

On the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of the establishment of the Japanese Teratology Society, this paper first describes how late Professor Hideo Nishimura's collection of human embryos greatly contributed to the standardization of the embryonic development of the Japanese, to the study of embryogenesis, and to the analysis of the etiology of congenital malformations. The collection now composes the main part of the Congenital Anomaly Research Center in Kyoto University and is opened for utilization by embryologists, teratologists and students. In this paper, emphasis is also placed on publications on teratology and embryology which were written by Japanese authors and published in our country, and which played an important role in guiding studies and research on teratology and embyology, and advancing education in human development in our country. Some of them are still available and are being used in these fields.