The National Institute of Public Health was established on April 1, 2002 as a new institution that conducts the development and training of employees involved in public health projects and environmental health as well as personnel involved in social welfare projects as well as relevant surveys and research. The Institute was created by integrating the former Institute of Public Health, the former National Institute of Health Services Management, and part of the Department of Oral Science from the National Institute of Infectious Diseases.

The Institute was reorganized in April 2023 and currently conducts educational research and research with 6 Research Managing Directors, 6 Research Departments, and 2 Center, conducting numerous training programs that accurately meet the needs of the field and address national policies.

History of the Institute of Public Health

The Institute of Public Health was founded on March 29, 1938 under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. It was founded with financial assistance from the American Rockefeller Foundation as an investigative research institution related to public health and as an institution to develop and train public health technicians to improve and enhance public health in Japan.
In 1940, it was merged with the Institute of Nutrition under the Interior Ministry and renamed the “Welfare National Science Laboratory”, and in 1941, part of the research division of the Government Institute for Research in Physical Education under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education was merged with the Institute. In November 1942, under the policy of wartime administrative simplification, all of the laboratories under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Health and Welfare were integrated, and the “Health and Welfare Research Laboratory” was created. The Institute was merged with the Institute of Population Problems and the Research Institute of Industrial Safety, and conducted projects for the Health Science Department and Training and Education Department.
In May 1946, with the end of the war, the Health and Welfare Research Laboratory was abolished, and the Institute was reestablished as the “Institute of Public Health”.
In August 1947, the Public Nutrition Department was transferred with the establishment of the National Institute of Nutrition, and the Institute was reorganized in May 1948.
On June 1, 1949, with the enactment of the Act for Establishment of the Ministry of Health and Welfare (Act No. 151, 1949), the Institute was renamed the “National Institute of Public Health”, and undergoing expansion of the internal organization, etc., has continued to contribute to enhancing the public health of Japan.

History of the National Institute of Health Services Management

The National Institute of Health Services Management was established in June 1949 as the Training Center for Hospital Management within the First National Hospital of Tokyo (current National Center for Global Health and Medicine) as a research institute directly under the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
In March 1956, with the surplus from the dissolving of the Japan Medical Corporation, a building for the Training Center for Hospital Management was built within the First National Hospital of Tokyo.
With the organization of the research system in 1961, the Center was renamed the “Hospital Management　Research Institute”
In July 1990, the Institute was reorganized, and in order to promote the systematization of healthcare in addition to its previous investigative research on hospital management, the Institute was renamed the “National Institute of Health Services Management” to conduct investigative research on enhancing and expanding healthcare and investigative research on improving the organization of medical institutions.
In August 1992, the Ministry of Health and Welfare Toyama Research Laboratories was completed on the grounds neighboring the National Hospital Medical Center (current National Center for Global Health and Medicine), and the Institute moved there along with the National Institute of Health (current National Institute of Infectious Diseases), and the National Institute of Health and Nutrition (current Incorporated Administrative Agency National Institute of Health and Nutrition), and the three institutes and National Hospital Medical Center were collectively named the Toyama Joint Research Center for Health and Medicine, and the Institute played a part in the activities of the Center.

History of the Department of Oral Science of the National Institute of Infectious Disease

The Department of Oral Science of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, the precursor of the Department of Oral Health of the National Institute of Public Health, was the Dental Hygiene Department of the National Institute of Health (NIH) and was newly established in the NIH Shinagawa Building on January 1, 1958.
The NIH was a research institution affiliated with the Ministry of Health and Welfare that separated from the Tokyo Imperial University Institute for Infectious Disease (IID) in 1947.
In August 1992, the Department moved to the Toyama Research Laboratories, and the Department was named the Department of Oral Science.
In 1997, the NIH was renamed the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID).

The Department is responsible for searching for the pathogens and causes of oral diseases and researching preventive treatment methods as well as relevant reference tasks. In April 2002, the NIID Department of Oral Science was transferred to the Department of Oral Health of the National Institute of Public Health while leaving tasks related to oral infectious diseases at the NIID as an infectious disease risk measure in dental care.

Pamphlet

View the National Institute of Public Health Pamphlet here.

National Institute of Public Health Pamphlet

Click here for the English version
English National Institute of Public Health Pamphlet

National Institute of Public Health Logo and Monument