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Kenichi Seki, Ship’s Doctor aboard Cruise Ship MS Asuka II

Update:Apr. 1,2013

A Yokohama-raised doctor who loves the sea, the port, and ships, Kenichi Seki chose to become the ship’s doctor aboard cruise ship Asuka II after retirement

Kenichi Seki

Kenichi Seki,
Ship’s Doctor aboard Cruise Ship MS Asuka II

Born in Nagano Prefecture in 1944 and raised in Yokohama since the third grade of elementary school. Graduated from the School of Medicine with a specialization in obstetrics and gynecology in 1968 in the 47th graduating class of the School. After medical experience at Ota General Hospital (presently Ota Memorial Hospital) in Gunma Prefecture, Keiyu Hospital in Kanagawa Prefecture, and Keio University Hospital, went to the U.S. to study at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. After returning to Japan, worked at National Kasumigaura Hospital (presently National Hospital Organization Kasumigaura Medical Center), and from 1980, practiced medicine at Kawasaki Municipal Hospital of Kawasaki City until retirement, serving as director of the department of obstetrics and gynecology and then as vice director of the hospital. Has been serving as the ship’s doctor of Asuka II since 2009. Has a Ph.D. in medicine.

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Asuka II is a town in itself. The ship’s doctor acts as the town physician.

─ Asuka II is a luxury cruise ship with a wide array of courses, from voyages of the world’s oceans such as an around-the-world cruise exceeding 100 days to elegant cruises of a few days in the seas around Japan. Dr. Kenichi Seki graduated from the School of Medicine in 1968, and after retiring from Kawasaki Municipal Hospital, he has served as the ship’s doctor of Asuka II since 2009. For the passengers, cruising is a delight of the highest order where they can get away from their busy lives and give in to the leisurely passage of time. How is it for the ship’s doctor? Please tell us about the role of the ship’s doctor, who protects the health of such passengers and crew.

Asuka II is the largest cruise ship in Japan. Her length is 241 meters, her beam 29.6 meters, her gross tonnage about 50,000 tons, and she has a 12-story deck. Passenger capacity is 872 persons, and there is also a 470-person crew, which means that a total of more than 1300 people travel together, so the Asuka II is almost like a town. The ship’s doctor is the town physician.

Although she is a large ship, you can feel her roll, so people get seasick. There are also those who become ill from the strain of getting used to the new environment on the ship. Especially on long cruises, there are many retired elderly passengers who can sprain or break a limb by mere accident. There are all kinds of passengers, such as those who bring their medication with them, and those who need regular instillation. A ship’s doctor is required to respond appropriately to all sorts of illnesses and injuries, many of which are outside of one’s area of expertise.

One doctor and two nurses are aboard on a short cruise, while on a long cruise, two doctors and three nurses are on board. We examine patients at our clinic, but we also make visits to patients in their cabins. There are also cases in which we need to transport a patient in an emergency situation, and handling such cases is also an important task for us.

Mr. Kenichi Seki inside the ship

─ I see that almost 500 crew members are on board in addition to the passengers.

In addition to the seafaring crew who handle the ship, many crew members work in other areas such as the cabins, restaurants, and entertainment facilities. In fact, we doctors and nurses were originally on board for the crew. It is just like the in-house doctors of a large company, which are quite common on shore. Therefore, another important job for us is looking after the health of the staff.
In addition, examinations of passengers are all fee-based (private practice), and you cannot use your Japanese social insurance or health insurance, so you should purchase traveler’s insurance. Especially on a long cruise, it is essential.

─ How many days out of the year are you on board?

On a yearly basis, I am on board about 8 months and off for about 4 months. Of course, I am not on board for 8 months straight. As for the around-the-world cruise of 2012, I started at Yokohama, traveled through Asia, Africa, and South America, passed through the Panama Canal and then traveled to San Francisco, which was about a 5-month journey. After that were a one-month cruise and a two-month cruise. You may get the impression that I have a lot of time off, but while on board, we have no days off—not even on weekends and holidays. I always carry my pager with me so that I can respond whenever I get a call, around the clock.
Before I started working as the ship’s doctor, people around me would tell me that I had it easy and that I was lucky. I also felt the same way (laughs), but actually it is not as easy as people think. In addition to providing medical care, I have to submit a daily report of the treatments I gave, and there are also quite a few meetings to attend. The four highest-ranking crew members with have four stripes on the shoulders of their uniforms are the captain, staff captain, chief engineer, and hotel manager. My position is next in rank with three and a half stripes, so I also attend the once-a-week captain’s meeting on board.

─ What is your daily schedule like?

I get up at six o’clock and do the radio calisthenics on the videotape I brought with me. After breakfast, I walk three 440-meter laps around the deck and see patients for two hours starting at 8:30. Then, I do some deskwork and take lunch. After lunch, I take a nap for about 15 minutes in my cabin and walk five laps around the deck. During a long journey, the key to maintaining your health is regular physical activity. The afternoon clinic hours are 3 to 5 p.m., but crew members tend to come after hours because of their work schedule, so we are usually open until later. After that is my free time. I have dinner and then usually enjoy a show or a movie at the theater, read a book or study medicine during this time. However, I always have my PHS with me, even in the bathroom.

─ Do you have contact with the passengers?

In the “Asuka Daily”, a daily in-ship newspaper, I am introduced as the ship’s doctor, so they all seem to know who I am. My profile also says that I am a Keio graduate, so there have been times when a fellow graduate has come up to me for tea or a meal together, and we would enjoy talking about Keio.

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Belonging to a club at Mita Campus as well as the School of Medicine Equestrian Team

School of Medicine Equestrian Team

─ It’s good to hear that you can enjoy a little bit of life aboard, but you can never let down your guard as the ship’s doctor, can you? On a different note, since you just mentioned Keio graduates, please tell us about your memories of Keio University.?

I entered the School of Medicine after graduating from a private high school in Tokyo. Back then at the School of Medicine, roll was hardly ever taken in class, so we could use our time quite freely. I belonged to the School of Medicine Equestrian Team. At that time, we used to practice at a riding club called Seifu-kai near the Equestrian Park in Setagaya Ward, rather than the riding ground at Hiyoshi Campus. We would start practicing early in the morning, but we also had to take care of the horses, and we usually wouldn’t make it for the morning lectures. I also belonged to the Youth Hostel Club (KYH) at Mita Campus, so my college life was busy and fulfilling with my studies and club activities. At the Youth Hostel Club, I was able to make a lot of friends outside the School of Medicine, and I still have contact with them. During my college days, I also went to watch the Sokei-sen (Waseda-Keio Baseball Games) with my club mates. I can still sing Keio’s team songs.
A couple of years after graduation, my junior club mates planned a one-month trip around Europe travelling by bus and staying at youth hostels, and I was asked to join them as the tour doctor. Thanks to my understanding boss, I was able to get the time off, and now it is a fond memory having travelled through Greece, Germany, and other countries.

─ You graduated in March 1968, so do you have any memories of the 50th anniversary of the School of Medicine in 1967?

I don’t remember the 50th anniversary, but that was around the time when student movements started to heat up to challenge the internship program, and I also participated in demonstrations. In protest to the program, more than 80% of the nation’s medical graduating students boycotted the National Examination for Medical Practitioners in March 1967 and another 60% boycotted the exams of March 1968. Therefore, most of my peers, including myself, took the national exams in October 1968 after graduation, so my medical license was issued in December.

School of Medicine

─ I guess such things happened even at Keio, because this was just before the struggle over the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty of 1970. Could you also tell us about your time studying abroad in the U.S.?

After graduating university, I belonged to the obstetrics and gynecology department of Keio University Hospital. After a year of freshman training, I went through one-year training at a hospital in the City of Ota, Gunma Prefecture, and also at a hospital in the City of Yokohama. Then I went back to my department at the university hospital and studied for three years and obtained a Ph.D. in medicine. After that, I spent two years at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio as a postdoctoral fellow, and I was paid to conduct research on hormones and infertility. At San Antonio, a lot of research was being conducted to control the world’s growing population, and I was able to interact with other young researchers not only from the developed countries but also from Thailand, Chile, Brazil, and Egypt, which helped broaden my views even outside medicine.
What surprised me was that because of the large contributions from foundations, we had access to large research funds, which was incomparable with the situation in Japan. In Japan, it was quite difficult to get even secondhand research equipment, but at San Antonio you could get the newest equipment as soon as you applied for it. In a very Texas-like environment, where oilfields and rattlesnakes could be seen on and around campus, this experience made me realize the richness of America. Obviously, a car was a necessity. I bought a used car, and since I liked to travel, I drove it not only to work but also to go on overnight trips on the weekends and to attend an academic conference in Florida, taking a week to cover the distance of more than 1700 kilometers. Before returning to Japan, I rented a car and enjoyed a road trip. I spent a month travelling from Yellowstone to San Francisco with my wife and my young son, staying at motels and cooking meals on our own.

─ After returning to Japan, did you start practicing medicine at the Kawasaki Municipal Hospital?

Before that, I served for two years at the National Kasumigaura Hospital (presently National Hospital Organization Kasumigaura Medical Center) in Tsuchiura City, Ibaraki Prefecture. From 1980 to my retirement at age 65, I was at Kawasaki Municipal Hospital. The obstetrics and gynecology department of Kawasaki Hospital has had experience in laparoscopic surgeries since 1963, and is a pioneer in laparoscopic surgery in Japan. I also handled many laparoscopic surgeries at Kawasaki Hospital. Nowadays, this technique is also widely used in surgery departments, and CCD cameras that show images of the inside of your abdominal cavity have developed. I think this surgical procedure will become more widely used, so I am lucky to have witnessed the early stages of its development.

─ After retiring from Kawasaki Hospital as the vice director, you became the ship’s doctor of Asuka II, but did you want to become a ship’s doctor from the beginning?

Hospital doctors take different paths after retirement, but as for myself, I knew I wanted to go on board a ship after retirement from a long time ago. When I was young, I enjoyed reading Morio Kita’s Dokutoru Manbo Kokaiki (“Doctor Mambo at Sea”), which was a bestseller at the time, and, more than anything, I was raised in Yokohama, so I loved the sea, the port, and ships. When I was in elementary school, I used to go down to the port quite often to watch the ships, and I remember when I once waved at a large ship that was tied up at the pier, the crew let me on board and showed me around.
A few years before retirement, I was having a chat with a friend and mentioned in passing, “I’ve always thought about becoming a ship’s doctor.” This friend introduced me to a person at NYK Cruises. I think a physician trained in obstetrics and gynecology is suited to become a ship’s doctor because we can perform surgeries and also handle situations related to internal medicine. On the other hand, I hardly had any experience examining male bodies (laughs). So, during my final year at Kawasaki Hospital, I made the rounds in other departments and learned about daily clinical practice. This has really helped in my role as a ship’s doctor.

─ Finally, please give a message to Keio University students.

I had a good experience at the Youth Hostel Club at Mita Campus. In order to broaden your views, I think it is very important to have contact with people from other faculties, and this is one advantage of studying at a comprehensive university. I hope you interact with many different people as much as possible, and make a lot of friends.
Also, I think you should all have dreams and keep trying to do things that interest you. Even for myself, I think that having become a ship’s doctor, though this was after retirement, is a challenge in a way—something I get to do because I always kept my dream.

─ Thank you very much.

Mr. Kenichi Seki
*This article appeared in the 2013 spring edition (No.278) of “Juku.”
*Position titles, etc., are those at the time of publishing.