He asserted his theory that beriberi, a major concern in the military at the time, was an infectious disease spread through germs, in opposition to Kanehiro TAKAKI, who later became the General Office Director of Navy Surgeon, and British medical science.
当時軍事衛生上の大きな問題であった脚気の原因について細菌による感染症との説を主張し、のちに海軍軍医総監になる高木兼寛（及びイギリス医学）と対立した。