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How it all began: Minoru was born in 1899 in Iida City, Nagano Prefecture, as the third son of seven children of Hanshichi (father) and Tame Shirota.

This is how Shirota began his medical studies in Kyoto in 1921.

When Minoru searched for good bacteria in 1925, he also found love and married Yoshie Kaneko, the daughter of a professor of engineering.

Can you imagine what it is like to research for years and then one day the big moment arrives? 'Eureka, I did it!' Dr. Shirota might have exclaimed when he actually isolated a very special bacterial strain in 1930.