Vietnamese conferred Japan’s Order of the Rising Sun
Tokyo (VNA) – Tran Ngoc Phuc, Chairman of the
Overseas Vietnamese Association in Japan, has been awarded Japan’s Order of the
Rising Sun, Silver Rays.
The decoration is made in recognition of Phuc’s contributions to Japan and the relations
between Japan Vietnam.
Phuc, born in 1947, left Vietnam to study industrial
chemistry in Tokai University, Japan, from 1968.
In 1984, 10 years after his graduation, Phuc established the
Metran Co Ltd, based in Saitama prefecture’s Kawaguchi City (about 30km from the
capital city of Tokyo), to develop a high frequency oscillatory ventilator
(HFO), named Hummingbird. Metran’s HFO, aiming to help increase the flow of
oxygen for premature babies, would allow for diffusion of air supply at a rate
thousands of times faster than machines available at that time.
It was reported that 90 percent of Japanese hospitals and
medical facilities employed machines made by Phuc’s company. The paediatric
ventilator is also present at hospitals in other countries, including Germany,
the UK, Switzerland and Thailand.
The story of the Vietnamese-made machine, which helped save
the lives of thousands of premature newborns in Japan, caught the attention of
the Japanese Emperor. In July 2012, Metran received the rare honour of a visit by
Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko.
In December 2017, Metran was recognised by the Japanese
government as one of enterprises playing role as a drive force in the future
regional growth. Phuc’s company received research funding of more than 300,000 USD
from automaker Suzuki and Tokyo University.
In May 2017, Phuc, named Nitta Kazufuku in
Japanese, was elected as chairman of the Overseas Vietnamese Association in
Japan for the 2017-2020 term. He has since dedicated himself to mobilising
Vietnamese youth in Japan to support those struggling to adapt to the local way
of life.-VNA