Professor of Department of Geriatrics and Cognitive Disorder at Fujita Health University School of Medicine.
Dr. Hajime Takechi graduated from Kyoto University Faculty of Medicine in 1986. After completing clinical and research training at Fukui Red Cross Hospital, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine (received his PhD in Medicine), and the Osaka Bioscience Institute, he conducted research at the Department of Physiology, Saarland University, Germany, where he published seminal work on the synaptic mechanisms of memory in leading journals including Nature.

Upon returning to Japan, he established one of the earliest memory clinics in Japan at Kyoto University Hospital in 1999. He subsequently served as Lecturer in the Department of Geriatric Medicine and the Department of Clinical Neurology at Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine. In April 2016, he was appointed Professor of Department of Geriatrics and Cognitive Disorder at Fujita Health University School of Medicine.

He is a Board Member and Board-Certified Geriatrician of the Japan Geriatrics Society, and a board-certified specialist of both the Japan Society for Dementia Research and the Japanese Society of Internal Medicine. In recognition of his contributions to dementia care, he received the 2016 Yomiuri Dementia Care Award (Encouragement Award) from the Japanese Society of Dementia Care.

His publications include The Dementia Café Handbook (2015) and Welcome to the Dementia Café (2017), among others. He has served as Chair of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s Project Committee of Advancing Health Care for Older adults, Specially Appointed Professor at Kyoto University’s Design for Super-Aging Society Unit, and Chair of the External Evaluation Committee of the Aichi Prefecture Dementia Medical Center.

His research and clinical activities focus on dementia care, geriatric medicine, community-based integrated care systems, and support for caregivers, with an emphasis on building dementia-friendly communities.