Ishihara is a consultant neurologist and dementia specialist.
He is an advanced user of Dementia Care Mapping certified by the University of Bradford.
In 2001, he graduated from Yamaguchi University Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and served a neurologist at several acute hospitals.
In 2013, he received his medical degree from Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine Department of Neurology. In 2014, he became an assistant professor in higher brain functional disorder at Tohoku University School of Medicine. In 2017, he became a visiting researcher at the Edinburgh Centre for Research on the Experience of Dementia, the School of Health in Social Science, the University of Edinburgh. In 2018, he became a research Professor in Cyclotron and Radioisotope Center, Tohoku University.
After serving as the director of a psychiatric clinic, Ishihara set up Ishihara Neurocognitive Clinic in April 2021. As a specialist in the diagnosis of dementia and post-diagnosis support, he currently offers outpatient and visiting care services mostly for local elderly people to help them to live a normal life.
He is an executive committee member of Orange Door, a discussion group where people living with dementia provides consultation for one another. He keeps friendly relations and works together with people living with dementia inside and outside of Japan.
Ishihara also holds lectures and workshops on post-diagnosis support for people living with dementia at the request of local governments, medical associations, and various other organizations.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ishihara has organized T’s gathering Café as a space for online support among dementia specialists.
His books include Naze ninchishou no hito to umaku kakawarenainoka: Honnin no koe kara manabu jissen mesoddo (Why can’t we engage well with people with dementia? Practical methods to learn from the voices of people living with dementia) published by Chuohoki Publishing Co., Ltd. in 2020.