[1] Born at Higashisumiyoshi-ku, Osaka, Japan, on February 17, 1928,[2] Takahashi earned his MD in 1954 from Osaka University's Medical School, and completed in 1959 the Graduate Course of Medical Science, majoring in poxvirus virology.
[3] Between 1963 and 1965 he studied at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, and at the Fels Research Institute of Temple University, in Philadelphia.
[2] Takahashi became the director of Osaka University's Microbial Disease Study Group in 1994.
[7][2] The Japanese Society for Vaccinology presents an annual prize named in Takahashi's honor: The Japanese Society for Vaccinology Takahashi Prize, founded in October 2005.
[9] On 17 February 2022, Takahashi was honoured with a Google Doodle on his 94th birthday.