Kikuchi Keifuen Sanatorium or National Sanatorium Kikuchi Keifuen is a sanatorium for leprosy patients or ex-leprosy patients at Kohshi-shi, Kumamoto-ken, Japan founded in 1909. The mean age of residents (ex-patients) is about eighty.
History
Background
The Japanese Government promulgated the first leprosy prevention law on March 19, 1907 but it did not come into effect until April 1, 1909 because of financial constraints. Under this law, patients who did not have family to support them were forcibly treated in public leprosaria. Japan was divided into five areas, the fifth of which included Nagasaki-ken, Fukuoka Prefecture, Ooita Prefecture, Saga Prefecture, Kumamoto Prefecture, Miyazaki Prefecture and Kagoshima Prefecture. In this area, Kumamoto was selected as the site of the sanatorium.[1]
The two main reasons for the leprosy prevention law were that foreigners visiting Japan after the Meiji Restoration (1868) were very much surprised to find leprosy sufferers wandering at large and claimed that something should be done about it and the Japanese Government was worried about the large number of people with the condition among those who were examined for the draft at age 20.
1940: 157 patients of Honmyoji settlements forcibly hospitalized.
Feb 3, 1941: 58 patients from Kaishun Hospital accepted.
National Sanatorium Kikuchi Keifuen
July 1, 1941: Name changed to National Sanatorium Kikuchi Keifuen.
May 13, 1945: Air raid in which two patients were killed.
May 1951: The first issue of the "Kikuchi-no" journal of Jichi Kai.
Jun 1951: Main Building opened.
Nov 1951: First patient discharged, cleared with the drug Promin.
1958: Matsuki Miyazaki, a segregationalist, left the Kikuchi Keifuen Sanatorium.
Apr 1982: Kyushu Medical Center opened (center for 3 Kyushu sanatoriums).
Apr 1996: The 1953 Leprosy Prevention Law was abolished and residents (ex-patients) have been encouraged to leave the sanatorium.
Jul 1998: The trial for compensation started.
May 11, 2001: The trial for compensation ruled that the previous Leprosy Prevention laws were unconstitutional.
May 25, 2001: The result of the trial for compensation was confirmed. Compensation of 8,000,000 yen to 14,000,000 yen was given to patients depending on the duration of the unconstitutional periods for which they had been detained.
Apr 1998: Dermatology clinic opened for health insurance system.
Dec 2006: Keifuen Museum opened. (Open Mon-Fri. 11 a.m.-4 p.m.)
Number of patients
Year
Number of In-patients
1909
115
1920
226
1930
654
1940
1093
1950
1111
1958*
1734*
1960
1635
1970
1463
1980
1250
1990
988
2000
683
2003
592
2004
557
2005
552
2006
483
2007
456
2008
426
The number of patients in the sanatorium varied. It depended on the numbers admitted, the number of deaths among residents and the number of patients who escaped or were discharged, Recently they were encouraged to be discharged, but for a long period, the segregation policy which caused leprosy stigma influenced the number of those who left and were readmitted into society.[2]
On July 9, 1940, 157 patients living around Honmyoji temple were forcibly hospitalized and sent to other sanatoriums. This incident was also called the Honmyoji incident. This was considered to be one of the "no leprosy patients in our prefecture" movements.
Fujimoto's case
Matsuo Fujimoto was considered to have received unfair treatments in two trials because he was a leprosy patient.
Tatsudaryo incident or Kurokami primary school incident
Children born from patients with leprosy were denied schooling at Kurokami primary school in 1954. There were strikes, riots and no schooling for some time. After one year, three children finally attended the school from the house of Mr. Takahashi, the President of Kumamoto College of Commerce.
See also Tatsudaryo Incident
Hotel reservation rejection incident
Also called the Aisutaa incident, because of the name of the hotel. The hotel building was destroyed by the hotel administration.
Notes
^Japan Leprosy History (1993) Shun-Ichi Yamamoto, University of Tokyo Press, Tokyo
