Research on the dissemination of medical information in the second half of the 19th century, Japan: focusing on variation of contents according to the recipient

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K01121
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Sociology/History of science and technology
• Research Institution: Juntendo University
• Principal Investigator: TSUKISAWA Miyoko 順天堂大学, 医療看護学部, 非常勤講師 (40311980)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 医療情報の伝達 / 医療情報誌 / 医療器具 / 19世紀 / 医学史 / 日本 / 医療専門職 / 一般民衆

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this research project, we investigate the process of dissemination of medical information in the second half of the 19th century, Japan, focusing on the intentional variation of informational contents according to the recipient (such as medical professionals, traditional artisans, or the general public).
This research consists of three parts: 1) a comparative analysis of two textbooks for officially certified midwives (one was translated and published in Japan, and the other was the original version of that book, published in Germany); 2) an investigation of the dissemination of medical information to Japanese artisans of medical instruments; and 3) examinations of the dissemination of information on newly introduced medical drugs from European countries and the mutual clinical estimation of those drugs between the officially certified medical professionals that had just begun to spread throughout Japan at that time.

Free Research Field

医学・医療史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

日本の医学・医療史研究においては、これまで幕末から明治初期における西欧からの医療情報の導入・紹介に関する充実した先行研究が蓄積されてきた。しかし、医療専門職ばかりでなく一般民衆、伝統的職人層までを視野に入れた医療情報の伝達・普及に関する研究は極めて少ない状況であった。本研究は、従来の医学・医療史研究に新しい研究視点を導入し、視野を広げたばかりでなく、歴史に関心をもつ一般の人々にも医療史に対する新鮮な関心をよび起こすことができた。