Research on the History of Psychiatry in Japan based on historical materials of Iwakura Mental Hospital and of the Imai family

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K01177
• 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: Osaka Prefecture University
• Principal Investigator: Nakamura Osamu 大阪府立大学, 人間社会システム科学研究科, 教授 (10189029)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 新宮 一成 奈良大学, 社会学部, 教授 (20144404)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 岩倉 / 家族的看護 / 保養所 / 岩倉病院 / 京都癲狂院 / 南方熊楠 / 監置 / 大雲寺

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Judging from historical materials available, it is natural to understand that the purpose of founding Kyoto Mental Hospital was to accept mentally ill noble patients who had been left in Iwakura when their family moved from Kyoto to Tokyo at the beginning of Meiji era, and to show foreign countries that mentally ill patients were treated in Japan like in European countries.
After Kyoto Mental Hospital was closed in 1882, Iwakura Mental Hospital was established in 1884 and received many patients of Kyoto Mental Hospital. From the list of inpatients of Iwakura Mental Hospital around 1910, we could see that the inpatients came from all over the country. As the mental hospitals were established in various cities in Japan, however, the ratio of the inpatients from Kyoto and nearby prefectures increased and almost all inpatients of Iwakura Mental Hospital came from these areas around 1940.

Free Research Field

精神医療史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

医者も警察官もいなかった小さな離島で調査していると、地域住民は地域の患者を注意深く見守りながらも患者にできるだけ普通の生活をさせ、患者に自傷他害のおそれが出てくると、患者を監置室に入れていたことがわかる。かつての日本ではどこでもそれに近い状況が見られたのであろう。他方、江戸時代の岩倉は、介護人を用いて患者を預かり、患者にできるだけ普通の生活をさせた。それは昭和時代になっても変わらず、全国的に有名になった岩倉病院でも、江戸時代の茶屋が改称した保養所でも、介護人を用い、患者にできるだけ普通の生活をさせた。患者を預かり、患者にできるだけ普通の生活をさせたことが、岩倉が評判になった理由ではないか。