Postwar Democracy and Hansens' Disease Sanatorium;A Case Study of Nagashima Aiseien

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K22023
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: 0103:History, archaeology, museology, and related fields
• Research Institution: Okayama University
• Principal Investigator: MATSUOKA Hiroyuki 岡山大学, 社会文化科学学域, 講師 (30877808)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-09-11 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: ハンセン病 / 当事者運動 / 自治 / 民主主義 / 地域社会 / アーカイブズ / ジェンダー

Outline of Final Research Achievements

I conducted a survey of records held by the Nagashima Aisei-en Community Association (Setouchi City, Okayama Prefecture), which was established in 1930 as the first national sanatorium for Hansen's disease, and confirmed the existence of 4,364 documents dating generally from the 1930s through the 2010s. In addition, by collecting and analyzing records related to sanatorium management and memoirs of residents and staff held by Nagashima Aisei-en, we examined the historical development process and significance of the various movements of people affected by Hansen's Disease at the sanatorium during and after World War II, from the 1940s to the 1950s.

Free Research Field

日本近現代史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

ハンセン病療養所の患者運動のなかで作成・保存された記録に加えて、療養所の運営に関する記録、入所者・職員らの資料を分析することで、戦中から戦後の療養所では治療薬や社会の変化を踏まえたさまざまな改革の方向性があったことを確認し、隔離の継続を定めた1953年のらい予防法改正にむけた動向を従来よりも多面的に捉えることができた。本研究で作成された長島愛生園入所者自治会の資料目録は今後啓発拠点施設で調査分析の基礎資料として活用されるなど、ハンセン病問題の歴史的継承にむけた基盤構築にも貢献した。