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

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26350363
• 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)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 岩倉 / 大雲寺 / 保養所 / 家族的看護 / 金沢 / 奄美 / ヘール / 南方熊楠

Outline of Final Research Achievements

After Iwakura Mental Hospital was designated as a substitute for public mental hospitals, it had to receive mentally ill patients whose medical expenses were paid by the public. In order to run the hospital with small money paid by the public, it had to purchase staples such as coal and Korean rice which were cheaper than the firewood and rice from Iwakura. Though Iwakura Mental Hospital increased the number of patients after that, this increase in patients was not beneficial for Iwakura.
After around 1970, (New) Iwakura Mental Hospital actively introduced an open medical care system. Many patients who had been confined in the wards for a long time caused troubles in the towns. Residents in Iwakura strongly opposed this open medical care system. One of the reasons for this opposition was that the relation between Iwakura and the mental hospital had not been reciprocal. Reciprocity is important if mental hospitals want to have good relationship with the surrounding areas.

Free Research Field

精神医療史