Sociological research on the relationship between Okinawan Hansen disease and Okinawan history of illness before Okinawan War.

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K04145
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Sociology
• Research Institution: Yamaguchi Prefectural University
• Principal Investigator: Nakamura Bun'ya 山口県立大学, 社会福祉学部, 教授 (90305798)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: ハンセン病 / 癩豫防に関する法律 / 癩豫防法 / 伝染病予防法 / 結核 / マラリヤ / 沖縄

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Even though the Prevention Law of Hansen disease have been regarded as a symbol of infringement of patient’s human rights, it weren’t specified the term “segregation”. These Laws had been included some relief measures. We consider the comparative research on Okinawan history of three infectious disease: Hansen disease, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. The following is common ground of three diseases, which came to the end after the reversion from US rule at 1972, owing to “American medical benefits”. These diseases has each own medical conditions and social interests. As the number of inpatients with Tuberculosis had been amounted to ten thousand degree, it couldn’t constructed the medical policy before the Battle of Okinawa. Comparing with Tuberculosis and Malaria, the number of inpatients with Hansen disease was low score (about thousand), and the social‐economical risk was small. The construction of sanatorium for inpatients with Hansen disease was preceded to Tuberculosis.

Free Research Field

社会学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

従来のハンセン病研究は、ハンセン病のみを分析対象にしてきたが、ハンセン病と沖縄社会との関連を捉える際、同病のみで沖縄社会を照射することは危険である。なぜなら、医療・公衆衛生面が脆弱であった当時の沖縄人たちは、ハンセン病だけでなく、多くの病へのリスクがあったからである。本研究は、ハンセン病問題を軸としつつも、当時の沖縄社会に潜在していた生活リスクの重層的局面を動態的に捉える新たなハンセン病問題研究の視座(問題系)を開くべく、それに迫るための解釈図式を構築し、病いの研究を社会の研究へと架橋する方法論の構築をめざした。本研究の社会的意義は、従来のハンセン病研究のこの様な更新を指向する点にある。