Kuryū Rakusen-en Sanatorium, or National Sanatorium Kuryū Rakusen-en is a sanatorium for leprosy or ex-leprosy patients situated at Kusatsu-machi, Azuma-gun,

Gunma is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Gunma Prefecture has a population of 1,937,626 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of . Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fukushima Prefecture to t ...

Prefecture in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, which started in 1932.

History

Pre-Rakusen-en days

*1869: There was a big fire in the Kusatsu Hot Spring. Later, a publicity book ''Kusatsu Onsen Shi'' (Kusatsu Hot Spring is good for health) circulated and by and by leprosy patients gathered around Kusatsu. *1888:

Erwin Bälz Erwin Otto Eduard von Bälz (; 13 January 1849 – 31 August 1913), often simply known as Erwin Bälz (without the noble ''von'' particle), was a German internist, anthropologist, and personal physician to the Japanese Imperial Family and ...

wrote that after studying Kusatsu Hot Spring, Japanese hot springs should be used for health purposes. *1907: Bertrand met opposition to his plan of building a hospital in Kusatsu. *1913:

Hannah Riddell Hannah Riddell (1855–1932) was an English woman who devoted her life to the care of patients with leprosy in Japan. Life Early life and her determination Hannah Riddell was born in 1855 in Barnet, then a village to the North of London. Her ...

sent the missionary Yonehara to Kusatsu. *1914: Koenkai (Light and salt society), a Christian group, was formed in Kusatsu.

Mary Cornwall-Legh

* *1915:

Mary Cornwall-Legh Mary Helena Cornwall Legh, (20 May 1857 – 18 December 1941) also known as ("Nellie" Cornwall Legh) was a British Anglican missionary, who late in life devoted herself to the welfare spending, welfare, education and medical care of leprosy patie ...

inspected Kusatsu. *1916:

started the Barnabas' mission. *1917: St. Barnabas' Hospital started with Dr. Kesa Hattori and Nurse Chiyo Mikami. *1924: Suzuran Hospital was started by Kesa Hattori and Chiyo Mikami but soon closed after the death of Hattori. *1929: St.Barnaba Hospital was renewed (Dr. Ichiro Tsuruta). *1930: The population of Yunosawa Community was 817, one third of Kusatsu.

Kusatsu Rakusen-en Sanatorium

*1932: Kusatsu Rakusen-en Sanatorium started (director: Yoshiichi Furumi) *1938: Special prison "Juukanbou" Kusatsu Special Prison, was built within the sanatorium. *1941: St.Barnaba Hospital was closed. 44 patients were transferred to Kusatsu Rakusen-en. *1947: The cruel condition of the special prison was spotlighted. The director was suspended from office. *April 1996: The 1953 Leprosy Prevention Law was abolished. *July 1998: The trial for compensation started. *May 11, 2001: The trial for compensation ruled that the previous Leprosy Prevention was unconstitutional. *May 25, 2001: The trial for compensation was confirmed. The compensation of 8 to 14 million yen was given to patients depending on the duration of unconstitutional periods.

Number of in-patients

The number of in-patients is the sum of patients which changed not only by the newly diagnosed hospitalized and those who died among in-patients, by other factors such as the number of patients who escaped or were discharged, depending on the condition of the times. Recently, they were encouraged to be discharged, but the long period of the segregation policy causing leprosy stigma might influence the number of those who went into the society. http://www.eonet.ne.jp/~libell/main.html 2009.12.24

References

*Fusetsu-no-mon (1982), ''The 50-year history of leprosy patients at Kuryu Rakusen-en Sanatorium'', edited by Kuryu-Rakusen-en Jichikai (patients' organization). . *Kindai-shomin-seikatu-shi (1995) ''The 60 years of Yunosawa Community'', by Kiyoshi Shimosaki, Ken Inoue, (first : Repura 12,6).

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuryu Rakusen-En Sanatorium Hospitals in Japan Leper hospitals Buildings and structures in Gunma Prefecture Hospitals established in 1932 Leprosy in Japan Kusatsu, Gunma