Japan
Leprosy has existed in Japan for hundreds of years. In 701-760 AD it was recorded that Empress Komyo of Japan provided care for leprosy victims. In 758 Empress Komyo founded the first Leprosy Hospital in Nara. In 1716 it was recorded that Chaulmoogra seeds were used in treatment of leprosy in Japan.
A landmark legal judgement recently found that the Japanese Government had infringed the human rights of persons affected by leprosy by keeping them in isolation. Although the World Health Organization had declared it was unnecessary to isolate leprosy patients in 1960, leprosy patients in Japan were housed separately under the national Leprosy Prevention Law up until 1996. The Japanese Government has now formerly apologised to people affected by Leprosy who suffered from the discrimination and human rights abuses associated with this policy.
ILEP Co-ordination
There is currently no ILEP National Co-ordinator for Japan.
Key Contacts
| Organisation | Contact person | Address | Contact details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sasakawa Memorial Health Foundation | 5th Floor Nippon Zaidan Building
1-2-2 Akasaka Minato-ku Tokyo 107-0052 Japan |
Ph: 81/3 6229 5377
Fax: 81/3 6229 5388 Email: smhf@tnfb.jp Website: www.smhf.or.jp/e/index/html |
|
| H I H Takamatsu Memorial Museum of Hansen's Disease | 4-1-13 Aobacho
Kigashi Murayama-shi Tokyo Japan |
Ph: +81 423 96 2909
Fax: +81 423 96 2981 Website: www.hansen-dis.or.jp |
Basic Statistics
| Year | Newly detected cases | No. of new cases MB (a) | No. of new female cases | No. of new cases among children (b) | No. of new cases with G2D (c) | Relapses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 11 | 10 | 2 | |||
| 2005 | 6 | 5 | 1 | |||
| 2006 | 7 | 7 | ||||
| 2007 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 2008 | 3 | 1 | 1 | |||
| 2009 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2010 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
a MB = Multibacillary leprosy
b Children are cases of 0 - 14 years
c New G2D = WHO grade 2 disabilities among new cases
source data: WHO Weekly epidemiological records :No. 13, 2005, 80, 113-124 : No. 34, 2005, 80, 289-296 : No. 32, 2006, 81, 309-316 : No. 25, 2007, 82, 225-232 : No. 33, 2008, 83, 293-300, No. 33, 2009, 84, 333-340 : No. 35, 2010, 85, 337-348 : No.36, 2011, 86, 389-400.
Resources
Articles
Hirasawa, Yasuji. (2005) Leprosy and the Cultured Nation: 100 years of Leprosy History and the Struggle to Regain Humanity in Japan. Available from: http://www.aifo.it/english/resources/online/books/leprosy/regain-humanity_hirasawa.pdf
News
Posted on 13/01/2012 by
In July 2010 the Japanese publisher Koseisha published poetry, essays and fiction by persons affected by leprosy dating from the 1920s in a ten-volume collection. Kathryn Tanaka, a PhD student in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilization at the University of Chicago here shares her knowledge of some of these writings.
Categories: Japan
Posted on 05/04/2011 by
Almost four weeks’ since the earthquake and tsunami struck north eastern Japan, the Sumanahalli Leprosy Rehabilitation Centre in Bangalore, Karnataka, has started an official campaign to raise funds for those affected by these two natural disasters that killed thousands and wiped out hundreds of towns and villages.
Categories: India, Japan, News and Notes
Posted on 17/01/2011 by
Dr Fujio Otani, who died at the age of 86 on 7th December 2010, was one of the key players who mediated between the Government, medical professions and persons affected by leprosy to lead to the law that abolished discriminatory laws against persons affected by leprosy in Japan.
Categories: Japan, News and Notes
Posted on 27/07/2010 by
On 19th July The Mainichi Daily News reported that a table used for autopsies on leprosy patients at the Oshimasishoen National Sanatorium had been lifted from the Japanese Inland Sea in early July 2010. Approximately twenty-five years ago, when the autopsy room was being demolished to make way for a new recovery wing, it had been thrown into the sea. This table is to be displayed at an art festival until the end of October 2010.
Categories: Japan, News and Notes
Posted on 11/06/2009 by
Japan passed a Basic Law, designed to protect the rights of people affected by leprosy in Japan and facilitate their full integration into society, in April 2009: the Law on the Promotion of Issues Related to Hansen’s Disease.
Categories: Asia, Japan, News and Notes