Life at Hansen’s Disease Sanatoria under the Forced Isolation Policy: With Special Reference to Aisei-en and Komyo-en, Okayama

Do you know what Hansen’s disease is ? Formerly known as “leprosy,” it is an infectious skin and peripheral nerve disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae. It used to be extremely difficult to cure, resulting deformed faces, falling off fingers, and crippled limbs. However, today the disease can be effectively cured with tablets prescribed regularly for several months. Until 1996, however, Hansen’s disease patients in Japan were forced to live in remote sanatoria until they passed away, representing an infringement of the Japanese Constitution in terms of basic human rights. In those days the contagious power of the infection was thought to be severe, so the government enacted Leprosy Prevention Acts in 1907, 1931, and 1953. The aim was to isolate the patients in Hansen’s disease sanatoria in lonely islands such as Nagashima, or in extremely remote locations for the rest of their lives. Both Aisei-en and Komyo-en are located at Nagashima Island in Setouchi, Okayama Prefecture. The former was the first national colony of its kind set up in 1930, while the latter was originally built at the Yodo River Delta, Osaka in 1909, but was moved to the island in 1938 after the Muroto Typhoon completely destroyed the entire premises in 1934. The patients’ lives at the sanatoria were miserable and pitiful until the 1953 Act was finally repealed in 1996. Picked up either in the street or at home, they were treated like cattle, carried in a freight car from the station near their hometown to their remote destination. On their arrival, they were loaded into a truck or bus, (and then a ferry) and transported to the sanatorium. As soon as they entered the premises, their bodies and personal effects were thoroughly disinfected. The newly arrived had to sign a contract with the institution authorizing the use of their body for dissection after death. These patients had to live together as a group in the same room without privacy. Although they were fundamentally patients, they had to engage in manual work, not only constructing roads and buildings, but also cultivating lands to produce crops and vegetables, and keeping chickens, pigs, and cows. They also did the necessary domestic work including cleaning, sewing, and washing. Less severely affected patients looked after the more serious cases. If a patient broke a code of the institution, he or she might be confined in a cell for several days. Before a couple could get married at the sanatorium, the man had to be sterilized. If the woman became pregnant, she had to have an abortion. The couple would start their new life with the bridegroom visiting his bride’s dormitory, where she lived together with her other female roommates. The patients suffered heavy prejudice from the general public, leaving many to live under false names. They scarcely left the colony to visit their hometowns. When they did, they might be rejected by their family and neighbors, as well as by hotels and restaurants. Even after death, their ashes remained even to this day in the cenotaph of the sanatorium, without relatives taking them back to their home graveyards. In spite of such terrible, miserable conditions, most of the patients somehow managed to enjoy their sanatorium lives. The young people studied at elementary and secondary schools within the colony. Some even went to the four-year part-time senior high school in Aisei-en, the only one in Japan for Hansen’s disease patients. Creative patients wrote distinguished poems, novels, and essays. Blind musicians played instruments and gave moving concerts now and then. Some enthusiasts formed drama circles to perform plays. Games such as go and shogi were very popular among male patients. Memorable days included seasonal events such as cherry-blossom viewing, outdoor teaceremonies, summer bon festivals, and sports days in autumn. The building of the OkuNagashima Bridge connecting the island with the mainland, on May 9th, 1988, was an event with great joy, when everyone was able to happily cross over to the other side. The 89-year history of Hansen’s disease patients in Japan under the Leprosy Prevention Acts is truly awful, but their lives should be remembered as part of the forced isolation system. The former patients who suffered from this disease were victims of these notorious acts, and wish to have this extraordinary heritage recorded and remembered for the generations to come. It would be wonderful if these Japanese sanatoria in the Inland Sea might be inscribed on the World Cultural Heritage list in the near futuredepartmental bulletin pape