no leprosy patients in our prefecture movement no leprosy patients in our prefecture movement the muraiken undō (無癩県運動, muraiken undō), or no leprosy patients in our prefecture movement, was a government funded japanese public health and social movement which began between 1929 and 1934. its mission was to systematically eliminate leprosy, (hansen's disease), a readily transmissible, previously incurable, chronic infectious disease caused by m. leprae, from each prefecture in japan. this was to be achieved by caring for those affected by the disease in government funded sanatoriums. origin in 1927, the japanese government planned the dissolution of leprosy communities (leper colonies). the district welfare officers of aichi prefecture, mamoru uchida and soichiro shiotani, studied the conditions of the communities of the honmyoji temple in kumamoto prefecture. six patients wished to enter the kyushu sanatorium, (later kikuchi keifuen sanatorium). however, they were refused by matsuki miyazaki, the director of the sanatorium. uchida and shiotani brought the patients to kensuke mitsuda at the nagashima aiseien sanatorium. together, the welfare officers and mitsuda initiated the movement. in 1931, the concept was made law. in the same year, the empress teimei founded the leprosy prevention association. eiichi shibusawa was its president. the birthday of the empress, around 25 june, marked the beginning of an annual leprosy prevention week. in 1952, at the time of the death of the empress, the name of the leprosy prevention association was changed to tofu kyokai. the movement the governor of each prefecture raised funds for the building of leprosy sanatoriums. the movement and its slogans, for example, "donate 10-tsubo houses (33.058 square meters) to sanatoriums", were publicised in newspapers, radio, film advertisements, and through religious groups, schools and other organisations. for example, a jodo shinshu school founded an association called otani komyokai to popularise the movement. patients were forcibly hospitalised. public response public interest in the movement varied between prefectures and over time. the people of tottori prefecture were most supportive of the movement. kiyotatsu tatsuda, the governor of tottori prefecture, raised funds for the movement, invited mitsuda to give lectures about the movement and built six houses in the airakuen sanatorium to accommodate leprosy patients from tottori prefecture. fukuoka prefecture, yamaguchi prefecture, miyagi prefecture, toyama prefecture, okayama prefecture, saitama prefecture, aichi prefecture and mie prefecture were also supportive. problems the forced hospitalisation increased the leprosy stigma of the patients, their families and their neighbourhoods. some patients were transferred beyond their own neighbourhoods, increasing their isolation. the conditions in sanatoriums suffered from overcrowding. food ran short. in 1936, riots occurred and some patients escaped. masako ogawa masako ogawa was a japanese physician who worked at the nagashima aiseien sanatorium. in 1938, she wrote the book, spring in a small island which later became a film. she wrote of her experiences in persuading people with leprosy in remote areas to be hospitalised. some criticised ogawa for accelerating the "no leprosy patients in our prefecture" movement and giving an impression that leprosy was to be feared. second movement on 31 december 1947, the japanese government's ministry of interior affairs, which had been responsible leprosy control, was abolished. after world war ii, welfare officers were less involved because their role had induced stigma. responsibility for control of leprosy was transferred to the prefectures. the names of patients previously reported to the head of police stations were reported to governors of prefectures. in november 1947, the ministry of welfare commented on the "no leprosy patients in our prefecture" movement. it stated that the elimination of leprosy was important for the building of a cultural state, and therefore, should be accomplished. hospitalization should be commenced with the most contagious patients. in 1949, the government advised that training courses for physicians and technicians should begin; physical examination of all citizens should occur and patients should be hospitalised, even on rumour. in 1952, matsuo fujimoto, an hospitalised leprosy patient from kumamoto, was tried, found guilty and executed for murder. his execution was contentious because some people felt he was being unfairly treated because he was a leper. by 1955, the government bodies responsible for control of leprosy included the ministry of welfare; the prefectures; the departments of public health and medicine; the section of tuberculosis prevention and the national sanatoria. working for the movement were medical schools and physicians, news media, women's groups, schools and religious groups. physicians who lectured for the movement included kensuke mitsuda, fumio hayashi (doctor), isamu tajiri and mamoru uchida. statistics statistics of patients in 1955 and at the end of 1940 prefecturepatients not hospitalized at the end of 1954increase during 1955 decreasepatients not hospitalized at the end of 1955patients not hospitalized at the end of 1940 hokkaido 576623 aomori 314827220 iwate 423123366 miyagi 1876197 akita 436544119 yamagata 235131563 fukushima 17781680 ibaragi 4811153 tochigi 14214263 gunma 2754393 saitama 5911219 chiba 15212514 tokyo 929299112 kanagawa川 0119250 niigata 16151253 toyama 746522 ishikawa 14241241 fukui 16991650 yamanashi 356239 nagano 121254 gifu 276627161 shizuoka 713155120 aichi 87264965356 mie 73253563106 shiga 9871086 kyoto 2914123164 osaka 78383383337 hyogo 92274277242 nara 81212867 wakayama 1337991 tottori 22271741 shimane 18561796 okayama 16571432 hiroshima 261192858 yamaguchi 1210121010 tokushima 30883077 kagawa 1581013121 ehime 1318171484 kochi 6231514175 fukuoka 1923241897 saga 788790 nagasaki 62143838172 kumamoto 121265394629 oita 4681440114 miyazaki 50112239278 kagoshima 19518105108567 okinawa ?(under us control)?(under us control)?(under us control)?(under us control)761 total 1,3665007531,1136573 apologies the following apology was issued by the ohtani sect of jōdo shinshu buddhism: the 1931 leprosy prevention law of japan aimed at the segregation of leprosy patients for the safety of healthy individuals. later, the necessity of segregation was negated scientifically. with several amendments of the law, the leprosy prevention law was finally outlawed through longtime endeavors of the national hansen's disease patients councils. in the first place, it is to be stressed that the law aimed at the segregation of leprosy patients, at the erasure of leprosy patients from the society to create a safe society of healthy people. this planted an erroneous concept that people with leprosy were dangerous people requiring segregation and justifying segregation. in 1931, our otani section started an ohtani komyokai in order to advance the no leprosy in our prefecture movement in accord with kensuke mitsuda, without hearing the opinion of noboru ogasawara. we could not recognize the significance of segregatory policy of leprosy which committed an outrage upon human rights. we did comfort sermons to patients, but the sermons might be only helpful in persuading them to accept the present situation, namely, segregation. now we have to accept criticisms and have to repent of our sins. we apologize to patients with leprosy and their families who had endured the sufferings of segregation for committing our failure. in 2001, when the leprosy prevention law was ruled unconstitutional, the prime minister, the minister of welfare, and the national diet published statements of apology to leprosy patients and their families. several prefectural governors made apologies at public sanatoriums. compensation in 2001, compensation to patients hospitalised between 1960 and 1998 was legislated. the compensation varied between 8,000,000 yen to 14,000,000 yen per person.