The Second World War and the Destruction of the Psychiatric Hospitals

Conférence animée par Ken Daimaru (CRCAO, UPC), avec les interventions de deux discutants : Nicolas Henckes (CNRS - Cermes3), Sheldon Garon (Princeton University / Sciences Po).

The Second World War had an enormous influence on private mental hospitals in Tokyo and other Japanese cities. Due to the massive air raids by the U.S., all early private mental hospitals were burned down and closed. This paper examines three aspects of the impact of the war on mental hospitals: the absolute lack of food, the deep anxiety caused by the war among the patients, and the spread of fear of surveillance created by the military phase of the government. Many materials for analysis and discussion are taken from the case histories of Ohji Brain Hospital, with individual cases being examined by considering the difficult situation of the war and the situation of mental hospitals.

Contact :

Kei Daimaru View e-mail

Sarah Terrail-Lormel View e-mail