What Was the Jukanbo (Special Hospital Ward)?
The Jukanbo was a special punitive facility established in 1938 and used until 1947 for people with Hansen’s disease. Its official name was the “Special Hospital Ward,” but despite this designation, it was not intended to provide medical treatment. Instead, it was used to confine residents who were considered to have violated institutional rules or discipline.
Because of its actual function, residents came to refer to the facility as the Jukanbo, literally conveying the idea of a heavily supervised or severely controlled ward.
A Harsh Confinement Facility
The facility was surrounded by a concrete wall approximately 4 meters high and contained eight individual cells. Each cell was a small, wooden-floored space measuring less than approximately four-and-a-half tatami mats.
Natural light entered through only a small window. During winter, temperatures could fall below freezing, while heating was inadequate. The severe conditions illustrate the harsh reality of the isolation policies imposed on people with Hansen’s disease at the time.
Another important aspect was the lack of formal judicial proceedings. Confinement could be ordered based on the decision of the sanatorium director rather than through a formal court process.
These conditions make the Jukanbo an important historical site for understanding how institutional policies could restrict individual freedom and dignity.
From the Former Facility to the Jukanbo Museum
The Special Hospital Ward was prohibited from further use in 1947. The original building subsequently disappeared, although parts of its foundations remained.
In 2003, former residents of Kuryu Rakusen-en and others began a campaign calling for the site to be reconstructed and its history preserved. More than 100,000 signatures were collected the following year, demonstrating strong support for preserving this difficult chapter of history.
In response to these efforts, the Jukanbo Museum opened in April 2014.
Exhibitions Reconstructing the Past
Inside the museum, visitors can see a life-size reconstruction of a confinement cell, along with historical documents and artifacts discovered during archaeological investigations of the former site.
The exhibitions encourage visitors to consider a difficult historical question: Why did such a punitive facility exist within a sanatorium that was supposedly intended for medical care?
Rather than presenting the past as something distant and abstract, the museum uses documents, physical evidence, and reconstructed spaces to help visitors understand the experiences of those who lived through the policy of institutional isolation.
Hansen’s Disease and Human Rights
Hansen’s disease, also known as leprosy, is a chronic infectious disease. Today, effective treatment is available, and the disease can be cured when appropriately treated at an early stage.
Historically, however, misunderstanding and deep-rooted prejudice led to prolonged policies of isolation in Japan and elsewhere. People affected by the disease were separated from society for extended periods, resulting in serious restrictions on their lives and human rights.
The End of Japan’s Isolation Policy
In Japan, the Leprosy Prevention Law was abolished in 1996, ending the legal framework that had supported the country’s long-standing isolation policy.
In 1998, the Kumamoto District Court issued a landmark judgment concerning the former isolation policy. The ruling played an important role in establishing the legal recognition that the policy had been unjustified.
The Jukanbo Museum explains this historical background and provides an opportunity to consider how discrimination and prejudice can lead to serious violations of human rights.
Understanding the past is an important step toward preventing similar mistakes from being repeated.
Visit the Kuryu Rakusen-en History Museum Together
Next to the Jukanbo Museum is the Kuryu Rakusen-en History Museum (Social Exchange Hall), which introduces the broader history of the former sanatorium.
The museum covers the history of the Yunosawa settlement before the sanatorium was established, the daily lives of residents within the institution, and works created by people who lived there.
Visiting both museums provides a broader perspective on the history of Hansen’s disease in Kusatsu, including the relationship between Kusatsu Onsen and the history of sanatorium care, as well as the everyday lives, experiences, and feelings of the people who lived at Kuryu Rakusen-en.
Visitor Information
Admission and Opening Hours
Admission to the Jukanbo Museum is free. It is open from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with last admission at 3:30 p.m.
The museum is closed on Mondays (or the following day when Monday is a public holiday) and during the New Year holiday period.
Groups of five or more people are required to make an advance reservation. Visitors traveling as a group should contact the museum beforehand.
Access Between the Two Museums
Please note that visitors cannot pass directly through the grounds of Kuryu Rakusen-en. When traveling between the Jukanbo Museum and the Kuryu Rakusen-en History Museum, visitors must return to the main gate, go back out to the national highway, and take the route around the facility.
Allowing extra time for this detour will make it easier to visit both museums at a relaxed pace.
A Place That Carries the Importance of Life into the Future
The Jukanbo Museum is more than a historical exhibition facility. It is a quiet place where visitors are encouraged to reflect on the value of human life, dignity, and human rights.
Learning about the suffering experienced by people affected by Hansen’s disease and understanding the historical circumstances that produced discrimination and isolation can provide important lessons for the present and future.
For visitors to Kusatsu Onsen, a visit to the Jukanbo Museum offers an opportunity to explore a side of the region’s history that extends beyond its famous hot springs. By learning about the people who lived through this difficult history, visitors can gain a deeper understanding of the human stories and cultural heritage preserved in Kusatsu.