ブックタイトルThe Journal of Humanitarian Studies

概要

The Journal of Humanitarian Studies

Journal of Humanitarian Studies Vol. 4, 2015125-year history of Japanese Red Cross Nursing EducationYukari Kawahara 1As we enter 2015, 125 years have elapsed since the Red Cross Society’s nursing education in Japan startedin 1890. In Japan, there was a time when people recognized that“the Japanese Red Cross Society withnursing and vice versa,”which reflects the outstanding practical skills of nurses trained by the Red Crossnurse. The Japanese Red Cross College of Nursing, in particular, which played the central role in nursingeducation, offered high-level nursing education; 40 nurses were awarded the Florence Nightingale Medalas an award for distinguished contributions. Today, based on this history, the institution is recognized asthe leading traditional nursing education college in Japan.After its institutional development from a training institution, vocational school and junior college, theCollege introduced a four-year system in 1986. In the three decades or so since, the number of nursinguniversities/colleges in Japan has soared from 11 to nearly 250. Amid progress in medical technology andthe approach to human health complications, expectations of nursing have further increase in Japan. Incommemorating the 125th anniversary of the Red Cross nursing education, this article reviews its historyin Japan, centering on the Japanese Red Cross College of Nursing and uses it as a catalyst for futuredevelopment.1. The Red Cross Society in JapanIn the middle of 19th century, following the restructure of the Edo Shogunate regime (a samuraigovernment), which had been in power, Japan abandoned its isolation policy which had continued foraround three centuries and decided to move toward modernization. Modernization was an important issuefor Japan as part of ceaseless efforts to withstand the pressures of colonization; even after meeting therequest made by Western European countries to open up the country and engage in trade.Although historically an exceptional event, numerous key members of government in Japan went abroad,one after the other, studied Western civilization and philosophy and experienced various circumstances inWestern countries to help the modernization of Japan progress. This was also the period when TsunetamiSano, later to became the first President of the Japanese Red Cross Society, first encountered the Red Cross.He learnt of the institution, which had just been established in 1863, at the Paris International Exposition of1867 and gained further insights into the progress of the Red Cross at the Vienna International Expositionof 1873. Based on the international (Geneva) convention, he sympathized with the idea of“providing aidto all wounded soldiers on the battlefield, regardless of whether friend or foe.”Hakuai-sha (the Philanthropic Society), the predecessor of the Japanese Red Cross Society, was establishedin 1877 when the Seinan War broke out; triggered by a revolt of disaffected samurai against the new MeijiGovernment and claiming more than 13,000 casualties on both sides. To relieve the sick and wounded,Tsunetami Sano and Yuzuru Ogyu, both of whom Senate Councilors at the time, applied to the governmentto establish Hakuai-sha as an organization akin to the Western Red Cross. Initially, the concept of providingneutral relief, regardless of whether friend or foe, was not understood and the application was rejected.However, when Sano petitioned directly to the Governor-General Arisugawanomiya Taruhito Shinno, theapplication was imperially sanctioned. Once the Government of Japan acceded to the Geneva Conventionin 1886, Hakuai-sha was renamed the Japanese Red Cross Society in next year.1Associate Professor, Japanese Red Cross College of Nursing人道研究ジャーナルVol. 4, 201593