Fighting Prejudice in Japan: The Families of Hansen’s Disease Patients Speak Out

This collection of twelve life stories delves into the experiences of families of Hansen’s Disease (Leprosy) patients who tell their own stories in their own words. In detailed interviews spanning more than ten years, Ai Kurosaka presents their struggles from the previously neglected perspective of family members of patients. The storytellers tell how they were torn by experiences of separation, discrimination and broken relationships. Like fugitives, many spent years hiding the truth and deceiving others to protect themselves and their families, and they reveal how this affected their relationships with others, but also with themselves.

These recollections reveal agony and repentance, but are also stories of resilience that show the courage of the storytellers in speaking up and in challenging the government’s policy on Hansen’s Disease. This book breaks the silence of families of Hansen’s Disease patients and seeks to restore relationships for families of patients and the wider society.