[The present conditions and future of National Sanatorium Kikuchi Keifuen]

National Sanatorium Kikuchi Keifuen (NSKK), housing 286 residents as of May 2015, is one of the biggest and oldest Hansen's disease sanatoriums in Japan. Located near the center of Kumamoto city, NSKK has maintained an excellent working relationship with Kumamoto University along with other neighboring medical institutions over the years. However, despite its advantages in standing, it may suffer the same problems as other sanatoriums: continually declining numbers of residents combined with the increasing frailty and dementia of existing residents due to aging and an increasing difficulty in maintaining a competent medical staff into the future. By placing our social exchange hall/historical museum as the focal point for the production and dissemination of information, we are producing an educational DVD that records an oral history through actual testimony on film as a cooperative effort between the residents' association and NSKK. Both perspectives are very important to verify the historical problems that Hansen's disease has encountered. One expected benefit of this project is the catharsis found in reminiscing over the past thus promoting the spiritual care of the residents; a matter which remains as a top priority in our sanatorium's "ending period".