Listening to Family Stories -You can watch a recording of the day from the original illustrations exhibition of the picture book "Tsuru and Takeshi" on YouTube.

Lecturer Hiroshi Tsuji (Akira Tsuji, Okinawa Airakuen Exchange Center)

In 2019, Hansen's Disease family proceedings have been confirmed. Forty percent of the plaintiffs who filed the complaint were residents of Okinawa Prefecture. At the trial, the family wanted not only a national apology and compensation, but also Hansen's Disease and correction of discrimination prejudice, and it became clear that many issues still remain. It was. How will we deal with the remaining issues? I would like to start by listening to the stories of my family, and I will start with the picture book "Tsuru to Takeshi" original picture exhibition. (Hiroshi Tsuji)

Outline of the event

Saturday, February 20, 2021, 14:00 to 15:30 (scheduled) Zoom broadcast

Advance registration required, capacity 100 people (first come, first served)

Registration opens on the day of the event at 1:45 p.m.

Listen to family stories-Report from the original picture book "Tsuru to Takeshi"

Lecturer Hiroshi Tsuji (Akira Tsuji, Okinawa Airakuen Exchange Center)

We spoke about listening to the stories of families of Former leprosy patients Leprosy patients focusing on the 2020 exhibition of original illustrations from the picture book "Tsuru and Takeshi." At the beginning, we explained that for Okinawa Airakuen and Miyako Nanseien the Battle of Okinawa and Issues related to leprosy are inseparable, and that even today, there are situations where families and Former leprosy patients find it difficult to speak, which is structurally similar to the stories of the Battle of Okinawa. Next, we introduced a reading of the picture book "Tsuru and Takeshi," how the author, Gima Hiroshi, confronted Hansen's Disease discrimination and came to create prints, and his efforts to listen to the stories of families at the community center, such as a lecture.
Participants asked many questions about the thoughts of Airakuen residents about the activities at the exchange hall, the relationship between the Battle of Okinawa and Issues related to leprosy, and more. There was also a high level of interest in the activities of Okinawa Airakuen as a place to learn about the overlap between peace studies and Issues related to leprosy. This was the first museum talk to be held in conjunction with Memorial museum of each sanatorium and The National Hansen's Disease Museum, and participants came from all over, from Hokkaido to Okinawa. We will continue to use the opinions we received from questionnaires and other sources to deliver talks on Issues related to leprosy from various perspectives.

From the questionnaire

• I am grateful for this valuable opportunity, as there are few opportunities in Tokyo to learn more about the efforts at Airakuen. I thought it was a meaningful initiative that took advantage of Zoom.
• It was very good. I will read the picture book "Tsuru to Takeshi" and listen to the rest. Thank you for your time today.
• Thank you for your valuable story today. It is from Hokkaido, which is involved in exchange activities with Okinawa bean reporters. I felt like I understood why Issues related to leprosy was not often mentioned in newspaper articles written by many reporters in the past. In the future, I would like to support you, albeit a little.
• I was looking forward to the talk from Okinawa. I expected it to be related to family proceedings from the theme (because I knew Airakuen from Toshio Iha's book), but I had not noticed the high proportion of plaintiffs until now. Is it only in the island areas where people are restricted from entering and exiting compared to the mainland, that the local community can easily see and eliminate foreign things? Although the nature is different, I think that even in Corona (although the atmosphere of denunciation has decreased because the number of affected people has increased from the beginning), it is treated as a bikin with a joke, and the essence is still the same. It was thought that he himself did not have the consciousness of becoming a party depending on the conditions. It may not be easy to get because the content is heavy, but it seems that it is not widely handled at schools and it is a pity that it is out of print. It was a very thankful project for those who cannot easily visit.
• It was a time for deep learning with very polite narratives and easy-to-understand screens and videos. Thank you very much. I think you learned about Issues related to leprosy that is unique to the land of Okinawa. I would be happy if I had the opportunity to hear Mr. Tsuji's story again.

… We have received many other answers. Thank you very much.

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