This paper examines how mass screening for tuberculosis was implemented in wartime Japan. A tuberculosis mass screening program for the entire Japanese population began with the National Physical Fitness Management System (1940). This approach reflected the latest theories in Japanese tuberculosis pathology that primary infection would develop into an active disease more frequently. Under the total war system, the mass screening program divided the population according to the status of tuberculosis infection and contraction, with a focus on the prevention of the disease in those infected for the first time. Those classified as “previously infected healthy individuals,” a term introduced for screening, were considered more desirable than the uninfected because they were supposed to have gained “immunity” to the disease after a certain period of time had passed since the primary infection. They were not only said to be the safest against tuberculosis but also as those who had overcome the danger of developing tuberculosis and acquired a strong body that could endure discipline and labor. This paper argues that the tuberculosis mass screening program emphasized the acquisition of immunity and that the new tuberculosis control system was built based on the concept of “previously infected healthy individuals.”
