The Significance of Medical Missionaries in the Early Meiji Period as Clarified by the Case Study of Dr. Palm

Abstract

It is likely that there arose many dislocations and problems such as a decrease in the number of doctors throughout the period of the spread of Western medicine in the early Meiji era. The purpose of this study is to examine the medical security system of that era. This study focuses on medical missionaries, examining the case of Dr. Palm, who resided from 1875 to 1883 in Niigata Prefecture.The Niigata case shows how Western medicine spread in Japan. A public medical school was established, but the number of doctors who learned Western medicine did not increase rapidly. This school changed its education system from Dutch to German style, but made the change about ten years later than occurred in Tokyo. Many medical personnel and inhabitants did not accept Western medicine.Dr. Palm’s medical mission gave people in Niigata Prefecture opportunities to have medical examinations and receive clinical teaching based on Western medicine. His excellent treatment encouraged people to accept Western medicine as he provided medical security for them. It should be recorded in the history of Japanese medical services that there were medical missionaries in some regions.