Historical Dictionary of United States-Japan ... - Bakumatsu Films

212 • REISCHAUER STABBING INCIDENT
Matsukata Reischauer (his first wife, Adrienne, died in 1955) was a
major asset during Reischauer’s years as ambassador. After returning
to academia, Reischauer wrote several works on Japan, and Japan’s
relations with the United States that became textbooks for a generation
of scholars. See also REISCHAUER STABBING INCIDENT.
REISCHAUER STABBING INCIDENT. In March 1964, U.S. Ambassador
to Japan Edwin O. Reischauer was stabbed in front of the
U.S. Embassy by a 19-year-old Japanese man suffering from a mental
disorder called integration dysfunction syndrome. State Minister
Masayoshi Ohira visited Ambassador Reischauer on behalf of the
Japanese government. Ryuji Takeuchi, Japan’s ambassador to the
United States, also expressed formal regrets to the U.S. government.
Ambassador Reischauer survived with the help of a massive blood
transfusion made possible using blood purchased from blood banks
operated by lightly regulated blood providers known as “blood sellers.”
When it was later discovered that following the blood transfusion
Ambassador Reischauer had incurred inflammation of the liver,
the competence of Japan’s health system was called into serious
question. As a result, Japan’s national system for blood provisioning
using private blood banks was abolished and replaced with a blooddonation
system operated by the Japanese Red Cross.
The stabbing incident also made clear that Japan’s medical care of
mentally disturbed people was a major social problem. As a result,
the Mental Health Act was partly modified in 1965 to require local
healthcare centers to become the frontline in providing mental healthcare.
The centers would arrange for mental health consultants to visit
homes to conduct health consultations with people suffering mental
disturbances. Also, mental health centers were established of Japan’s
prefecture. The national government assumed financial responsibility
for half of the healthcare expenditures for the mentally disturbed living
at home. When a patient suffering a mental disorder leaves a hospital
without permission from hospital managers, that unauthorized
absence has to be reported to the police. For mentally disturbed individuals
who pose a serious danger to themselves or others, the government
has established provisions for compulsory legal hospital admissions.
New government rules were also created related to
discharging and confidentiality obligations.