28 - Yamamoto Yao (1875-1955) and Japanese Nursing

Summary

INTRODUCTION

IN THE LATE nineteenth century Japanese leaders often saw British power, technology and social organization as objects of admiration and emulation. However, in the field of Red Cross military nursing Japan could claim to have overtaken Britain by the first years of the twentieth century. In this process the career of a pioneer nurse, Yamamoto Yao, illustrates Japanese achievements, and the significant role of the Japanese Red Cross in Anglo-Japanese relations during the First World War.

The Satsuma rebellion of 1877 was the final samurai challenge to the modern Japanese state. It also saw the beginnings of organized humanitarian activity, influenced by the Red Cross movement in Europe. During the Satsuma conflict the Saga statesman Sano Tsunetami, who had admired Red Cross displays at exhibitions in Europe, established the Hakuaisha (Philanthropic Society) to provide medical aid for the wounded of Government and rebel forces. In this he was supported by Imperial Prince Arisugawa, the commander of the Government army. After the defeat of the Satsuma rebels the Hakuaisha continued its activities, and in 1886 established a hospital and headquarters in Tokyo. In the same year the Japanese Government acceded to the Geneva Convention and a year later the Hakuaisha was renamed the Japanese Red Cross Society. In its early years the Hakuaisha had been an overwhelmingly male organization, but by 1890 the Ladies Volunteer Nursing Association had been established, and the Red Cross had begun an organized programme of professional training for female nurses. These developments represented a significant change in Japanese ideas of women's possible role in time of war.

As a result of the humane professionalism of Japanese nurses during the Russo-Japanese conflict the international reputation of the Japanese Red Cross rose rapidly. Many Japanese now realized the political gains to be made from international activity. Soon Japanese nurses began to participate in the meetings of the International Council of Nurses; a body created and dominated by female nurses from Europe, North America and Australasia. Two Japanese nurses, with male chaperones, attended the 1909 I.C.N. conference in Westminster, and presented a report on Japanese conditions.