# Japan’s ‘leprosy island’: The dark history of Nagashima

https://mins.news/en/item/14944

- France 24, 2026-08-06 09:02 UTC
- Society
- Original: https://www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/focus/20260806-japan-s-leprosy-island-the-dark-history-of-nagashima

> In the 1930s, Japan confronted the spread of leprosy, an infectious disease that attacks nerves and can deform the body. Authorities responded by confining patients to sanatoriums, including facilities on Nagashima. Although the first treatments emerged in the late 1940s, the government did not end forced confinement until 1996. By then, many of those held had in fact been cured for decades.

## Related coverage

- [Japan’s ‘leprosy island’: The dark history of Nagashima](https://mins.news/en/video/14949) — France 24 English, 2026-08-06