Hannah Riddell

On January 14 1890 an English ship set forth Southampton for Japan and on the ship there were five young English ladies from the Church Missionary Society. Hannah Riddell 35, eldest of them was among them. She was a tall lady of splendid constitution who was full of energy and confidence. She was independent because she had to support her mother and sisters in her twenties.

The Church Missionary Society founded to send missionaries overseas in 1799 decided to send single girls two years before their departure.

H.Riddell wanted to go to India because her father had been in the military in India. But she was sent to Japan by the policy of the Society. She became acquainted with Grace Knot, who was an intimate friend of hers through her life on the ship. Riddell made her effort to make the passengers on the ship become Christians by the use of this opportunity.

January 16th 1891 nine weeks after Riddell' ship left Southampton it arrived in Kobe. Then Riddell and Grace went to Kumamoto, where Riddell experienced to decide the course of her life. One day she saw lepers in the compound of the Honmyoji Temple in the western suburb of Kumamoto City. They prayed in front of the tombs bathing the sacred water to the sound of taiko (Japanese drum). She was impressed with the sight of a pale boy with closed eyes praying earnestly.

They were broke to pay their medical expenses and had no house to live in except for the lot under bridges and roads. They needed a Father Damien ,who had devoted himself to help lepers in Hawaii. Riddell wrote to the C.M.S. to send such men as Father Damien who had attended to lepers.

She felt that it was her mission given by the Heaven to save them when she happened to see the unhappy people.

The Honryuji Temple was built for the sake of Kiyomasa Kato, daimio, who was a believer of Nichiren sect. Hideyoshi Toyotomi accompanied by Kiyomasa Kato conquered Korea in 16th century.

In Japan it was Empress Komyo that built the first clinic to cure lepers in Nara, the capital of the then Japan in the eighth century.

According to the first official survey in 1900,there were about 30,000,which became a grave problem to the Japanese Government, but they did not take any measure to meet the situation.

It is officially recorded that in 1874 Buddhists built the first leper house named Kaiten in Gifu. In 1889 French Catholic priests, Father Testvude bought a cottage at Gotenba at the foot of Mt.Fuji to attend to six lepers. After then he got a few acres' land by donation of good will and built his own hospital to house 80 patients there. In 1894 an American Presbyterian, Kate Youngman built a small leper house at Meguro, Tokyo.

In 1892 in spite of the indifference of C.M.S. to Riddell' s plan of building a leper house, Riddel and Grace made her effort to realize their idea. They succeeded in drawing an interest of the influential people, who were army doctor Eijiro Hagar, Dr.Gotor and Dr.Balz and etc.

Riddell was given the land of 4000tubo(three acres) at the foot of Tattayama northwest of Kumamoto City by Daimio Hosoka,who was one of powerful daimios in Japan. She built a leper house ,which commanded a fine view with quiet surroundings.

At that time Riddell knew Dr.Tajiri, who was a specialist in leper and Christian. In 1895 she opened a leper house named Kaisyun Byoin(Resurrection of Hope House).After three years, Edda, Riddell' niece came to Kaisyun Byoin to work with her and Grace. Though the C.M.S. recommended Riddell to resign her post from running the leper house, she did not take its advice. She said," Kumamoto is the happiest place for me on the earth. I think that I can not find a simple happiness like this in another place. If I wished anything, It is to lead a life in Kumamoto with close friends and lepers through life."

In 1902 Riddell published a monthly magazine called "Keisatsunotomo "(the friend of police) to spread Christianity among policemen. According to the financial report of the Kaisyun Byoin the management cost was covered with the donations of Britain(40 percent ) and Japan (60 percent, including foreigners staying here ).Shigenobu Ookuma, Eiichi Shibusawa, Sanji Muto and the Empress Dowager(the Empress of the Taisyo Emperor) greatly cooperated to continue the management of the leper house.

In 1906, 16 years after arrival of Japan, Riddell received a Blue Ribon Medal, which honored the contribution to the Japanese society.

In 1923 a simple charnel house in the garden of the leper house.

Edda worked with her aunt, Riddell for nine years after 1923.Ridda became a celebrity among the public. It is regrettable that a treatment for leper was not found before her death of 1932.

Riddell' death was reported not only in vernacular papers but also in foreign newspapers with acclaim.

Hannah Riddell is one of the unforgettable people for Japanese people.