Osamu Ishihara

A medical scientist. Born in Hyogo Prefecture on October 18, 1885. He investigated the poor working conditions of female workers, mainly in the spinning industry, and played a major role in the establishment of the Factory Law. After graduating from Fukuoka Medical College of Kyoto Imperial University, he began working as a consultant to the Ministry of Home Affairs (later to the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce) in 1909 (Meiji 42), where he conducted surveys on factory hygiene in preparation for the Factory Law. He not only investigated the hygiene conditions in factories, but also tracked the health of female factory workers from rural areas after they returned to their hometowns. This revealed that tuberculosis that broke out in factories spread throughout the country through female factory workers who returned home, and was a decisive factor in promoting the Factory Law. He wrote such essays as "Female Factory Workers and Tuberculosis" and "The Current Situation of Female Factory Workers as Seen from the Perspective of Hygiene." He later served as a factory inspector and a professor at Osaka Medical College. He died on June 29, 1947.

[Yoneda Sayoko]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

医学者。明治18年10月18日兵庫県に生まれる。紡績業を中心とする女子労働者の劣悪な労働環境を調査し、工場法成立に大きな役割を果たした。京都帝国大学福岡医科大学卒業後、1909年（明治42）より内務省嘱託（のち農商務省嘱託）として工場法準備のための工場衛生に関する調査を実施、工場内の衛生状態だけでなく、農村出身女工の帰郷後の健康状態を追跡調査することにより、工場内で発生した結核が帰郷女工を通じて全国に蔓延(まんえん)する事実を明らかにして、工場法推進の決定打とした。『女工と結核』『衛生学上ヨリ見タル女工之現况』などの論著がある。のち工場監督官、大阪医科大学教授などを務めた。昭和22年6月29日没。

［米田佐代子］

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