Research into the history of Japanese psychiatry has shown some signs of change in the last couple of decades and is now undergoing a remarkable transformation. As in many other countries, the history of psychiatry used to be studied almost exclusively by Japanese psychiatrists, who wrote for their colleagues. Such research became an integral part of the enterprise of psychiatry, and in Japan it emerged at the same moment as academic psychiatry. Kure Shûzô, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Tokyo from 1901 to 1925, holds a double crown as the founding father of psychiatry in Japan and of the history of Japanese psychiatry. Inspired by his example, many psychiatrists have taken up historical research for nearly a century. Kaneko Junji, who was a student of Kure, compiled bibliographies and anthologies of materials related to psychiatry and mental illness; they remain indispensable tools for every scholar in the field. Matsushita Masa'aki, another professor of psychiatry at the University of Tokyo, founded the Japanese Society for the History of Psychiatry in 1997, which is now flourishing. Okada Yasuo, another eminent psychiatrist-historian, has been an indefatigable researcher and writer; he has amassed by far the richest private collection of materials on the topic. These scholars represent the first wave in the history of Japanese psychiatry: psychiatrists writing for psychiatrists.
