Volume 6, Number 3 | Fall 2011

Japanese Acupuncture - Current Research 1
The Support by Acupuncture and Moxibustion for theStricken Area on the Great East Japan Earthquake

donebypractitionersofacupuncture

andmoxibustion in the areas affected by the Great East
Japan Earthquake, the process of clarifying theSoichiro MineThe Forum of Social Sciences of Acupuncture and Moxibstion

whole picture is still under way.
[Purpose]

Research Report[Preface]
In the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake
occurred on March 11, 2011 and the subsequent
Tsunami disaster, support services from various
medical areas were provided. Practitioners ofacupuncture and moxibustion from all over Japan
also provided support in the affected areas throughacupuncture and moxibustion.

To investigate and clarify the general picture ofwhat kinds of support activities by the Japanesepractitioners of acupuncture and moxibustion were
implemented for the disaster caused by the Great
East Japan Earthquake.
[Research overview]
1. Subjects
Groups that provided support services in theaffected areas using acupuncture and moxibustion

The author conducted research to find out what

treatment after March 11, 2011 and the active period

support activities the practitioners performed in thefor one time or the total duration of activities wasaffected areas during the period from June to July of

five days or more.

2011. In writing this paper, the author additionally

2. Methods

searched four journals relating to acupuncture and(1) Method of subject selection

moxibustion published during the period from April

1) Subject sampling and information gathering on

2011 to September 2012 (“The Journal of Ido nothe Internet.

Nippon,” “Shinkyu Journal,” “Clinical Journal ofTraditional

Chinese

Medicine,”

and“ShinkyuThe Internet site http//www.google.co.jp wassearched with the keywords of “Great East JapanOSAKA”) for information about the time of activity

Earthquake,”

and areas of activity of the groups that were notactivities,” “medical support,” and “group.”

known in the aforementioned research.

2) Information gathering from informants

This paper is to report the results of theseinvestigations.
In addition, it was found by searching theInternet and from informants that there werevarious forms of support activities other than thosefound by on-site research and the Internet search,
including personal activities and non-continuous“acupuncture,”

information about the support activities withacupuncture and moxibustion was posted by Japan
Society of Acupuncture and Moxibustion and otherassociations and those who had the information wereasked to provide the information as informants andthen research subjects were extracted.
3)

investigation were those of groups that were

acupuncture and moxibustion

however,

that

group

researchrequirement

searchthroughjournalsofTo find out the group names and their activity
time that were not known from 1) and 2) above, fourasacupuncture and moxibustion related journals

investigation subjects. The author would give an

published during the period from April 2011 toadditionalisNovember 2012 (“The Journal of Ido no Nippon,”considered that many supportive activities were

“Shinkyu Journal,” “Clinical Journal of Traitional

here

werethatsatisfying

Information

theremarkactivities“localIn parallel with the web search, a request for

one-shot activities. The subject activities of thisperformed continuously. There was the possibility,“volunteer,”notchosen

althoughit

The Journal of Kampo, Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine (KAIM)

11

Volume 6, Number 3 | Fall 2011

Chinese Medicine,” and “Shinkyu OSAKA.”) werethat there were two types of groups that performedused .

activities of disaster medical care with acupuncture
and moxibustion in the aftermath of the Great East

(2) Search period
The information search period through theInternet and the informants were two months from
June to July 2011.
Search through magazine media was done in
December 2011.
The continuity of the activities was confirmed bymonitoring their activity reports on the Internet.
(3) Research method
An e-mail questionnaire was sent to the groups
selected as subjects by 1) and 2) above.
Questionnaire items were unified in principle.
However alterations were made where applicable soas to making it a top priority to clearly bring out theactual situation about the activities.

Japan Earthquake; the ones formed based on
existing organizations (Table 1), and the others
organized for the purpose of providing support to theaffected areas (Table 2).
The activities started at the earliest on March 17
and most of them ended in the year of 2011, except
two groups that were continuing their activities at
the time of December 2012.
The areas of activities were Fukushima refecture,
Miyagi prefecture, and Iwate prefecture. As for
Fukushima prefecture, the places of activities wereinland areas designated as the evacuation areas dueto the nuclear plant accident. In Miyagi prefecture
and Iwate-prefecture, areas of activities werecentered in those affected by the tsunami (Figure 1).

Questionnaire items were as follows:

The answers to the questionnaire indicated thata. Place of activities
b. Activity time

actualc. Subjects to be treatedevacuation centers, private houses, administratived. Accumulated number of treated persons

facilities, fire-fighting facilities to welfare facilities.

e. Accumulated number of treatment providers
joinedg. Existence or non-existence of cooperation withhealthcare

professionals

andmedicalinstitutions. If existing, please let us know thecooperated partners or the kind of occupation.

ofactivities

rangedfrom

theSubjects to be treated included, in addition to thedisasterf. Complaints frequently made.
otherplaces

evacuees,“sufferedrescuer”

whothemselves were also victims of the disaster (staffmembers of the evacuation centers, and employeesof fire-fighting and the local medical institutions,etc.) as well as volunteers in the evacuation centers.

h. Existence or non-existence of the accepting

As to cooperation with other medical professions,organization in the local area and linkages with thelinkages with the medical staff in the places of refuge

local municipalities and their external bodies. If

accounted for a major portion of the relevant

existing, please let us know the contact address.

answers, except for the groups whose activities werecomposed of varieties of medical professions.

[Results]
Ten groups were extracted as research subjects
trough the Internet and the information provided bythe informants. Of them, nine groups returned theanswers to the questionnaire. In addition to thesegroups, one group was found in the additional searchusing journals.
From the above investigation, it was confirmed

12

As to cooperation with local organizations, they weremade mainly with institutions such as local
municipalities, local welfare councils and volunteer
centers. In the case there were confusions at theacceptancecounters,

negotiations

weremadedirectly with individual refuge places.
Common chief complaints were stiff shoulders, painin the neck and shoulders, and low back pain, andThe Journal of Kampo, Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine (KAIM)

Volume 6, Number 3 | Fall 2011

other complaints were difficulty sleeping andsings of serious illness or worsening underlying

constipation (Figure 2).

diseases, and then the care can be taken over by anassociated health team or an associated physician,[Consideration]
The research has revealed that medical support
activities

wereacupuncture

performedandbypractitioners

moxibustion

withofcertain

continuity in the affected areas and that their

which suggests the Japanese style acupuncture andmoxibustion have the possibility of functioning as
primary preventive medicine.
[Conclusion]

activities were not limited to the evacuation centers.

It has been confirmed in the Great East Japan

This suggests that there are needs for acupuncture

Earthquake, medical support by practitioners ofand moxibustion in affected areas after theacupuncture and moxibustion in the affected areas

occurrence of a disaster.

was provided and the continuous activities mainly in

In general disasters, the acute phase in which
treatment of life-saving and trauma is significant isfollowed by the chronic phase in which continuous
health care of affected people becomes a problem.
The earthquake disaster in the East Japan, however,is characterized by the extremely short acute phase.
Coupled with medical institutions being devastatedby the tsunami, evacuees with chronic diseases wereforced to interrupt the treatment, their daily livings
were isolated from their usual time, and disastervictims who acted as “suffered rescuer” worked hard
– all these caused problems from an early period

the areas affected by the tsunami. The subjects to betreated included not only the disaster sufferers but
also “suffered rescuer”who were also disaster victims
in various places of refuge. It can be considered fromthis that medical support in the affected areas by thepractitioners

ofacupuncture

andmoxibustion

responded to treatment needs for unidentifiedcomplaints caused by the disaster experience andthe subsequent life of evacuation. And this alsosuggests that acupuncture and moxibustion will beable to have some role in primary preventive
medicine.

such as complaints relating to motor organs,

Meanwhile, for possible disasters, it is required toconstipation, difficulty sleeping, which accounted forverify the possibility of providing medical support bya large portion of the chief complaints in thepractitioners of acupuncture and moxibustion inquestionnaire answers. So, it can be considered that

affected areas, the limitations of their activity, andhandling these health problems that disaster victims

issues and problems.

have will contribute to medical support in affectedareas.
There was at least one group of the survey
subjects that created a manual and had it available
for measuring blood pressure, pulse rate, and bodytemperature if necessary. Measurement vital signs
and the practice of Japanese style acupuncture and[Lastly]
I extend my heartfelt condolence to those who diedin the Great East Japan Earthquake. I also express
my heartfelt sympathy to those who are still missing
and many people who lost their acquaintances andare forced to go through all kinds of privations.

andI wish to express my sincere gratitude to Prof.

temporary houses where sufficient medical support

Shuichi KATAI of National University Corporation

is inaccessible – characterized by it that spends aTsukuba University of Technology for your valuable

certain amount of time one-on-one with a patient,cooperation and guidance he provided to me intouching her or his body while treatment is beingwriting this paper.

moxibustion

intheevacuation

centers

performed - enables the practitioner to detect theThe Journal of Kampo, Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine (KAIM)

13

Volume 6, Number 3| Fall 2011

Group Names

Areas of Activity
Fukushima-prefecture:
Koriyama-city
Iwaki-city
Aizuwakamatsu-city
Ono-machi

Fukushima-prefecture Shinkyu-shi Kai

Tohoku University Hospital Kampo InternalMedicine
AMDA
Tokyo Rojyo Hari-Kyu Team
Hokkaido College of High Technology
Saigai Fukko Shin-Kyu / Jusei Volunteer Team
Acupuncture Moxibustion & Orthopedic Clinic
TAIU
Morinomiya University of Medical SciencesGraduate School of Health Sciences Team

Fukushima-city
Fukushima-prefecture:
Aizusakashita-machi
Miyagi-prefecture:
Ishinomaki-city
Shichigahama-machi
Iwate-prefecture:
Otsuchi-cho
Fukushima-prefecture:Soma-city
Miyagi-prefecture:
Yamamoto-cho
Miyagi-prefecture:
Kesennuma-city
Iwate-pref.:Ofunato-city
Fukushima-prefecture:
Iwaki-city
Miyagi-prefecture:
Kesennuma-city

Activity Period

3/17/2011 - 6/19/2011

End Mar - June/2011

3/28/2011 - Ongoing (Otsuchi-cho)
4/16/2011 - 6/12/2011(Soma-city, every Sunday, total 10 times)
5/22/2011 - August/2011 (Yamamoto-cho)
4/30/2011 - 5/5/2011

4/23/2011 - 5/22/2011 (every week end)
4/30/2011 - 5/6/2011

Table 1 Groups formed based on the existing organizations

Group Names

Areas of Activity
Miyagi-prefecture:
Iwanum-city

Saigai Shin-Kyu Massage Project

Volunteers from Shiga-ken Shinkyu-Shi Kai
Volunteers from Hanada College Almni
Team of Shiga-ken H Sensei

Active Time

Natori-city

3/27/2011 - 5/12/2011 (Iwanuma-city)
4/6/2011 - 5/12/2011 (Natori-city)

Shiogama-city

4/16/2011 - 5/11/2011(Shiogama-city)

Kesennuma-city

5/1/2011 - 6/30/2011 (Kesennuma-city)

Ishinomaki-city
Minamisanriku-cho(For Kesennuma and7/17/2011 - 9/28/2011 (Ishinomaki-city)
5/28/2011 - 12/6/2011(Minamisanrikucho)

Ishinomaki, dispatch request
was made by PCAT.)
Miyagi-prefecture:
Ishinomaki-city
Onagawa-cho
Miyagi-prefecture:
Ishinomaki-city

4/28/2011 - 5/7/2011
6/3/2011 - 6/6/2011
7/15/2011 - 7/19/2011
Ongoing intermittently.

Hisai-Sha Shien Project Team Oriental
Medicine

Miyagi-prefecture:
Higashi-Matsushima-city
Miyagi-prefecture:
Ishinomaki-city
Miyagi-prefecture:
Shichigahama-cho
Miyagi-prefecture:
Onagawa-cho

April/2011 Ongoing

Table 2 Groups newly formed for providing medical support in affected areas.

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The Journal of Kampo, Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine (KAIM)

Volume 6, Number 3 | Fall 2011

Figure 1 Areas of Medical Support Activities by Practitioners of Acupuncture & Moxibustion

The Journal of Kampo, Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine (KAIM)

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Volume 6, Number 3| Fall 2011

876543
2
10Figure 2 Major Chief Complaints

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The Journal of Kampo, Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine (KAIM)