Great Construction

The Problem of Parasites

     On September 25, the following article titled “Roundworms Are Frightening” appeared in the pages of the  newspaper Asahi.
     “Parasite Prevention Week started on the twenty-first. In the midst of the unfavorable postwar conditions, it is the rare Japanese person who does not have parasites growing in their intestines. Particularly, the vigor with which roundworms now breed is indeed unprecedented, and a review of the general survey mandated by the Parasitical Disease Prevention Law shows that the parasite egg retention rate in 1947 was, for Hokkaido, 52.5 (38.3)%; Aomori, 89.1 (66.5)%; Gumma, 95.1%; Tokyo, 46.7 (26.7)%; Yamanashi, 98.0 (64.7)%; Shizuoka, 78.7 (54.0)%; Osaka, 66.8 (57.6)%; Hiroshima, 81.4 (51.4)%; and Kagoshima, 92.9 (56.5)%. When compared to the figures in parentheses which are the statistics for 1938, the great increase of the rate can be understood. According to an exhaustive investigation by the U.S. Army’s 406^th Medical General Laboratory, from September to November last year, the egg retention rate was 91.6% in Saitama; 93.4% in Ibaraki; and 87.0% in Chiba. Roundworms were 74.2%, 66.4%, and 55.8%. For intestinal hookworm infestation, the rates were 33.5%, 59.0%, and 45.7%, and quantities amounting to several percentage points were also found in cases of liver dystomas and schistosomiasis.
     “Roundworms were originally situated primarily in agricultural villages but recently have invaded urban areas. Individuals who used to have on average 2 to 3 round worms in their stomachs now have anywhere from a little over a dozen to more than a hundred. Extreme cases of breeding roundworms present in large quantities that have increased from hundred to three hundred. At these levels, the human being not only becomes pale in the face and loses appetite, stomach cramps also occur not to mention tissue torn in the liver and kidneys, after which, in the end the amount of roundworms fills up the intestines and the person dies. Recently in all hospitals throughout the nation, there are from two to three examples where autopsies performed show the death to be the result of roundworms.”
     The above account shows how clearly the Non-fertilizer Cultivation Method that the Japan Kannon Church promotes is good tidings for the extermination of insect damage.

 Hikari, Issue 33, page 2, October 29, 1949
translated by cynndd

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“Kiseichū Mondai” was published on the second page of Hikari, Issue 33 on October 29, 1949. Although no translations of “Kiseichū Mondai” are known to exist, this essay was reprinted on page 108 of the anthology Igaku Kankei Goronbun Shū (Collected Essays on Medical Science) that did enjoy a limited circulation. Igaku Kankei Goronbun Shū contains no publication data, but internal evidence suggests that its editing stopped several months preceding Meishu-sama’s death. Furthermore, since the book lacks publication data, whether the volume had Meishu-sama’s imprimatur or not is unknown, so details concerning this volume are probably impossible to research.