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     The other day I saw a movie in which Tanosuke Sawamura appeared, and it got me to thinking. The tragic story of how Sawamura appeared on stage even though he had had both feet amputated due to gangrene, had had fingers on both hands amputated due to whitlow, and had become akin to a daruma doll is well known, and there is probably no one who does not know that the doctor who performed these surgeries was James Hepburn, the famous American* doctor. Thus, even now Hepburn is held in high regard as the father of surgery in Japan. Sawamura’s first surgery was in 1871†, so Sawamura’s operations were the beginning of surgery in Japan.
     However, what is to be noted is Tanosuke Sawamura’s physical body for which it would be fair to say there is no parallel. In the beginning, his right foot was amputated and he was pronounced cured, but soon after, his left foot became gangrenous and it was amputated. That was not all. The fingers of his hands all contracted whitlow and were amputated, so the tragedy was in no way ordinary. One cannot stop thinking that there must be some reason for this tragedy. At the time, people maintained the following theory. It was held that Sawamura was unusually good looking which made for a great amount of sin arising from his dealings with women, and most likely the cause of his condition was the retribution from those many vengeful spirits. Indeed, at one glance, such would probably seem to be the cause, and there are a lot of grounds for thinking that way, but the reason lies in a place no one realizes. I write about that reason here.
     When Sawamura’s right foot first became gangrenous, it would have healed naturally if left alone. That is because the cause of gangrene is the elimination process of malignant pus, so if left to heal naturally, the amount of pus would gradually increase, finally presenting with a large scarlet-colored swelling. The swelling would soften, a small hole would open, copious amounts of toxic blood and pus would be eliminated, and the foot would heal to the extent that no scars would be left.
     Thus, to operate on the foot before the pus has not had time to accumulate means that the elimination process ceases, even if the swelling was to be pierced artificially to make a small hole. This is an intriguing aspect of creation that I have experienced many times. Because both the right foot and the left foot were severed, the pus had nowhere to go and so sought an opening for elimination in the fingers. Therefore, if Sawamura had lived, it is inevitable that after the amputation of the fingers, the pus would have sought a point of elimination in another part of the body.
     In accordance with the above reasoning, if Dr. Hepburn had not been in Japan, Sawamura’s right foot would have completely healed and he would have left behind remarkable accomplishments. From this one fact alone, we can understand how terrifying are the fallacies of medical science.
     Among the patients I have previously treated are the following examples. The first is a married woman about forty years old. The toxin from preventative vaccinations had gradually descended and was seeking elimination from the feet which had swollen. In spite of the fact that if left alone, the condition would have healed easily, the foot had been operated upon and disinfectants, applied. It seems the disinfectants had been rather strong so they had started to leak out of the surgical scar, and the size of the swelling grew even larger than before. The pain also gradually grew stronger, and finally the swelling and pain increased upward from her ankles. The doctor was astonished and said that the leg must be amputated below the knee. It was at that time that she came to me. Treatment without amputating below the knee took several years and she was healed. There are many similar accounts in the general public, but among the most unfortunate are those where at one point whitlow in a toe was cured by amputation, but later, one after another, another toe contracted whitlow and was amputated. Some had had several toes amputated, and there are those who contract whitlow in the ankles. People who get to this extreme usually cannot avoid death.
     Another patient was a male of about fifty. At first, he experienced swelling in the upper part of his body and in an attempt to make it go away, had applied a very strong ointment. The drugs permeated the skin and gradually spread out, and after several years had spread over his whole body. The color of the swelling was generally scarlet but in the worst places was a purple color. The monstrosity was not to be looked at, and the patient continued to suffer such agony that he could not sleep. At first glance, I observed that he had developed little bumps on his skin and without performing any treatment, turned him away. I heard that he passed away several months later.
       And finally, there was this unusual case. A married woman of about forty had developed swelling between her eye and eyebrow. This also would have healed if left alone, but radiation therapy had been performed. As a result, the swelling had hardened, and the toxin that was still accumulating spread to deep inside the swelling and gradually increased. Swelling had also appeared in an area below the original swelling and it grew to an astonishing size. Furthermore, the eye ball was being pressed from above, so the position of the eye moved downward and precisely in the middle of her cheek formed a crescent moon-shaped swelling. She kept the swelling constantly covered with a white cloth, and I was flabbergasted when I first took away the cloth because I could only think that it appeared as an apparition. Medical science, not understanding that the condition was sufficiently swollen and that if it had been left alone, would have healed completely, had solidified the surface of the condition with radiation therapy and had stopped the swelling process that had been the cause of her condition.
     The above are only several examples, but I have had countless numbers of experiences with this kind of healing. These conditions were all caused by the fallacies of medical science, so I must say that medical science is indeed terrifying. Medical professionals who read this text should be able to nod their heads in acknowledgment, and I have written this essay because I do believe there are some enlightened individuals who will awaken to these fallacies.

*In the original, Meishu-sama writes “Dutch,” not American, but this is probably because for several centuries before 1868, western medicine had been known in Japan as “Dutch medicine” or “Dutch science.” As an aside, the American James Curtis Hepburn, who had gone to Japan as a medical missionary, is probably more well known nowadays as the creator of one of the most-used romanization systems for the Japanese language.
†Meishu-sama gives the year of the surgery as 1871 (the fourth year of the Meiji Era), but a seemingly reputable source says that the first amputation of Sawamura’s thigh was performed on September 15, 1867, which is one year before the Meiji Era began and also during the period of James Hepburn’s life when he was most active in Japan as a doctor.