帝國日本與腳氣病研究——以臺北醫院醫長稻垣長次郎為中心——

本論文考察1910年前後臺北醫院醫長稻垣長次郎所進行的腳氣病研究（維他命B缺乏症）。在帝國日本之中，以白米為主食的內地，與不以白米為主食的殖民地，兩者的腳氣病患者數量、比例，有很大的差距。因此，在臺灣、朝鮮、關東州等地，都有日本醫學者關注此事。日本殖民地的腳氣病研究之中，臺灣是最早提出系統性研究的地方；研究論文的數量，也比朝鮮等其他地域多很多。而臺灣的腳氣病研究之關鍵人物，是1907年到1921年任職於臺北醫院的稻垣長次郎（1875-1944）。臺北醫院存在著「帝國大學出身者－內地的醫學專門出身者－內務省醫學開業考試合格者－臺灣總督府醫學校出身的臺灣人」這樣的學歷主義、民族差別的階層結構。稻垣正是位於此階層結構的頂點，以臺北醫院內科、小兒科為中心，很多研究者都加入他的腳氣病研究。稻垣的腳氣病研究，可說是臺北醫院包括日本人、臺灣人醫師在內的大規模共同研究計畫。稻垣與臺北醫院團隊的研究，整體而言是主張「腳氣中毒說」。但稻垣的研究沒有辦法分離出腳氣毒素，以失敗告終，今日已無人提及。但是，這個研究讓我們看到，在殖民時期的臺灣，不只是在臺日本人，連臺灣人也逐漸有人罹患腳氣病。例如國語學校或農事試驗場等臺灣總督府教育、研究機關的關係者，或是被內地人雇用者，他們因為接受內地人的飲食習慣，而開始有人得到腳氣病。稻垣的研究為我們留下當時社會這一個值得注目的面向。

This study examines research on beriberi (vitamin B deficiency) conducted by Dr. Inagaki Chōjirō, chief physician of Taihoku Hospital, around 1910. In the Japanese Empire, there emerged vast differences in the number and proportion of people afflicted with beriberi between the Japanese islands, where white rice was a staple, and the colonies, where it was not. Japanese medical researchers in Japanese territories including Taiwan, Korea and the Kwantung Leased Territory paid particular attention to this issue. Taiwan was the first colony of Japan where systematic research on beriberi developed and the number of research papers produced there was much greater than other regions, such as Korea. The key figure to the study of beriberi in Taiwan was Inagaki Chōjirō(1875-1944), who worked at the Taihoku Hospital from 1907 to 1921. The Taihoku Hospital had a clear racial and status hierarchy: "Imperial University graduates - graduates of medical programs in Japan - passing examinees of the Ministry of the Interior's medical field examination - Taiwanese graduates of the Taiwan Government General Medical School." Inagaki was at the top of this hierarchy, and many researchers joined him in his study of beriberi, mostly from the internal medicine and pediatrics departments of Taihoku Hospital. Inagaki's work on beriberi constituted a large-scale joint research project that involved Japanese and Taiwanese doctors at Taihoku Hospital. The research conducted by Inagaki and the Taihoku Hospital team largely pursued the theory that beriberi is caused by poisoning. Ultimately, it failed to isolate a beriberi toxin, and is largely forgotten today. However, Inagaki also made the remarkable observation that in colonial Taiwan, beriberi appeared not only among the Japanese living there, but also among the Taiwanese. For Taiwanese, it became prevalent among those involved with the educational and research institutions of the Taiwan colonial government, such as the National Language School and the Experimental Agricultural Station, and those employed by Japanese, as they were the ones who adopted Japanese eating habits.