This newspaper article (which came out before the royal visit) is still worth looking at because it brings attention to the sad history of the isolation of leprosy (Hansen’s disease) patients in Kumamoto (as well as the Minamata disease tragedy). For more detailed information about the history of leprosy in Japan and the importance role Kumamoto played in that history see
http://www.clg.niigata-u.ac.jp/~miyasaka/hansen/leprosypolicy.html
