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| Abbreviation | JRCS |
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| Formation | May 1, 1877 (1877-05-01) |
| Type | Non-governmental organization |
| Purpose | Humanitarian |
| Headquarters | Tokyo, Japan |
| Location |
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Region served |  Japan |
| Membership | International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement |
Official language | Japanese andEnglish |
Honorary President | Empress Masako of Japan |
Executive President | Atsushi Seike |
| Website | jrc.or.jp |
TheJapanese Red Cross Society (日本赤十字社,Nippon Sekijūjisha) is theJapanese affiliate of theInternational Red Cross.
TheImperial Family of Japan has traditionally supported the society, with theEmpress as Honorary President and other imperial family members as vice presidents. Its headquarters is located inTokyo, and local chapters are set up in all47 prefectures. 9,610,000 individual and 120,000 corporate members belong to the society, which operates 92 Red Cross hospitals and 79 blood centers all over the country.[1] The Japanese Red Cross Society conducts relief activities when major disasters take place. Largeearthquakes that frequently occur in Japan (such as the1923 Great Kantō earthquake, the 1995Great Hanshin earthquake, and the2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami) are an area of work for the society.
CountSano Tsunetami founded the Philanthropic Society (博愛社,Hakuaisha), a relief organization for the injured of theSatsuma Rebellion of 1877; a modified version of the Japanese flag was used by the organization until 1887.[2] Its name was changed to the Japanese Red Cross Society on 2 September 1887 following Japan's admission to theInternational Committee of the Red Cross. Later that year, the society engaged in its first disaster relief after the eruption ofMount Bandai.
From the beginning, theJapanese Imperial family, especiallyEmpress Shōken, provided active support for Red Cross activities. The attendance of the imperial family made membership in the society socially attractive to members of theKazoku aristocracy and leading members of society. By the start of theRusso-Japanese War (1904–1905), the Japanese Red Cross Society was the largest in the world, with over a million members.[3] The Society played an outstanding role with regard to the many Russianprisoners of war, gaining Japan a considerable amount of good public relations in the western press. This image was cultivated by the hosting of volunteer nurses and medical staff from the United States, France, Germany, and Great Britain. A report fromAnita Newcomb McGee on conditions in Japan was instrumental in obtaining government assistance in the revitalization of theAmerican Red Cross.[3]
After the1906 San Francisco earthquake, the Japanese Red Cross Society collected $146,000 for the American relief effort, marking the first overseas operation by the society.
In September 1914, duringWorld War I, at the request of theImperial Japanese Army, the Red Cross put together three squads, each composed of one surgeon and twenty nurses, who were dispatched to Europe on a five-month assignment. The teams leftJapan between October and December 1914 and were assigned toPetrograd,Paris, andSouthampton. The arrival of these nurses received wide press coverage, and their host countries subsequently asked for these teams to extend their assignment to fifteen months.[4] Meanwhile, within Japan, German prisoners of war, who had been captured at theBattle of Tsingtao, were treated fairly well with the help of the Red Cross.
In 1934, the Japanese Red Cross Society hosted the 15th International Conference of the Red Cross in Tokyo.
During theSecond Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945), the Japanese Red Cross Society played a vital role in assisting Japanese civilians and wounded soldiers. However, as the Imperial Japanese Army tended to ignore theGeneva Convention, government and military restrictions hampered the ability of the Japanese Red Cross Society to assist the hundreds of thousands of European military and civilians interned in prison camps in the Japanese-occupied areas ofSoutheast Asia.
AfterWorld War II, the Japanese Red Cross Society was reformed under American advisers. On 14 August 1952, it was given legal status as a specialnon-profit corporation.
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