National Sanatorium Kikuchi Keifu-en (Kyushu Hospital) (国立療養所菊池恵楓園) was one of the first of five publicly run leprosy sanatoria opened in 1909, following the promulgation of the first leprosy prevention law in 1907.  It opened with the capacity for 110 patients, but this was increased to 1100 in 1941, and then to 2200 in 1958. It was the largest sanatorium in Japan, covering 595 ha of land. The rounding up of leprosy-affected squatters around the Honmyoji Temple in 1940 and the closing of Kaishun Byoin Hospital (opened by Hannah Riddell) in 1941 increased the number of inmates of Kikuchi Keifu-en. (see Hannah Riddell: An Englishwoman in Japan by Julia Boyd)

In 1958, Kikuchi Keifu-en had 1734 residents. As of December 31, 2015, it had 277, with an average of 82.8.

Kikuchi Keifu-en had a nursing school (1943-2002), a nursery school (for so-called ‘untainted children’ of affected parents), and primary and junior high schools.

Between 1953 and 1996, a medical prison for leprosy-affected convicts, under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Law, existed adjacent to the premises of Kikuchi Keifu-en.

In 2006, Kikuchi Keifu-en opened a History Museum in its former community hall. This was done in order to restore the dignity of the former patients and their families. One symbolic item on display is a part of ‘stone wall’ that surrounded the sanatorium, with a hole made by the inmates of those days to have a peek at the outside world.
http://www.nhds.go.jp/~keifuen/siryoukan.html

In 2012, a day nursery was opened within the premises for families in the nearby communities.