The ossuary is seen at the National Sanatorium Oku-Komyoen in the Okucho district of Setouchi, Okayama Prefecture, which accommodates dissected residents, on Feb. 8. (Takuya Tanabe) SETOUCHI, Okayama Prefecture--For 60 years, leprosy patients may have been improperly dissected at a long-established sanatorium here, a practice that its operator is now investigating. The National Sanatorium Oku-Komyoen announced its residents were anatomized on its grounds following their deaths at least from its opening in 1938 through 1998. However, proper approval by patients for the postmortem examinations may not have been given. “Doubts remain on whether sufficient explanations were offered to gain consent,” said Yoshinori Aoki, director of Oku-Komyoen. “We will figure out what was going on at the time to restore residents’ honor, so we will never repeat the same thing."