Contraceptive Diplomacy: Reproductive Politics and Imperial Ambitions in the United States and Japan

337 Pages·2018·2.07 MB·English

by  Aiko Takeuchi-Demirci

Contraceptive Diplomacy
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asian america
A series edited by Gordon H. Chang
Th e increasing size and diversity of the Asian American population, its
growing signifi cance in American society and culture, and the expanded
appreciation, both popular and scholarly, of the importance of Asian
Americans in the country’s present and past—all these developments have
converged to stimulate wide interest in scholarly work on topics related to
the Asian American experience. Th e general recognition of the pivotal role
that race and ethnicity have played in American life, and in relations be-
tween the United States and other countries, has also fostered the height-
ened attention.
Although Asian Americans were a subject of serious inquiry in the
late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, they were subsequently ig-
nored by the mainstream scholarly community for several decades. In re-
cent years, however, this neglect has ended, with an increasing number of
writers examining a good many aspects of Asian American life and cul-
ture. Moreover, many students of American society are recognizing that
the study of issues related to Asian America speak to, and may be essential
for, many current discussions on the part of the informed public and vari-
ous scholarly communities.
Th e Stanford series on Asian America seeks to address these interests.
Th e series will include works from the humanities and social sciences, in-
cluding history, anthropology, political science, American studies, law, lit-
erary criticism, sociology, and interdisciplinary and policy studies.
A full list of titles in the Asian America series can be found online at
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Contraceptive Diplomacy
reproductive politics and
imperial ambitions in the
united states and japan
Aiko Takeuchi-Demirci
stanford university press
stanford, california
Stanford University Press
Stanford, California
© 2018 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior
University. All rights reserved.
Th is book has been partially underwritten by Th e Susan Groag Bell
Publication Fund in Women’s History. For more information on the
fund, please see www.sup.org/bellfund.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or
by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and
recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system without the
prior written permission of Stanford University Press.
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free, archival-quality
paper
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Takeuchi-Demirci, Aiko, author.
Title: Contraceptive diplomacy : reproductive politics and imperial
ambitions in the United States and Japan / Aiko Takeuchi-Demirci.
Description: Stanford, California : Stanford University Press, 2017. |
Series: Asian America | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifi ers: lccn 2017028676 (print) | lccn 2017030895 (ebook) |
isbn 9781503604414 (electronic) | isbn 9781503602250 (cloth :
alk. paper) | isbn 9781503604407 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Subjects: lcsh: Birth control—United States—History—20th century.
| Birth control—Japan—History—20th century. | United States—
Population policy—History—20th century. | Japan—Population
policy—History—20th century. | Sanger, Margaret, 1879-1966. |
Katō, Shizue, 1897-2001. | United States—Relations—Japan. |
Japan—Relations—United States.
Classifi cation: lcc hq766.5.u6 (ebook) | lcc hq766.5.u6 t35 2017
(print) | ddc 363.9/60973—dc23
lc record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017028676
Typeset by Motto Publishing Services in 11/14 Adobe Garamond Pro
Contents
Figures and Tables ix
Acknowledgments xi
Abbreviations xiii
Note on Japanese Names and Words xv
Introduction 1
. Th e Women Rebels: Transnational Socialism, Feminism,
and the Early Birth Control Movement 19
. Spreading the Gospel of Birth Control: Th e Limits of
International Women’s Activism 55
. Danger Spots in World Population: Th e Eugenic and
Imperial Struggles in the Pacifi c 83
. Between Democracy and Genocide: US Involvement in
Population Control in Occupied Japan 117
. Re-producing National Bodies: Promoting Eugenic
Marriages in Postwar Japan 151
. Birth Control for the Masses: Technological Imperatives
for Global Population Control 181
Epilogue 211
Notes 223
Bibliography 285
Index 311
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Figures and Tables
figures
. Population and birth rates in Japan and the United States,
1880–2014 17
. Portrait of Margaret Sanger and her son Grant 39
. Map of California showing the “dark sections occupied by
Orientals” 93
. Poster comparing the average numbers and rate of
childbirths among city dwellers, teachers, and farmers 134
. Crawford F. Sams, head of the Public Health and
Welfare Section of SCAP 148
. Declining birth rates and population of each imperial
power 161
. Rates of contraception and induced abortion in Japan,
1950–2000 179
.. A drawing satirizing the four Japanese delegates
attending the 1952 Th ird International Conference
on Planned Parenthood 185
tables
. Rate of contraception use in Japan, 1950–2000 175
. Percentage of use of contraceptive methods in Japan,
1950–2000 208
ix