Women's Rights?: The Politics of Eugenic Abortion in Modern Japan (IIAS Publications Series Monographs)

343 Pages·2009·1.91 MB·English

by  Masae Kato

publications series
Monographs 2
Women’s Rights?
W
This volume explores the concept of Japanese reproductive rights
o
and liberties in light of recent developments in disability studies.
m
Masae Kato asks important questions about what constitutes per- e The Politics of Eugenic
n
sonhood and how, in the twenty-first century, we come to under-
’s
stand eugenic abortion and other bioethical arguments. Tracing the R
Abortion in Modern Japan
origin and influence of the concept of a ‘right’, the author places the i
g
h
term in local social and historical contexts in order to determine
t
s
that it still carries overtones of Anglo-American philosophy, rather ?

than universal truth. Digging deeply into Japanese debates on se- M a sa e K ato
›
lective abortion, Women’s Rights? The Politics of Eugenic Abortion

M
in Modern Japan discusses how this charged term can be both de-
a
Westernized and de-masculinized, especially in its appropriations by s
a
the Japanese women’s movement and disability scholars. In the heat e

of bioethical argument, the significance of the concept of ‘right’ is K
a
gaining its weight. In the situation that accurate analysis of the con-
t
o
cept is needed both by academic scholars, medical professionals and
bioethicists, this book sheds a light on possible development of the
notion of ‘right’.
Masae Kato is research fellow in the Socio-Genetic Marginalisa-
tion in Asia Programme (SMAP) at the International Institute for
Asian Studies. She conducts research on socio-cultural factors that
play a role in the reproductive decision-making process in Japan,
which are compared to those from China and India in the context
of SMAP. She is an assistant professor in gender studies at Leiden
University, the Netherlands.
isbn 978 90 5356 793 7
amsterdam university press
www.aup.nl
9 789053 567937
amsterdam university press
Kato_DEF.indd 1 11-2-2009 19:59:30
Women’s Rights?
Publications Series
SeriesEditors
MaxSparreboomandPaulvanderVelde
EditorialBoard
Prasenjit Duara (University of Chicago) / Carol Gluck (Columbia University) /
Christophe Jaffrelot (Centre d’E´tudes et de Recherches Internationales-Sciences-
po) / Victor T. King (University of Hull) / Yuri Sadoi (Meijo University) / A.B.
Shamsul (Institute of Occidental Studies / Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia) /
HenkSchulteNordholt(RoyalNetherlands InstituteofSoutheastAsianandCar-
ibbeanStudies)/WimBoot(LeidenUniversity)
The IIAS Publications Series consists of Monographs and Edited Volumes. The
aim of the Series is to promote Asia-Europe Studies. The Series includes com-
parative researchon Europe andAsia andresults fromcooperationbetweenEur-
opean and Asian scholars. The International Institute for Asian Studies stimu-
lates scholarship on Asia and is instrumental in forging research networks
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TheInternationalInstituteforAsianStudies(IIAS)isapostdoctoralresearchcentre
basedinLeidenandAmsterdam,theNetherlands.Itsmainobjectiveistoencou-
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Forfurtherinformation,pleasevisitwww.iias.nl
Women’s Rights?
The Politics of Eugenic Abortion
in Modern Japan
Masae Kato
Publications Series
Monographs 2
Cover illustration:Eva Gjaltema
Cover design:Maedium, Utrecht
Layout: The DocWorkers,Almere
ISBN 978 90 5356793 7
e-ISBN 978 90 4850143 4
NUR 741 /745
© IIAS /Amsterdam University Press, 2009
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright re-
served above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or in-
troduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any
means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise)
without the written permission of both the copyright owners and the
authorof the book.
To my Sensei
To my Parents
To my Sisters

Contents
Acknowledgments 11
Introduction 13
Problems ofrights:Theissue ofrights in an international
context 15
The aims ofthisbook with regard to theconcept of‘rights’ 20
Relatedresearch 22
On target groups:Socialmovement organisations ofwomen,
disabledpeople, and anti-abortion activists 28
On thestructure 32
1 Historical Background 35
Laws onabortion betweenthe Meiji periodand theend of
theSecondWorld War 35
The Iehousehold systemand women’sposition during the
Meiji period 36
Towards thegrowing militarism of the1930s 38
After theSecondWorld War 42
2 AbortionDebates in the1970s 59
The attempt to revise theEugenicProtection Law: The draft
proposaland those behind it 59
Reactionof women to theproposed revisions to the Eugenic
Protection Law 65
The encounter between themovements of women and
disabledpeople 66
Disabledpeople’sarguments againsttheproposal 68
Insearch of movementrhetoric 70
Philosophicalcontribution of theWomen’sLiberation
Movement 77
DebateinsidetheWomen’sLiberationMovement about
theconcept ofan individual political ‘right’ 78
8 CONTENTS
3 On women’sselfishness and the right to abortion 85
Genealogyof theconcept ofrights 85
Politicalphilosophy in Japan before theconceptof‘rights’
was introduced 96
A rights analysis of theJapanese abortion debate during
the1970s 106
Towards the1980s:The 1975 UN Women’sConference
and thesolidarity of Japanesewomen 114
4 AbortionDebates in the1980s 117
The 1982 attemptto repealtheeconomicreasons clause
and theanti-abortion argument 117
The reaction of the disabled people’smovement 131
Rights in the 1980s 138
5 Analysisof theDiscourse onthe ConceptofIndividual,
Political Rights in the 1980s 141
On thefrequent useof theterm ‘right’in the 1980s 142
On adebateabout the Mizukobusinessand the usage
of theterm ‘right’ in Japan 155
The 1980s in comparison with the1970s 158
Fromthe 1980sinto the1990s 159
6 The Debate on the Notion ofIndividual, Political Rights
after theRepealof the Eugenic Protection Law 167
The main problem after theEugenicProtection Law:
Reproductive technologies 167
Individual doctors and their perspectives onwomen’sright
to self-determination 175
Reproductive technologies use women’sbodies 187
Whatcan be learnedfrom these debates? 192
7 Liberated Individuals? 195
The meaning ofthe ‘self’ with ‘women’srightto
self-determination’ 195
Liberalism 198
On themeaningof ‘women’sright to self-determination’
as used by the women’smovement 201
‘Who isthe self’ in women’srightto self-determination 215
CONTENTS 9
Conclusion Summary of theAnalysis andthe Future of
theConcept of‘Rights’ 219
1970s:‘Women’srightto abortion’ is women’segoism 219
The 1980s: International arguments, new rhetoric,and
anew phasein movements’ activities 231
The possibility ofenriching theconcept of‘rights’ 235
Appendix 1 Crimes of abortion (Chapter 29 ofthe
Japanese PenalCode) 241
Appendix 2 The Eugenic Protection Law 243
Appendix 3 The Law to Protectthe Mother’sBody 257
Appendix 4 Ademand letter from Osaka Aoi shiba nokai
to the Hyôgo Prefecture 261
Appendix 5 Aleaflet written and distributed by
TANAKA Mitsu, on behalf ofthe Women’s
Liberation Movement (Tokyo,1973) 263
Notes 269
Bibliography 313
Index 337