"Women's Emancipation Policy" and the Reprodutive Control in the U.S. Occupation of Japan

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 23710322
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Gender
• Research Institution: Waseda University (2015-2016); Kansai University (2011-2014)
• Principal Investigator: Toyoda Maho 早稲田大学, 文学学術院, 教授 (20434821)
• Project Period (FY): 2011-04-28 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: アメリカの日本占領 / 性／生殖の管理 / 女性解放 / バースコントロール / 優生思想 / 人口政策 / リプロダクティブ・ライツ / ジェンダー

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study aims to reevaluate the historical significance of the so-called “women’s emancipation policy” during the U.S. occupation of Japan after the World War II, focusing on the reproductive control. By viewing the occupation as a stage where the American and Japanese ideologies of gender and family met and sometimes clashed, this study shows that the eugenic ideology and the laws and legal systems which support it were established and strengthened during the occupation under the influence of American eugenics movement which eliminate "unfit" individuals from the family image.

Free Research Field

ジェンダー