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Japan’s early eugenics policies drew on U.S. sterilization laws and European models.

The Claim

Japan's eugenics policies in the early 20th century were influenced by eugenics policies in Europe and the United States.

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The Short Version

Historical evidence shows Japanese eugenics policy was shaped in part by European and U.S. precedents. Japanese Diet research and scholarly studies specifically link policy development and the 1940 National Eugenic Law to American sterilization laws and European, especially German, eugenic models. The main caveat is that Japan adapted these ideas to its own political and social goals rather than simply copying them.

Caveats

  • Influence does not mean Japan's eugenics policies were identical to Western ones or solely derived from them.
  • Domestic factors—nationalism, empire, population policy, and public health—also materially shaped Japanese eugenics.
  • Some listed sources are weak or non-scholarly; the conclusion rests primarily on Diet research and peer-reviewed academic work.

The Receipts

  1. 第1章 優生学・優生運動の歴史と概要

    衆議院調査局

  2. 第3編 諸外国における優生学・優生運動の歴史と断種等施策

    衆議院調査局

  3. Appearance of “Mental Hygiene” in Japan's Theory of Prenatal Care in the Early Twentieth Century

    National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) / PMC

  4. Eugenics in Japan: Some Ironies of Modernity, 1883–1945

    Cambridge University Press

  5. Eugenics in Japan: some ironies of modernity, 1883–1945

    PubMed (Endeavour / Elsevier)

  6. 20 世紀初頭のアメリカ合衆国における優生学運動と断種――世界初の断種法制定からサンガーの産児調節運動まで――

    J-STAGE (ジェンダー史学会)

  7. Eugenics in Modern and Contemporary Japan

    Cipango - Cahiers d’études japonaises (OpenEdition Journals)

  8. Politics of Birth Control and Eugenics in Modern Japan

    Cornell University eCommons

  9. Eugenics

    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

  10. Eugenics and Education in Post-war Japan

    Cipango – French Journal of Japanese Studies (OpenEdition)

+ 10 more sources — see the full list on Lenz

Filed Under

EugenicsEuropeJapanUnited States

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