Tiana Norgren. <italic>Abortion before Birth Control: The Politics of Reproduction in Postwar Japan</italic>. (Studies of the East Asian Institute.) Princeton: Princeton University Press. 2001. Pp. xiii, 242. Cloth $45.00, paper $17.95

Birth control survey research, technical bureaucrats and the imagining of Japan’s population, 1945–60

“…Population growth was the subject of policy debates in Japan from the 1920s (Lee 2017;Sugita 2010Sugita , 2013Fujime 1997, 245-281;Tipton 1994Tipton , 1997 until the outbreak of the Asia Pacific War, at which time the government began to endorse pronatalism (Fujino 2003). Policy debate on 'overpopulation' as a 'population problem' (jink o mondai) emerged as the populace expanded by eight million in the years following Japan's surrender in August 1945, through rising birth rates and an influx of repatriates (Ogino 2008a;Norgren 2001;Oakley 1978).…”

“…Following these 'trinity' deliberations, on 26 October 1951, the Cabinet decided to popularize birth control throughout the country, with the MHW responsible for implementation. In 1952, the EPL was amended to accommodate the new policy (Tama 2001;Norgren 2001;Matsubara 1998), and the Eugenic Marriage Consultation Centers based within local health offices charged with providing guidance on birth control to married couples. The amendment also created a new category of healthcare professionals: 'birth control field instructors' (jutai ch osetsu jicchi shid oin) (Kimura 2013;Obayashi 1989).…”