Title: Chapter 14 The science of population and birth control in post-war Japan
Description: This essay examines the entanglement between population science and population governance immediately after World War II. It analyzes debates on
population and birth control research that contributed to the state-endorsed
birth control campaign. Drawing on the existing works on the campaign as well
as coproduction theory proposed in science and technology studies (STS), this
essay depicts how the Japanese state’s post-war birth control policy was
coproduced with a particular kind of population science that insisted on
the necessity of birth control for Japan’s post-war reconstruction.
Subjects: Birth control, contraception, family planning