Japan’s Parliament recently released a comprehensive report on the Eugenic Protection Law, which allowed the government to sterilize individuals with cognitive disabilities, mental illness, or hereditary disorders in order to prevent the birth of “inferior” offspring. This information was reported by The Japan Times.
According to the report, over the course of 48 years, a total of 24,993 people were sterilized under this law, with approximately 16,000 of them not giving their consent for the procedure. Shockingly, this included two 9-year-old children.
The legislation was unanimously passed by lawmakers as a successor to Japan’s National Eugenic Law of 1940, with the intention of combating population growth and food shortages in the aftermath of World War II. A high school textbook from 1975, mentioned in the report, stated that lawmakers aimed to “improve” the genetic predisposition of the entire population.
The report highlighted the cases of the two 9-year-old children who were sterilized, one in the early 1960s and the other in the 1970s.
The law was eventually repealed in 1996, and in 2019, new legislation was introduced that provided each victim with compensation amounting to ¥3.2 million ($22,648), as reported by the BBC. However, many victims have since filed lawsuits against the government seeking further compensation, prompting Parliament to launch a new investigation in June 2020.
The recently published 1,400-page report is damning. It not only confirmed that consent from adults was not legally required and that a board at the prefectural government had the authority to approve each case, but also revealed that numerous individuals were sterilized without the knowledge of this board.
Furthermore, the report exposed the fact that the welfare ministry granted local authorities across Japan permission to deceive individuals with hereditary diseases. One victim was told they were undergoing an operation for appendicitis, only to be unknowingly sterilized instead.
A powerful image accompanying the report shows lawyers and supporters of sterilized victims in Japan protesting for compensation in 2018. The image is credited to TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/AFP/Getty Images.
An 80-year-old victim, who was forcibly sterilized at the age of 14 and chose to remain anonymous, expressed their hope that the government would acknowledge their suffering. Yasutaka Ichinokawa, a professor of medical sociology at the University of Tokyo, has been advocating for an investigation since 1997 and believes that the compensation should be increased from its current amount of $22,000.
It is worth noting that Japan is not the only country to have sanctioned forced sterilizations. In the 20th century, an estimated 60,000 Americans were sterilized as a result of eugenics laws.
Koji Niisato, one of the lawyers representing the Japanese victims, expressed disappointment that the report did not provide clarity on why the law was created, why it took 48 years to be amended, or why the victims were not adequately compensated. It is said that this disclosure is just the beginning, with more revelations yet to come.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno held a news conference on Monday and offered a sincere apology on behalf of the government for the pain it caused. He also pledged that Parliament would make every effort to determine additional compensation for the victims.
In conclusion, the report sheds light on a dark chapter in Japan’s history and underscores the need for justice and fair compensation for the victims of forced sterilization.
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