A recently released parliamentary report has shed light on Japan’s dark history of forced sterilization under the post-World War Two eugenics law. Startlingly, the report reveals that among the 25,000 individuals who were forcibly sterilized, two were just nine years old at the time.
Implemented over a span of 48 years, the eugenics legislation enforced compulsory sterilization procedures on individuals deemed “inferior” to hinder the occurrence of births among them. Numerous individuals affected by this law were afflicted with physical or cognitive disabilities, becoming victims of its harsh consequences. The law is widely regarded as a grim chapter in Japan’s post-war recovery and was finally repealed in 1996.
The 1,400-page study, released by parliament, is based on a government investigation initiated in June 2020. It acknowledges that approximately 25,000 people were subjected to forced sterilization operations, with over 16,000 performed without consent. Shockingly, some victims were deceived, being informed that they were undergoing routine procedures like appendix operations. Local governments had the authority to arbitrarily assign the surgeries.
The report discloses that the two nine-year-olds who underwent sterilization were a boy and a girl. An 80-year-old survivor, who was coerced into the surgery at the age of 14, expressed frustration with the government’s deceptive actions and called for their acknowledgement of the victims’ suffering.
Critics argue that the report fails to address why it took nearly five decades to repeal the eugenics law or provide an explanation for its creation.
The report’s revelations have sparked outrage on social media. Users expressed shock and dismay at the sterilization of children as young as nine. They also criticized the government’s delay in repealing the eugenics law and called for further examination of laws limiting the rights of women and LGBTQ individuals.
In 2019, the Japanese government apologized and agreed to compensate each survivor with 3.2 million yen ($28,600; £22,100). Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe acknowledged the “great suffering” caused by the eugenics law in the official apology.
Other countries, including Germany, Sweden, and the United States, have also implemented forced sterilization policies in the past. They have since apologized and provided reparations to surviving victims.
