著者

豊田 真穂

出版者

ジェンダー史学会

雑誌

ジェンダー史学 (ISSN:18804357)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.6, pp.55-70, 2010

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Although the 1955 International Planned Parenthood Conference in Tokyo brought drastic change in governmental efforts to promote birth control as a means to control population, little is known about how or why the conference was held in Tokyo. The official story according to the conference proceedings went that it was Clarence J. Gamble, an American philanthropist, who suggested that the conference be held in Tokyo. However, as this paper shows, Gamble merely happened to be in Japan when Yoshio Koya, a Welfare bureaucrat, and others were struggling to find a way to have the Conference take place here.<BR>Gamble, who should not be given very much credit for his contribution to the Tokyo IPPF Conference, was a controversial figure. His main concern was the fertility differential between classes. As a fervent eugenicist, he supported the development of a simple contraceptive method, using salt solution and sponges. He strongly promoted the simple method as a means to control population when he extended his work in Asia. This shows his lack of empathy for Asian women. His arrogant acts in Asia, where he ignored local autonomy, led the board of IPPF to harshly criticize and finally to expel Gamble.<BR>Nonetheless, Gamble was credited for his service to Japan. It impressed him that it was the Japanese birth controllers who appreciated his work. As a result, the Japanese birth control movement, already funded substantially by Gamble, was able to continue receiving financial support from him. However, by accepting Gamble's money and publicly praising him as "the Benefactor of the Family Planning Movement in Japan," the postwar birth control movement in Japan proclaimed its agendas of population control and eugenics.