A recent parliamentary report has unveiled the repercussions of Japan's post-World War II eugenics legislation, which enforced compulsory sterilization, affecting approximately 25,000 individuals, even two children as young as nine.
This eugenics law, in place for almost half a century, mandated surgical procedures to hinder procreation among individuals deemed "substandard," often due to physical or cognitive impairments or mental health conditions. It is now regarded as a somber chapter in Japan's post-war history and was finally repealed in 1996.
Just this week, the parliament released a comprehensive 1,400-page report, the result of a government inquiry initiated in June 2020. The report acknowledged that around 25,000 individuals underwent these procedures, with over 16,000 carried out without the patients' consent.
Many victims were deceived into believing they were undergoing routine surgeries, such as appendectomies. During that era, local authorities had the power to enforce such operations.
The report disclosed that among the victims were two children aged nine, one boy and one girl.
An 80-year-old victim, who underwent forced surgery at 14, expressed gratitude that the government has finally acknowledged these actions. The victim, identified as Saburo Kita, urged the government to address this matter and consider the plight of the survivors.
Critics have emphasized that the report failed to elucidate why it took nearly five decades to repeal the law and left the motivations behind its enactment shrouded in mystery.
Revelations from the report have incited indignation on social media, with users expressing shock and abhorrence that children as young as nine were subjected to sterilization.
Some have criticized the government for the belated repeal of the eugenics law and expressed hope that Tokyo would reconsider other laws that curtail the rights of women and the LGBTQ+ community.
In 2019, the Japanese government issued an apology and agreed to compensate each survivor with 3.2 million yen (about $28,600; £22,100). Then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe acknowledged that the eugenics law had inflicted "immense suffering" on its victims.
Forced sterilization policies have also been part of the histories of countries like Germany, Sweden, and the United States, all of which have expressed remorse and offered reparations to surviving victims.