Women's History Commons^™

201— American Influence On Japanese Birth Control, Rachel Brooks, Kassidy Schad, Katherine Collins, Katie De Onis

GREAT Day Posters

The birth control pill was legalized in the United States in 1965, and 34 years later, in 1999, the birth control pill was legalized in Japan. For decades, Japan clung to pronatalist ideas for moral and economic reasons; preventing births and abortions were not socially acceptable actions. Furthermore, a decreased birth rate was considered an economic threat, as a smaller workforce would seemingly result in decreased productivity. Despite the negative preconceptions about the effects of birth control being long-held in Japanese society, activists, such as Margaret Sanger and Shidzue Ishimoto, disputed them by opposing the government's censorship policies. Activists sought …