Because we believe Japan will be able to end abortion although Japan has been called “Abortion Paradise” as the first country in the world that has legalized abortion after WW2*.

Marches for Life go global. We are happy to read such a fantastic article and moreover to find our march included in list of March for Life countries. Our march must be the last and smallest one among them, although Japan is the earliest country to legalize abortion among them. Our march seems to have something distinguishing trait. It means not only the small size of the march, but the strategy we would adopt to go forward the march. 

The March for Life began in the United States to fight against Roe v.Wade. And following marches in each country may also have the same purpose to reverse the abortion law or to oppose the abortion bill. But in Japan we don’t have to fight against the law. The laws concerning abortion in Japan are too elusive for us to fight against them. Strange to tell, abortion is to be prohibited in Japan in principal, nevertheless hundreds of thousands of abortion procedures are performed in the country each year.

Two women

For the hidden purpose of introducing abortion, Japan legalized Eugenic Protection Law in 1948, and amended it in 1949,1952. Amendment in 1949 added “economic reason” which is the reason of 99% women having abortion today and amendment in 1952 has achieved actual “abortion on demand”. 

The annual number of abortions in the country reached rapidly more than one million in 1954. Japan just became “Abortion paradise” in the early 1950’s when abortion was still unthinkable in any other country.(*Soviet union was the first country to legalize abortion in 1920 but prohibited abortion before WW2)

Leading figures for accomplishment of Abortion Paradise in Japan were two prominent women. One was Margaret Sanger (center left in the photo), needless to say, eugenist, the founder of Planned Parenthood. The other was Shizue Kato (center right), socialist, one of first women in Japanese history becoming the House of Representatives in 1946 soon after WW2. The photo was taken on the conference of 5th International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) held at Tokyo in 1955.

Kato met Sanger in New York for the first time in 1920. Since then they struggled jointly to realize the idea of planned parenthood. Only two years later, Sanger visited to Japan in return at the invitation of Kato. Kato must have been the best partner and friend of Sanger.Their partnership and friendship had never been weakened even though intervened by the War broken out between their birth countries.

If Sanger had not attempted her challenge in Japan with help of Kato, Sanger’s monstrous career would never have been so successful. Sanger has launched Japan to promote Birth Control although Sanger  of those days did not think abortion as means of Birth Control yet. 

Sanger became the most famous foreign celebrity woman in Japan after WW2. Mass media propagated her doctrine and stretched the meaning of it into promoting free-abortion, while Shizue Kato began to prepare Eugenic law with her left wing comrades. Media bias grew bigger, normal Japanese became more obedient to it. People were taught to understand that accepting Birth Control（in Japanese “Sansei”）was inevitable for them to survive in the ashes of a devastating war, and the essential means of Birth Control was abortion. 

Enforcement of Eugenic Protection Law became whistle to call people willing to accept abortion in the name of Birth Control. Having legalized this law, a furious mood was built up in the ashes of a devastating war. It would let people have to think as if woman could or should have abortion in case of unfavorable pregnancy. The mood was brought and amplified by mass media idolizing Sanger and Kato.

Western countries still never imagined of introducing abortion law criticized Japan for being Abortion Paradise harshly so that they called for boycott of Tokyo Olympiad games scheduled for 1964. On the other hand, later Shizue Kato changed her attitude to stand against Eugenic Protection Law of her own fruit. It must have been inconvenient truth for Kato to admit her Birth Control plan being achieved by numberless abortions.

Is Eugenic Protection law an abortion law?

Let us extract the core of the law.

Eugenic Protection Law（present Maternal Protection Law）Article14 *except

The designated physician may exercise artificial interruption of pregnancy, at his discretion, to the person who falls under any of the following items,

4) If the health of the mother may be affected seriously by continuation of pregnancy or by delivery from the physical or economic viewpoint;

Eugenic Protection Law is believed to be abortion law generally. But you should read the article more carefully. First of all, you cannot find the word “abortion” anywhere. This law is apparently not for women to get abortion rights. This law is for designated physician to have opportunities performing an operation for interruption of pregnancy so that they can earn. The subject of the law is doctor, not woman. 

Literally reading, a poor woman wanting abortion merely because of her economic reason would be supposed to be unable to have an “abortion” (rather an operation for interruption of pregnancy) unless designated physician would admit her pregnancy may affect her health seriously. If you think about it prudently, you will find such a risk being almost unthinkable under today's hygienic conditions. A pregnant woman could maintain her health by keeping her baby, not by aborting it. On the contrary, having abortion is widely known to be often harmful for her health. 

Besides this law, it would be surprising fact that Japan retains “Datai-zai” legalized 110 years ago prohibiting abortion in Criminal Law article212. Committing abortion is still guilty in Japan today. It may sound confusing. Nevertheless abortion is prohibited in “Datai-zai”, artificial interruption of pregnancy aiming abortion can be thought of being admitted exceptionally in Eugenic Protection Law. It is correctly “Datai” that corresponds to abortion. Eugenic Protection Law was legalized without abolishing “Datai-zai” so that the term “abortion” could not be used on it.Though the term "Chuzetu" is usually used for abortion in general, "Chuzetu" should correspond to "interruption of pregnancy",not to abortion.

It is not the law that makes people accepting abortion in Japan today. It is the mood kindled by Sanger=Kato and stirred up by mass media soon after WW2 that keep on pushing people to accept abortion. Eugenic Protection Law is nothing but whistle of deceit to call people willing to accept abortion.

Dark forces predominated Japan in the ashes of devastating war made haste to promote abortion instead of arranging related laws deliberately.

Satan finished too hurry in his work in Japan to concrete the basis of his evil design.

Be a whistle of truth

Our strategy of March for Life Japan is not to fight against the law as other countries’ marches do. As described above,Abortion Paradise has no basis of law. There is even a possibility you can point out that almost of all procedures Japan has been doing since enforcement of Eugenic Protection Law to destroy unborn life must have been illegal. It is illusion and delusion if a Japanese woman would feel as if she could or should have abortion in case of unfavorable pregnancy. Pro-life issue in Japan is just a matter of mood, not an issue of law policy. 

Couldn't we teach people, women, men, youth, designated physicians and especially people in church that abortion rights taken for granted in Japan do not exist anywhere? Couldn't we remind them of a truth that Japan is a precious country prohibiting abortion to protect unborn life? Couldn't we break the mood that was stirred up by mass media supporting Sanger=Kato and has been infiltrating them until today?  

We March for Life Japan desire to become whistle of truth to call people willing to stop abortion. "Be a whistle of truth"- that is our strategy.