Science for Governing Japan's Population

'How did 'population' figure in the monumental change of the idiosyncratic Japanese state, from the 1860s to the 1960s? With masterful expertise, Homei has written the authoritative account, taking in everything from land planning to co-prosperity schemes to medical midwifery, from empire to occupation and beyond. A major contribution to reassessing population in modern world history.' Alison Bashford, University of New South Wales 'An enormously ambitious book, and one to set alongside Matt Connelly's Fatal Misconception and Alison Bashford's work. Homei covers from Meiji to post-war Showa, and in doing so, makes this not just a book for Japan specialists, but also one for demography, family planning, and much of the post-colonial world.' John DiMoia, Seoul National University 'In this magisterial study, Homei places the development of modern population science at the center of the making of modern Japan. Combining fascinating historical detail with subtle argument, she shows that over the sweep of a full century, “the population problem” kept changing, while science and state policy became ever more entwined. Written with a sure hand in compelling prose, this book will change the way historians think about population and governance far beyond Japan.' Susan Greenhalgh, Havard University '… a superb foundation for future scholarship on the relationship between policymakers and researchers in population science in modern and contemporary Japan.' Osamu Saito, Monumenta Nipponica