at present

When examining the evolution of the birth control movement in Japan, it is also crucial to consider how it has played out within the 21st century context. Due to the persistent efforts made by prominent figures of the birth control movement—like Kato and Sanger—Japanese society has increasingly recognized women’s reproductive health rights, and normalized access to certain contraceptive methods. For example, although population policies were historically controlled by the state, the passage of the 1996 Maternal Body Protection Law symbolized the government’s rescinding power towards birth regulation and established the long overdue reproductive rights for women.⁵⁶

Female Contraceptives in Japan, Multiphasic Oral Contraceptives. From Life Abroad.

However, Japan is yet to overcome numerous obstacles regarding the accessibility of birth control for women. Despite the birth control movement achieved the introduction of contraception in the country, condoms are overwhelmingly used as the most popular contraceptive device with almost 80% of the Japanese using them,⁵⁷ because alternative methods—like oral contraceptive pills—continue to be extremely limited. For instance, the low-dosage oral contraceptive pill that was legalized in 1999 is rarely used due to its high price, and the emergency contraceptive pill—which has been proven effective in preventing unwanted pregnancies—is still unapproved in Japan.⁵⁸

Induced Abortion Rate (per 1,000 women), by age group from 1955~2003. From The Japanese Journal of Population Vol.4, No.1, via Maternal Body Protection Statistics.

Moreover, another challenge that modern Japan faces is the gradual increase in abortions among teenagers. While the overall rate of induced abortions have decreased since its peak in 1955, abortions among women under the age of 20 have visibly increased — as depicted in the red line of above graph from the Japanese Journal of Population.⁵⁹ This can be attributed to the 1949 amendment of the Eugenic Protection Law which widened the indications for induced abortions by adding “economic reasons”—in fact, 99% of today’s abortions are because of this.⁶⁰ Sexually transmitted diseases are also on the rise, which may be a result of the lack of knowledge and public discussion about the concept of reproductive rights. Such issues call for revised “reproductive health policies” and “increased sex-education” for the Japanese youth.⁶¹