Paper short abstract:

Recently, 19 people with disability got stabbed in Kanagawa. The incident is connected to the recent nuclear accident, and to the debate on women's reproductive rights. Roots of both debates can be traced back to '70s, and it's evident that eugenics in the society has not been discussed adequately.

Paper long abstract:

In July 2016, a young man stabbed 19 people with disability who lived in a facility in Kanagawa. The perpetrator, a former worker in the facility, maintained for a longer time that "euthanizing" the disabled is the best option for the country and for themselves, since they are unhappy and pose an economic burden. His eugenics is shocking because of its resemblance to the Nazi's policies, but also because his attitude seems to be shared with a broader community. The fact that the victims dwelled together in a specialized and isolated facility might be a proof of that.

At the beginning of 1970s, social movement for the rights of the people with disability to self-determination had a turning point, which was related to the issue of prenatal diagnosis and selective abortion. At the same period, women fought for the rights of self-determination for their bodies, more specifically for sexuality and reproduction. Thus, there was a kind of 'conflict of interest' between these two trends. Ironically, the debate on this complex issue has been compartmentalized, instead of being argued in a wider social context, within the two minority groups, women and the disabled. Hence, the eugenics problem had been largely overlooked.

We saw the issue's return after the Fukushima incident. Fear of giving birth to children with disability, seeking solution in the newest technology of prenatal diagnosis, or ignoring the issue are various reactions, all inherent to a fear. Concerns resemble the 1970s debate. Why did we forget them? Why can't we come to terms with them? What can we learn from the past? I argue that reason lies in a highly gendered representation of fear situated within a complex web of historical circumstances.