Sexuality, Intimacy and Venereal Disease Control during the Occupation of Japan, 1945-1952

Abstract

The talk discusses the development of new forms of regulation concerning sexuality, intimacy and venereal disease during the occupation of Japan after World War II. It reveals how sex and its regulation were not marginal but key issues in negotiating the encounter of occupiers and occupied and Allied/American and Japanese self-imagery. The talk is part of a larger book project recently published as Sanitized Sex (UC Press 2017). Whereas the book analyses the regulation of sexuality, intimacy and venereal disease along three intertwined dimensions of security, health and morale, the talk will focus on public health regulations. Offering a cultural history analysis of venereal disease control, the talk will demonstrate its significance for the occupation period, forms of power and layers of agency in the emerging Cold War era.