Active Pursuit of Pregnancy

Neoliberalism, Postfeminism and the Politics of Reproduction in Contemporary Japan

Series: 

What is ninkatsu? Who promotes and governs this “active pursuit of pregnancy?” Trying to answer these questions, this unprecedented publication exhibits how mass media, policymakers, and biomedical science-corporate capitalism govern the individual’s reproductive choices in contemporary Japan through gendered discourses of self-improvement, life planning, and biomedical technology. Analyzing a broad range of media, popular science, and government material, it links historical and social processes with an original theoretical framework on self-governance, neoliberalism, and postfeminism. While deeply engaging with Japanese sources, this rich scholarship takes the study of reproductive politics beyond Japan. This book is not only of interest for Japanese studies scholars but more broadly also those curious about neoliberal government strategies, gender, and biomedical capitalism.
Copyright Year:
2022
E-Book (PDF)
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Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-49955-3
Publication:
06 Dec 2021
Hardback
Availability:
Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-47045-3
Publication:
09 Dec 2021
Paperback
Availability:
Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-76461-3
Publication:
21 May 2026
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Isabel Fassbender received her Ph.D. from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (2020) and is currently an Assistant Professor at the Department of International Studies at Doshisha Women’s College in Kyoto. Her research field is Japanese studies, focusing on gender, family sociology, and governmentality.
Active Pursuit of Pregnancy is a deeply intelligent, easily accessible and empirically precise and detailed book that adds an innovative perspective to an old, much-discussed topic. The book improves our theoretical understanding of (neoliberal) politics of reproduction – underlying and interwoven dynamics of power, control and interests – and provides detailed insights into several aspects of contemporary Japanese society, in particular the persistence of the highly gendered postwar family ideology.
Nora Kottmann in: Contemporary Japan, vol. 34, issue 2 (2022)

Active Pursuit of Pregnancy illustrates the complex making of social discourse through the dialectical interactions of the state, society, and the market. The book is an excellent addition to the scholarship pioneered by scholars such as Sheldon Garon and Tiana Norgren, analyzing the reciprocal relationship between the state and societal groups, together forming a system of social management in a democratic society.
Aiko Takeuchi-Demirci in: The Journal of Japanese Studies, vol. 49, issue 2, (Summer 2023), pp. 437-441.
Acknowledgements

List of Figures

1 Introduction: The Politics of Reproduction in Contemporary Japan
 1 Literature Review

 2 Research Design

 3 Corpus of Analysis

 4 Structure of the Book


part 1
Theoretical Framework and Historical Background
2 The “Reproductive Entrepreneur” Theorizing Neoliberal Politics of Reproduction
 1 The Entrepreneurial Self

 2 Biomedicalization, Experts and Scientific Knowledge

 3 The “Entrepreneurial Self” within the “Culture of Uncertainty” in Contemporary Japan

 4 The “Reproductive Entrepreneur” in the Network of Technologies of the Self, Biomedicalization and Postfeminist Healthism


3 Women’s Bodies as Battlefields From “Beget and Multiply” to the “Active Pursuit of Pregnancy”
 1 Women’s Bodies and State Politics: From “Beget and Multiply” to “Family Planning”

 2 Women Claiming Back Their Bodies: The Women’s Health Movement

 3 Politics of Reproduction and the Low Birth Rate Crisis in Japan

 4 Gender Backlash and Sex Education

 5 Assisted Reproductive Technology and Adoption in Contemporary Japan

 6 Japan as a “Reproductive Gap Society”?


part 2
“Active Pursuit of Pregnancy” in Contemporary Japan
4 Mass Media and Postfeminist Politics of Reproduction “Reproductive Entrepreneurship” and Ninkatsu
 1 The “Active Pursuit of Pregnancy” Appears on Stage

 2 Marketing the “Active Pursuit of Pregnancy”

 3 The “Active Pursuit of Pregnancy” in Newspapers

 4 The Fantasy of the “Reproductive Entrepreneur”: From Family Planning to Ninkatsu?


5 The Politics of Science in the Discourse of “Ageing Reproductive Cells” The Gaze of Technology, Happiness and the “Fear of Regret”
 1 Close-Up Present’s “Unfulfilled Desire to Have Children” – The Shock of Ageing Egg Cells

 2 Governing the Soul: “Ovarian Ageing” in the Matrix of “Happiness” and “Regret”

 3 A Remedy for the “Fear of Regret”? A Woman’s “Life Game” and Social Freezing in Japan

 4 The Contemporary “Sperm Crisis”, the “Fear of Emasculation” and the “Molecular Gaze”

 5 Gender, Technology and the “Politics of Science” in Discourses on Ageing Reproductive Cells


6 Neoliberal State Politics of Reproduction “Correct Knowledge” and Life Planning as Pronatalist Strategy
 1 “Correct Knowledge” and Life Planning as Government Strategy in the Context of the Low Birth Rate: An Overview

 2 Educating the “Reproductive Entrepreneur”: Choices and Life Planning

 3 The Stork Is Back: Infertility Treatment over Contraception in Sex Education

 4 “A Healthy Life” and Dwindling Egg Reservoirs

 5 From “Beget and Multiply” to the Strategy of Knowledge Promotion and Life Planning


7 Conclusion: Politics of Reproduction in Contemporary Japan
 1 Governing the Population: From “Beget and Multiply” to Life Planning

 2 Using Technology and Science to Protect the “Normal” Social Order

 3 (Self-)Governing Body and Soul: Postfeminist Healthism, “Happiness” and “Regret”

 4 Concluding Remarks


Appendix

Bibliography

Index

Libraries, institutes, and (post-graduate) students interested in Japan, gender theories, neoliberal government and feminism. More broadly, those involved with media studies, governmentality studies, gender and women’s studies, health research, and sociology.
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Publisher:
Brill
Language:
English
Pages:
xii, 280 pp.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004499553

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