Eugenics is a pseudo-science that attempts to link human behavioral characteristics primarily to inheritance. Eugenics led to sterilization measures and anti-immigration laws in the United States and to Nazi racial laws in Germany. Eugenics, however, was an international phenomenon. Ms. Sumiko Otsubo, under the direction of Dr. James Bartholomew, is investigating how eugenics developed in Japan. Eugenics in Japan had a substantial impact on Japanese society in the first half of the twentieth century. In her dissertation, Ms. Otsubo is comparing the Japanese eugenics to other countries' experiences in terms of the patterns of diffusion, promotion, perception, and the eventual discrediting of eugenics.
