Making of Healthy Docile Bodies: Roles of Modern Japanese Institutions Promoting Public Health Knowledge before the Pacific War in Okinawa

Paper Abstract: Modern Japanese government began to incorporate and colonize its surrounding islands and regions in the mid-19th century. Okinawa was one of those sites. This study aims to articulate roles of modern institutions and public health knowledge that the Japanese colonizers utilized in order to govern bodies of Okinawan people as part of their initial colonial project before the Pacific War. According Michel Foucault, in the modern era, medical professionals are authorized to intervene bodies of “patients.” Moreover, modern medical institutions such as hospitals and clinics play the role to disseminate medical discourses and deploy medical services. Nevertheless, in the case of Japan’s governance in Okinawa before the Pacific War, the roles of hospitals were very limited, largely to dealing with infectious diseases such as cholera and syphilis. With regard to public health service, it had to wait until 1943 for establishment of formal public health center. The challenge I faced in the course of this study was that very limited information was presented in secondary sources regarding practices of public health in Okinawa before the Pacific War. Therefore, I refer to archival data – available at National Diet Library Digital Collections – in order to grasp a clue of public health practices in the given context. My finding suggests that the Japanese government expected educational institutions to promote ideas and practices of public health in Okinawa. I argue that school instructors acted as agents who not only provided knowledge of hygiene but also disciplined habits and bodies of Okinawan children.