“A Thorough Study of the Spanish Influenza”: How Japanese Party Politics and Ministerial Conflicts Reduced the Pandemic
Journal Title: International Journal of Korean History - Year 2018, Vol 23, Issue 1
Abstract
When the Spanish Influenza hit Japan from 1918 to 1920, it revealed deep cleavages within the governmental ministries as well as in the scientific community. It posed an incomprehensible problem while causing massive demographic damage that the existing system of emergency protocols could contain. To redress the situation, in 1920, Matsushita Teiji, a former physician and a non-partisan member at the 43rd House of Representatives, proposed to establish a research institute dedicated to the study of the flu. The proposal resulted in the formation of a special committee with most of its discussants prominent members of the scientific community. Yet, over the five meetings the committee held, the committee reduced its mission from building an institute to conducting “a thorough study.” The catastrophe, comparable to a natural disaster worsened by the lack of a preventive system, was rendered into a social problem that merely required a “study” to find solutions. By reconstructing the skirmishes at the committee meetings and the relationships among the discussants, this paper shows how the reduction took place within the context of 1920s’ party politics and the bureaucratic system managing medical science. Contrary to the façade of structural stability that some historians and itself promoted, the Japanese state in the story of the Spanish Influenza exhibits a wobbly amalgam of fragmentary party interests and incoherent ministerial authorities.
Authors and Affiliations
Juhee Kang
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP26462
- DOI https://doi.org/10.22372/ijkh.2018.23.1.55
- Views 372
- Downloads 14
The Interchanges between Koguryŏ and Sun-Wu and “Under the Fruit Horse
The metallic buckle with a round front and square rear is a kind of belt accessories in the Han and Wei-Jin dynasties. They are not the same absolutely, but have some common features: a round front and square rear; arc p...
European Porcelain for the Royal Court in the Late Chosŏn Dynasty: Production, Analysis and Evaluation
In accordance with the accession of the Emperor and establishment of the Korean Empire, Kojong’s government mandated modification of the traditional way of receiving envoys by altering rituals to fit the West, with Weste...
Koreans’ Perception of the Liaodong Region During the Chosŏn Dynasty
Liaodong refers to the southeastern part of Liaoning Province today. During the Three Kingdoms Era, this area was part of Koguryŏ territory, and after the collapse of Koguryŏ, it belonged to Parhae. However, when Parha...
A Whirlpool of History: Roaring Currents between A Determined War Film and A Deifying Biopic
The summer season of 2014 has been a boon for fans of the cinematic genre of Korean historical drama or period pieces (sagŭk). Three blockbuster productions with sizable production budgets, ranging from 12 to 20 billio...
“Liberation Space” and Times of Resistance in Visual Records
This paper attempts to discuss social aspects of the “liberation space” or the history of three years after the Korean liberation from the Japanese colonial rule, through audiovisual records of the time. The object of an...