Façade Fictions
False Statistics and Spheres of Autonomy in Meiji Japan
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2317545 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Fabian Drixler (Yale University), Reo Matsuzaki (0000-0001-7130-2303, Trinity College, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 53 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 57-97 |
| Publication date | 2025-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Latin American Politics and Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1531-426X • E-ISSN: 1548-2456 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/00323292241253135 |
| OpenAlex | W4401469872 |
| Language | FR |
| Citations received | 2 |
Around 1900, at least 97 percent of homicide victims in Japan were newborn children. Official statistics obscured this fact by reporting only a handful of infanticides each year, but they also preserved it in the guise of impossibly frequent stillbirths. We argue that this striking failure of law enforcement did not reflect insufficient state capacity. The statistics are best understood as the result of a performance, jointly delivered by subjects and officials to reconcile two conflicting values-the omote (façade) of the state's legal protection of newborns and the naishō (tacit arrangement) of household autonomy over family planning and reproduction. Political performances are often seen as deployed by those in power to deceive, discipline, or dominate the population. We observe instead a more collaborative dynamic that allows states to extend their reach into society while also respecting the autonomy of the population through compromise and indeterminacy
Autonomy · Econometrics · Economics · Political science · Sociology · Statistics · Japanese History and Culture · Law · Mathematics
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |