American evangelists and tuberculosis in modern Japan / Elisheva A. Perelman, Menzie D. Chinn and Eiji Fujii.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Perelman, Elisheva A., author.

Chinn, Menzie D., author.

Fujii, Eiji, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Missions, American--Japan--History.

Missions, American.

Missions, Medical--Japan--History.

Missions, Medical.

Tuberculosis--Japan--History.

Tuberculosis.

Japan--Social conditions--1868-1912.

Japan.

Japan--Social conditions--1912-1945.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (1 PDF (242 pages))

Place of Publication:

Hong Kong, China : Hong Kong University Press, 2020.

Summary:

Tuberculosis ran rampant in Japan during the late Meiji and Taisho years (1880s-1920s). Many of the victims of the then incurable disease were young female workers from the rural areas, who were trying to support their families by working in the new textile factories. The Japanese government of the time, however, seemed unprepared to tackle the epidemic. Elisheva A. Perelman argues that pragmatism and utilitarianism dominated the thinking of the administration, which saw little point in providing health services to a group of politically insignificant patients. This created a space for American evangelical organizations to offer their services. Perelman sees the relationship between the Japanese government and the evangelists as one of moral entrepreneurship on both sides. All the parties involved were trying to occupy the moral high ground. In the end, an uneasy but mutually beneficial arrangement was reached: the government accepted the evangelists' assistance in providing relief to some tuberculosis patients, and the evangelists gained an opportunity to spread Christianity further in the country. Nonetheless, the patients remained a marginalized group as they possessed little agency over how they were treated.

Contents:

Introduction : the story of something that did not happen

"Dead, shriveled trees" : factory girls in Meiji and Taishō Japan

"The snow-white shawl" : tuberculosis in Meiji and Taishō Japan

"The enemy of mankind" : the struggle against tuberculosis

"Justifying the liabilities which had been incurred" : political strife over tuberculosis

"The Nazareth of the Orient" : the particular work of the evangelists

"Now Is the day for Japan" : the YMCA

"The soldiers must have the real fighting spirit" : the Salvation Army

"The great gulf fixed" : Rudolf Teusler and William Vories

Afterword : "let the work go on"

Conclusions : cui bono?

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [205]-229) and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9789882204959

9882204953

OCLC:

1146268541