Document 41: Telegram (No. 18) from Foreign Minister Kosai Uchida to Consul General Shichitaro Yada, 15 February 1922, "On Birth Control Activist Mrs. Sanger's Plan to Visit Japan," Japanese Foreign Ministry Archival Documents (JFMAD), Diplomatic Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Tokyo. Translated by Kazuhiro Oharazeki.

   With Sanger rapidly approaching San Francisco, the Japanese government reviewed the issue and decided to refuse her entry. Officials believed that Sanger's presence threatened social disruption and as a society that saw the nation's population as a measure of the its military and industrial strength, Japanese leaders distrusted birth control as a Western import that might weaken their nation.[31]

[Tokyo, Japan]

February 15, 1922

   The Home Ministry's policy is to prohibit this kind of speech in our country. She [Sanger] may be refused landing, because she falls into the category described in No. 3, Clause 1, Article 1 of the Regulations Relating to the Entry of Foreigners. Therefore, you should not issue her a visa. Send this message to Japanese consuls in Seattle, Honolulu, and Vancouver.[A]

Clause 1, Article 1 of the Regulations Relating to the Entry of Foreigners: "Prefectural governors are authorized to prohibit the landing of foreigners who fall into one of the following categories. . . . No. 3: those who are likely to disturb the public peace and corrupt public morals."

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A.The Consul in Seattle was Hiroshi Saito, in Honolulu, Keiichi Yamasaki, and in Vancouver, Kadzu Saito. By sending this telegram to the other West Coast consulates the Home Ministry sought to prevent Sanger from trying to leave from another port.
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