Japanese man tells U.N. forced sterilization at 14 ruined his life

From Kyodo

June 11 2025

NEW YORK – A child victim of forced sterilization under Japan’s now-defunct eugenics protection law said the surgery ruined his life, as he described his experiences at a U.N. event on disability rights Tuesday in New York.

“Because of the surgery, my life was thrown completely off course,” the 82-year-old man, who uses the pseudonym Saburo Kita, said at the event linked to a United Nations conference on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Kita is a member of a group that won compensation from the government in a Supreme Court ruling in July last year. He was forced to undergo sterilization at the age of 14 after he was placed in a child welfare facility for alleged delinquents.

He chose to never reveal the surgery to the woman who later became his wife until just before her death, calling the incident a “painful secret.”

The eugenics law, which was in effect between 1948 and 1996, permitted authorities to sterilize people with intellectual disabilities, mental illnesses or hereditary disorders without their consent to prevent the birth of “inferior” offspring.

According to government estimates, about 25,000 people in Japan were sterilized, 16,500 of them without consent, under the law often labeled the worst human rights violation in the country’s postwar history.

In its ruling, the top court said the law was unconstitutional as it violated both the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and the right to equality.

While the lawsuit brought hope to all victims, “It does not mean we can start our lives over. Surgery motivated by eugenics is a tragedy that cannot be undone,” Kita said in his speech at the headquarters of the United Nations.

“I want to reduce the number of people who suffered the way I did — even if it’s just by one,” Kita said.

After being unsure about what to do with his compensation payout, Kita’s supporters urged him to use the money to deliver the speech at the United Nations.

After the event, Kita told reporters that he wanted to continue speaking about his ordeal to bring a deeper understanding of the suffering he and others experienced.