2018 年 27 巻 2 号 p. 150-173
In twentieth-century Japan, the environment-both material and cultural aspects-led to high parasite disease incidence rates. The geography of Japan was ideal parasite habitat. The living conditions of the people and their customs were also important: Since farmers had always used nightsoil (human waste) as fertilizer, parasites flourished. The topic of this paper is ascariasis or roundworm prevention through human waste management in twentieth-century Japan. I ask how scientists understood and portrayed the role of the material and cultural aspects of the environment in explanations of parasite disease ecology. Researchers recognized the resilience of parasite biology as well as the relevance of locals, and their sanitary programs aimed to reform rural society and eliminate roundworms in the field. Farmers could not, however, escape their ecologies, so ascariasis emerged as a facet of rural life and Japanese culture. Progress was not made until the postwar era and the institutionalized practice of treating elementary students in their schools.
