A Journal from Japan

Marie Stopes (1880 - 1958)

Marie Stopes was a highly controversial scientist and activist in her era, campaigning for radical new views of love-based marriage, birth control, and women’s rights. As a scientist, she was a renowned palaeobotanist, specializing in issues concerning coal; these scientific pursuits led her to spend several years in Japan, where she went into some of the country's remotest coal mines to study fossils. While there, she pursued a notorious relationship with Japanese botanist Fujii Kenjiro as well as several romantic dalliances with European women in the lively Tokyo diplomatic community. She established the first birth-control clinic in England in 1921, committed to an abortion-free philosophy of family planning. Stopes continues to be an ambiguous figure in historical consideration, her family-planning philosophies verging throughout her life on less-savory views such as eugenics and race purification, though the terminology employed at the time makes it unclear whether or not she was merely advocating more careful, consciously-planned, and responsible parenthood. That she rejected fascist views of eugenics is plain by her anti-Nazi passions in later life. These journal entries from Japan cover the period of August 6, 1907 through January 24, 1909, and show both her incisively scientific observational powers and a profound appreciation of the poignant beauty of Japanese culture and sensibilities, which she saw to be under threat during that era of modernization and industrialization. (Summary by Expatriate)

Genre(s): Travel & Geography, Memoirs

Language: English

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 01 Introductory Material Expatriate
00:11:37
Play 02 Aug. 06, 1907—Aug. 19, 1907 Expatriate
00:19:37
Play 03 Aug. 20, 1907—Sep. 04, 1907 Expatriate
00:20:33
Play 04 Sep. 05, 1907—Sep. 28, 1907 Expatriate
00:21:02
Play 05 Sep. 29, 1907—Oct. 14, 1907 Expatriate
00:22:15
Play 06 Oct. 15, 1907—Oct. 25, 1907 Expatriate
00:19:11
Play 07 Oct. 26, 1907—Nov. 23, 1907 Expatriate
00:20:32
Play 08 Nov. 24, 1907—Dec. 31, 1907 Expatriate
00:19:22
Play 09 Jan. 01, 1908—Feb. 03, 1908 Expatriate
00:22:08
Play 10 Feb. 04, 1908—Feb. 27, 1908 Expatriate
00:19:48
Play 11 Feb. 28, 1908—Mar. 26, 1908 Expatriate
00:19:47
Play 12 Mar. 27, 1908—Apr. 07, 1908 Expatriate
00:22:40
Play 13 Apr. 08, 1908—Apr. 27, 1908 Expatriate
00:19:55
Play 14 Apr. 28, 1908—May 11, 1908 Expatriate
00:20:06
Play 15 May 12, 1908—Jun 01, 1908 Expatriate
00:22:29
Play 16 Jun 02, 1908—Jul 06, 1908 Expatriate
00:20:34
Play 17 Jul 07, 1908—Jul 26, 1908 Expatriate
00:19:59
Play 18 Jul 27, 1908—Aug 13, 1908 Expatriate
00:19:16
Play 19 Aug 14, 1908—Sep 11, 1908 Expatriate
00:21:18
Play 20 Sep 12, 1908—Oct 31, 1908 Expatriate
00:21:21
Play 21 Nov 01, 1908—Nov 26, 1908 Expatriate
00:20:14
Play 22 Nov 27, 1908—Dec 28, 1908 Expatriate
00:19:53
Play 23 Dec 29, 1908—Jan 24, 1909 Expatriate
00:17:41
Play 24 Conclusion Expatriate
00:16:54