Citation

Alexander JW. Int. J. Drug Policy 2013; 24(3): 238-243.

Affiliation

Department of History, University of Wisconsin-Parkside, P.O. Box 2000, 900 Wood Road, Kenosha, WI 53141-2000, USA. Electronic address: Jeffrey.Alexander@uwp.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.drugpo.2012.12.001

PMID

23352333

Abstract

BACKGROUND: This qualitative historical policy analysis explores Japan's early postwar market for hiropon (methamphetamine/meth) and the impact of its anti-hiropon campaigns. The paper traces the origins of medical methamphetamine production in prewar Japan; known at that time by its former brand-name, 'Philopon' (pronounced hiropon), and argues that the anti-meth 'shock-horror' campaigns of the 1950s were exacerbated by long-simmering animosity toward non-Japanese residents - especially Koreans and Taiwanese. METHODS: Through an analysis of both English- and Japanese-language source materials, the paper explores the gritty, frightening themes of Japan's 1950s-era anti-meth propaganda campaigns and the parallel effort by police to arrest, prosecute, and deport members of the resident Korean and Taiwanese communities. RESULTS: The author demonstrates that by incorporating a wider variety of contemporary Japanese-language sources such as news reports and anti-drug propaganda materials about the postwar hiropon trade, we may more fully appreciate the historic, underlying social tensions behind the swift and targeted public response. CONCLUSION: The author concludes that Japan's postwar federal and municipal governments, together with police and media agencies, cultivated a sensational 'drug panic' designed both to dissuade citizens from using hiropon and to fuel a concerted police campaign against non-Japanese involved in the meth trade.

Language: en