Fingerprints & Modernity

Asako Takano

Professor Asako Takano
Professor Asako Takano

Visiting Professor, Meiji Pharmaceutical University, Tokyo, Japan (August 2018 - March 2019)

 

My research theme in Japan is the history of biometrics, especially the use of fingerprinting in Manchuria, China under Japanese colonial rule and in post-World War II Japanese society. I published my book in Japan in 2016, Fingerprints and Modernity, based on my doctoral dissertation. The goal of my research at the SSC is to examine narratives surrounding the identification of individuals and to decipher the historical changes to the management of individual bodies through movement. This will have two parts: the world history of fingerprinting from the late 19th century to the early 20th century and from government by settlement to controlling of mobilities.