Japanese textbook Controversies- Xijia Cheng by Xijia Cheng https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc en-us 2018-12-03 16:09:19 UTC 2025-12-02 00:09:04 UTC hello@padlet.com History Education and International Relations : A Case Study of Diplomatic Disputes Over Japanese Textbooks xcheng2020 https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310492589
a handbookfor elementary school teachers published in 1881 said that the riseand fall of the state depended on the achievement of universaleducation.2With a legacy of nearly 300 feudal domains, the govern-ment was anxious to heighten a sense of national identity and unity,which led eventually to the creation of an imperial cult — StateShintoism.3The military also demanded unified schooling so as toachieve domestic stability and prepare for overseas expansion in thefuture. Reactions to the excess of Western influence were reaching a peak





]]> 2018-12-03 16:18:35 UTC https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310492589 background xcheng2020 https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310509915 c


]]> 2018-12-03 16:46:06 UTC https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310509915 background xcheng2020 https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310511332 Whereas the initial guidelines for curriculum and textbooks(issued with the Fundamental Code of Education in 1872) were notbinding, it is noteworthy that, prior to the regulation of school-books, the Ministry of Education swiftly took over publicationcontrol, just a month after its establishment in July 1871. In the firstconcerted textbook regulation of 1880, translations of foreignmorals books and writings by specialists of Western studies wereremoved from the teaching syllabus. The next year, the teaching ofworld history was banned, and Japanese history was taught mainlyfor the purpose of fostering reverence for the emperor. Conceptssuch as freedom, equality, humanism and independence often asso-ciated with the French Revolution or the American Independencewere subversive in the eyes of the Japanese authorities


]]> 2018-12-03 16:48:20 UTC https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310511332 evidence+background xcheng2020 https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310513408 Given this background, it logically follows that education policieswere incorporated into the country’s war efforts during the FirstWorld War. After the war, history courses began to focus on heroicfigures rather than events, following the textbook revision in 1920.9The establishment of youth schools for military training in 192610and the presentation of Japan as the Land of the Gods, withemphasis on the divine origin of the country and the emperor’sreign in the history texts of the 1930s, are just a few examples of themilitarization of education. In 1937, the Education Ministry joinedthe Cabinet’s campaign for national mobilization and embarked ona crusade against Western influence by distributing copies ofKokutaino Hongi(Cardinal Principles of the National Entity of Japan).11Historical knowledge was restricted to that of collective nationalhardships and developments, and scientific knowledge to that ofweaponry or military issues.12One of the most visual and concreteexamples of this would be the map of Great East Asia that wasposted in most classrooms with small flags of the rising sun indi-cating the Japanese Imperial Army’s ‘advance’. Geography textbookswere correspondingly rewritten over time.13In this way, childrenwere imbued with images of glorious war.14A full one-third of thecurriculum covered the country’s apparent nationalistic inclinationsbetween the 1930s and the early 1940s with an increasing propor-tion of the contents focusing on the state (from 20 per cent in 1933to 38 per cent in 1941).15The principal purpose of the nationalcourse in elementary schools, which consisted of history, geography,morals and language, was that:[Pupils should] learn about national conditions, the land, history,language, and morals of our country, making clear the glory and funda-mental character of our Empire, and thereby cultivate a national spiritto realize the Empire’s mission. The national course must make clear tothe pupil the true significance of service and piety, impressing on himthe happiness which the nation finds in the Empire


]]> 2018-12-03 16:51:41 UTC https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310513408 91 change+reform xcheng2020 https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310514590 Never seriously challenged in Japanese society, this brand of educa-tion geared to national goals continued for well over a half centuryfrom the 1880s onwards.17A major turning point in Japanese education was the democratiza-tion programmes which the US occupying forces initiated in 1945.18Education reform was one of the cornerstones of US policies forbuilding a new Japan and bringing changes to the thoughts and lifeof Japanese people. Indeed, Japanese nationals experienced anotherbrand of political education, this time by ‘foreigners’ and ‘victors’.1990HistoryEducationandInternationalRelations04Chapter:Hirano22/12/08 14:48 Page 90 The Education Division of the Civil Information and EducationSection (CIE) of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers(SCAP) set two major goals: ‘the removal of all militarism and ultra-nationalism from the school system’ and ‘the gradual introductionof new educational patterns to ensure the development of schoolsand the trai


]]> 2018-12-03 16:53:37 UTC https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310514590 reform failed xcheng2020 https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310515682 The Education Division of the Civil Information and EducationSection (CIE) of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers(SCAP) set two major goals: ‘the removal of all militarism and ultra-nationalism from the school system’ and ‘the gradual introductionof new educational patterns to ensure the development of schoolsand the training of young people and teachers for a democraticJapan’.20To this end, the General Headquarters (GHQ) of the SCAPconducted a thorough investigation of prewar/wartime schoolbooksand concluded that they were imbued with objectionable doctrinesunsuitable for school education.21Although the SCAP maintained inprinciple that the writing of history textbooks should be left toJapanese historians, it specified some preliminary requirements:• The new textbooks must be objective and contain only thoseitems which could stand the test of historical evidence;• In the writing of history the story of the Japanese people as awhole should be given, and not the story of the ImperialHouse alone;• The social and cultural life of the people should be includedtogether with the story of political events; and• The work should be done by competent historians, free towrite with the sincerity and honesty which shouldcharacterize professional men in any field.22Furthermore, the SCAP’s basic guidelines for the treatment ofmythology called on Japan:• To exclude traditional beliefs and mythology if possible;• To indicate the insufficiency of evidence where necessary evenif the material is supported by historical study; and• To stress the modern period of Japanese history much morethan the previous curriculum, including the process of the riseof militarists to power and their control of the nation from theManchurian Incident onwards and the Japanese people’smultiracial origins.23Eventually, because of the time constraints and the shortage ofteaching materials, old textbooks continued to be used in schools oncondition that the contents indicating ultranationalism, militarismand religious discrimination were deleted, as determined by theSCAP. (See the SCAP’s criteria.)HistoryEducationinJapan9104Chapter:Hirano22/12/08 14:48 Page 91


]]> 2018-12-03 16:55:25 UTC https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310515682 Japanese Constitutionand the Fundamental Law ofEducation xcheng2020 https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310516387 2018-12-03 16:56:34 UTC https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310516387 textbook xcheng2020 https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310516898 The SCAP maintains that thewriting of Japanese historytextbooks should be left toJapanese historians but it makessome preliminary requirements


]]> 2018-12-03 16:57:25 UTC https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310516898 Thesis xcheng2020 https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310519018 The Japanese history textbook controversy revealed that government controlled history textbook can serve to shape the national identity by idealize and distort the past, and affect the diplomatic relationship between Japan and other countries.


]]> 2018-12-03 17:00:47 UTC https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310519018 delete militarism part xcheng2020 https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310519656 superior to the heads of other states or that the Tenno (Emperor) systemis sacred and immutable.�On militarismIn order that the educational system shall not be hampered in devel-oping concepts and attitudes which will contribute to a peacefulnon-aggressive government in Japan, all subject matter shall be deletedfrom textbooks which is designed to promote: (1) the spirit of mili-tarism and aggression through the glorification of war as heroic and[an] acceptable way of settling disputes; (2) glorification of dying for theEmperor with unquestioning loyalty; (3) idealization of war heroes byglorifying their military achievements; (4) development of the idea thatmilitary service is the only patriotic manner of serving one’s country;and (5) glorification of military objects such as guns, warships, tanks,fortresses, etc.28


]]> 2018-12-03 17:01:50 UTC https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310519656 school education law of 1947 xcheng2020 https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310521309 Education Mission’s recommendation for free competition amongprivate publishers and despite the insistence in some Japanese quar-ters that the writing of textbooks should be left to the Japanesepublic and not government officials, a textbook authorizationsystem was eventually incorporated in the School Education Law of1947.34This apparently put an end to official schoolbooks; the freeselection and use of teaching materials in the classroom was allowedto some extent.35But the MOE actually retained the right to inspecttexts prepared by private publishers at the final stage. TheCurriculum Committee of the MOE also opted for the standardiza-tion of courses and teaching materials in order to eliminatediscrimination and inequality.3

95]]> 2018-12-03 17:04:51 UTC https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310521309 government proved textbook xcheng2020 https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310522186 The turning point which defeat brought was followed shortly byanother, when Cold War compulsions overshadowed US occupationpolicies from the late 1940s onwards. Indeed, the Second EducationMission of September 1950 had an object completely different fromthe first one of March 1946. It contended that one of the mostpowerful ways of resisting communism in the Far East was to culti-vate the Japanese electorate.37Similarly, the MOE was tryinggradually to reverse the education reform initiated by the FirstMission. Just after the signing of the San Francisco Peace Treaty inSeptember 1951, the Advisory Committee for the Reform ofGovernment Orders suggested that the government should preparestandard textbooks, although this did not materialize. In 1953, theCurriculum Council (an advisory organ attached to the MOE)proposed that courses such as history and geography should berevised to promote ethical education.38

95]]> 2018-12-03 17:06:19 UTC https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310522186 reason xcheng2020 https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310523132 The curricular problem became further entangled with defencepriorities in US-Japanese relations. When Ikeda Hayato (personalrepresentative of Prime Minister Yoshida Shigeru) and Walter S.Robertson (Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs) met inOctober 1953, the Japanese side pointed to education as one of thefour constraints on Japan’s efforts to increase its defence capability(the other three being legal, economic and physical).39In otherwords, Japanese adolescents who might be expected to defend thecountry were being taughtnotto take up arms. At the end of thismeeting, it was proposed that the Japanese government should beresponsible for creating a climate in which a patriotic spirit and aspirit of voluntary defence of the home country prevail.40Importantly, this whole process was meant to redress the imbalanceof the reforms imposed during the occupation, which was in essencea nationalistic reaction against ‘imported’ education and the appli-cation of the American model to indigenous Japanese cultural andsocial conditions.41Unfortunately, yet another bribery scandal in1955, involving private schoolbook publishers and officially-appointed textbook inspectors, resulted mistakenly in harshHistoryEducationinJapan9504Chapter:Hirano22/12/08 14:48 Page 95 criticisms over textbook accounts such as those supporting teachers’unions, labour movements, the socialist systems of the Soviet Unionand China and communist ideology.42It was around this time thatthe ruling Democratic Party published the booklet ‘DeplorableTextbooks’. In less than a decade from the end of the war, the MOEresumed regulating the content of history education as it saw fit andreversed the postwar efforts to transfer powers over educationalmatters to local school boards.43


]]> 2018-12-03 17:07:55 UTC https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310523132 Things to notice/ research xcheng2020 https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310524259 After teaching guidelines were revised in 1958, a course of moralsin elementary and junior high schools was resumed, and the songKimigayo(Your Reign) was reintroduced in one of the grades. At thesame time, the proportion of the curriculum devoted to war andpeace and the Constitution decreased. It was in this period when theMOE and regional education boards were exerting increasinglystrong influence over teaching materials, that Ienaga Saburo, a text-book author and historian, filed his first lawsuit of 1965 against theJapanese government, accusing it of overstepping the jurisdiction ofeducational administration.44In the 1970s, education developments moved in several direc-tions. The internationalization of education emerged as a centraltheme. A report by the Central Council for Education of 1974 gaveprominence to international exchanges in education, science andculture.45Not only Japanese history courses but also Japaneselanguage classes adopted a wider variety of teaching materials, somechosen by teachers themselves.46Simultaneously, the governmenteven attempted to revive the Imperial Rescript on Education of theMeiji Era.47Strangely enough, the songKimigayowas designated asthe national anthem in the revisednational curriculum guidelinesforelementary and junior high schools in 1977.48When Russian-Japanese and superpower relations became contentious and thevoices advocating increased defence efforts became louder in thelate 1970s, some Japanese politicians took the opportunity to assertmore nationalistic education, especially in history courses, whi

]]> 2018-12-03 17:09:48 UTC https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310524259 screening system xcheng2020 https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310526316 tudy).An outline of the textbook screening systemThe power of authorizing schoolbooks rests with the EducationMinistry, which examines in detail all textbook manuscripts forelementary and secondary schools, and only those approved by theMinistry are permitted for use in either public or private schools. Inthe early-to-mid 1980s, texts were revised every three years in rota-tion;88for those already in use, there were procedures for partialrevision or ‘revision authorization’ and for those newly compiled,‘new authorization’.89The Textbook Research Centre in Japan (affili-ated with the Ministry) defines the aim of screening in terms of thefollowing three key areas:(1) To examine whether or not manuscripts are appropriate as textbooksto be used in schools;(2) To leave private authors and publishers to write and edit textbooks inorder to allow their originality in teaching materials and at the same timeto secure appropriate textbooks; and(3) To maintain and raise the standard of education across the country,guarantee opportunities for education and maintain neutrality ineducation.90However, the screening system arguably serves the purpose of offi-cial endorsement, if not censorship, since the Ministry can inpractice demand that authors rewrite the text or part of it beforeapproval is given


]]> 2018-12-03 17:13:16 UTC https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310526316 textbok dispute xcheng2020 https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310721579 2018-12-04 02:26:03 UTC https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310721579 Conflicts xcheng2020 https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310722015 • The Japanese government’s view on the past war, as clearly stated in thepreamble of the Sino-Japanese Joint Statement, has not changed;• It is that Japan had inflicted serious damage on Chinese people duringthe war, and it is keenly aware of its responsibility for the damage anddeeply reproaches itself; and• This view should be reflected in Japanese education, and the Japanesegovernment will humbly listen to the Chinese government’s claim.10However, Beijing unequivocally referred to the controversialcontents in the textbooks as ‘errors’ and labelled as ‘preposterous’the deletion of accounts of the heinous deeds during the occupationof China.11Both governments’ views were almost irreconcilable atthis stage. The Chinese message conveyed to the Japanese side wasclear:In censoring the textbooks for primary and secondary schools, theJapanese Ministry of Education tampered with the history of theJapanese militarist aggression against China by changing ‘invasion ofnorth China’ to ‘advance into north China’ .... What is more, it evenattributed the Nanjing atrocities during the war to ‘the stubborn resis

118]]> 2018-12-04 02:28:23 UTC https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310722015 Nanjing Massace in text book xcheng2020 https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310725346 elationship between Japan and China. ]]> 2018-12-04 02:47:26 UTC https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310725346 Diplomacy xcheng2020 https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310725709 2018-12-04 02:49:59 UTC https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310725709 Textbook xcheng2020 https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310726570 Japan's education ministry announced on Monday all 18 new social studies textbooks that are authorized for use in the country's junior high schools from April next year. Some of the textbooks were changed so that their descriptions of the Nanjing Massacre, which originally stated that the Japanese army "killed many captives and civilians," were altered to say that it "involved" captives and civilians and "casualties were exposed."


]]> 2018-12-04 02:55:38 UTC https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310726570 China wanted Japan to correct the textbook xcheng2020 https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310729818 2018-12-04 03:13:09 UTC https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310729818 Background information about Japanese textbook xcheng2020 https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310736813 2018-12-04 03:54:35 UTC https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310736813 outline xcheng2020 https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310982812 Introduction: background information of textbook

-textbook reform
-screening method
-Nanjing MAssacre in textbook
-diplomacy
-conclusion

-]]> 2018-12-04 16:24:06 UTC https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/310982812 changes xcheng2020 https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/311654303  The 1990s saw a number of significant changes. In Japan, general awareness of unresolved issues and Japanese responsibility in the war increased,9 and the role of Japan as victimizer penetrated public consciousness more deeply (Seraphim 2006, 34). A short period of non-LDP rule also brought a more forth right official attitude. In 1993, Prime Minister Hosokawa acknowledged that Japan had conducted a war of aggression. And in 1995, a resolution in the Diet and a statement on August 15 by Hosokawa's successor, Prime Minister Murayama, contained formal expressions of apology and regret (Rose 2005, 19, 60; for excerpts of the statement by Murayama, see pp. 135-36). Although highly contested at the time, they have established a baseline from which Japanese gov ernments have not officially retreated. In the eyes of conservatives and right-wingers, these tectonic shifts in Japanese politics of history were a cause for concern. Various revisionist groups were orga nized to counter this trend.10 They both contributed to and profited from a turn toward a defensive and defiant nationalism among parts of the Japanese popula tion. As the long period of strong economic growth ended in the early 1990s, the new defiant nationalism was fed by feelings of insecurity and frustration, in par ticular vis-?-vis a rising China. The conservatives' activities spanned a wide range, from more academic endeavors to crudely nationalist mangas appealing to the broader public; some directly targeted history education, charging that it trans mitted a "masochistic" view of Japanese history.11 One such group, established in late 1996 and tellingly named Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform, or Tsukuru-kai,12 produced a junior high textbook titled New History Textbook. It presents a peculiar version of Japan's history, marked by a statist, at times even militaristic nationalism, buttressed by an insular and self-affirming perspective on Japan, an underlying West-centrism, and an often This content downloaded from 71.174.73.114 on Thu, 06 Dec 2018 01:43:00 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms THE JAPANESE HISTORY TEXTBOOK CONTROVERSY IN EAST ASIAN PERSPECTIVE 111 condescending view of Japans East Asian neighbors.13 In some instances, its authors had tried to whitewash or justify the country's colonial and wartime actions to such a degree that even the conservative textbook examiners at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) had been compelled to demand more consideration for neighboring countries (Schneider 2008). It was approved in spring 2001 after an unusually high num ber of officially demanded revisions.14 ]]> 2018-12-06 01:52:18 UTC https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/311654303 China and Korea leaders xcheng2020 https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/311654776  Korea and China, where such history-related issues as reconciliation and com pensation had long been managed in a top-down way by governments, developed their own agendas through bottom-up civil society-based efforts made possible by democratization in Korea and limited liberalization in China. The two gov ernments, which had previously shifted toward a more cautious and/or concilia tory policy, were thus put on the defensive by the textbook controversy. South This content downloaded from 71.174.73.114 on Thu, 06 Dec 2018 01:43:00 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 112 THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY Korean president Roh Moo-hyun launched diplomatic protests only after pressure from the political arena and the public (Soh 2005). The official Chinese reactions included the usual accusatory rhetoric and some cancelled visits, but no measures were taken with potentially negative long-term effects on other, particul ]]> 2018-12-06 01:55:24 UTC https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/311654776 people's actions xcheng2020 https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/311655375  hich ended up considerably embarrassing Beijing's pre-Olympics posturing. Again, the furor over textbooks did not stand in isolation?Chinese discontent had been building up on a number of other issues, such as Japanese efforts to gain a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. The recent con troversies also illustrate how new tools of communication have come to play an important role for all sides involved. Both protesters and Chinese authorities resorted to text messaging to organize their activities?and subsequently to sub due them. Online petitions, for instance against the New History Textbook, have become a widespread phenomenon; there have been blogs voicing anti-Japanese outrage (and hate) and reports of Korean and Chinese "cyber attacks" paralyzing Web sites of Japanese institutions (cf., for instance, Fiola 2005) ]]> 2018-12-06 01:59:49 UTC https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/311655375 Nanjing Massacrre in textbook xcheng2020 https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/311656572  Nanjing Massacre and comfort women.19 The textbook-related controversies about these issues are fueled by somewhat different considerations. When history textbooks are used as battlegrounds, discussions can take place on two levels: First, did this particular event "happen"?20 This is an academic question, in the domain of history and historiography. Second, assuming that it happened, should it be included in textbooks? This is a moral/educational question, pertaining to the politics of history education. The problem of the Nanjing Massacre exemplifies the former category. There are three major schools of thought reflected in the heated Japanese debate: (1) the "Illusion," (2) "Middle-of-the-Road," and (3) "Great Massacre" schools. Their understanding diverges strongly on the event's spatial and temporal extent, the number of casualties, and the appropriate terminology for discussing it (Askew 2004).21 In that vein, Fujioka Nobukatsu, cofounder of the Tsukuru-kai, argued that the high number of victims included in mid-1990s textbooks was greatly exaggerated (Yoshida 2000, 98). The so-called "comfort women" issue, though also generally contested,22 raises the moral/educational question. Conservative voices for excluding the issue do not necessarily argue for doing so on factual grounds but, rather, on moral(izing) grounds, since the issue raises uncomfort able questions about gender relations and sexuality that junior high students are supposedly too young to handle. Moreover, they are dismissed as irrelevant to the orthodox narrative of national history that school education is supposed to teach (Sakamoto 2003, 152ff). The issue is further complicated by the fact that, globalization notwithstand ing, regular textbooks have so far been largely restricted to national territory, for institutional as well as political reasons.23 For both the Chinese and Korean sides, the textbook controversy is mainly one of the numerous fields where self affirmation in the face of general Japanese denial of important elements of their self-image as "victims" is deemed necessary. While this is completely in tune with progressive Japanese groups, who accept Japan's image of "victimizer" with all the moral obligations that follow from it, the Tsukuru-kai and other conservative groups see it as an attack on the "protected zone" that history education should be. In practice, Chinese and Korean demands to present the historical truth (if such a thing were assumed to exist) may not be effective against the counter arguments of Japanese conservatives, since the latter might frame demands for changes as unjustified foreign pressure and interference into Japan's internal affairs. An indifferent Japanese public might accept such counterarguments.24 This is especially the case when demands to teach "correct history" are advanced by an authoritarian regime like that of the Peoples Republic of China, itself noto rious for engaging in the manipulation of history. Furthermore, one needs to bear in mind that the promotion of patriotism remains a central goal of history education not only in the eyes of Japanese conservatives and revisionists but also in Korean and Chinese curricula. There, the central objectives of fostering national self-respect and unity are especial ]]> 2018-12-06 02:07:34 UTC https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/311656572 terms used in textbook 2005 xcheng2020 https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/311657699  The Nanjing Massacre may serve as a telling example here. While all junior high school textbooks approved in 1997 cited relatively high figures for the number of victims (Yoshida 2000, 98), books published in 2005 generally refrain from giving any numbers. Likewise, the term "massacre" almost com pletely disappeared, replaced by the previously used term "incident." On the other hand, added scrutiny also shifted the baselines and raised the bar for the conservative camp. Even the New History Textbook makes scant reference to the massacre (although the 2005 version tries to hide it by literally relegating it to a footnote). The victims of sexual slavery have seen a similar fate. Mentioning them in all junior high textbooks in the mid-1990s especially angered conserv atives, and by 2005 the te ]]> 2018-12-06 02:13:58 UTC https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/311657699 Japan deleted the detail about NM(news xcheng2020 https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/312097192
A Japanese publisher has reportedly deleted a controversial passage from a school history textbook.
The book 'Japanese History in Depth' from publisher Yamakawa Shuppansha Ltd contained an estimate of the number of Chinese people killed during the Rape of Nanjing massacre by Japanese troops in 1937.
It originally stated that "tens of thousands to 400,000" people were killed, but has now been amended to state only that "many" people died, according to The Associated Press.
There are many conflicting estimates in China and Japan of the number of people killed in the massacre, and some people claim that there was no massacre at all.
]]> 2018-12-07 02:19:27 UTC https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/312097192 Korea historian condemned the textbook (news xcheng2020 https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/312100279 Full Text: 
Historians of South and North Korea Friday urged the Tokyo government to stop Japanese right-wing scholars from issuing school textbooks which, among others, describe Japan's military aggression of Asia before and during World War II as an act of ``liberation.''
The scholars from the two Koreas issued a statement condemning Japan's move at the ``South-North Joint Exhibition of Data on the Illegality of the Japanese Imperialists' Occupation of Korea,'' which opened in Pyongyang March 1, timed with the 82nd anniversary of a popular uprising against Japanese colonialists.
``All historians of South and North Korea sternly condemn and denounce the moves by reactionary forces in Japan to distort history, and strongly demand that they immediately stop the plan and apologize to the Korean people,'' the statement read.
The move by the Japanese group ``The Society to Make New History Textbooks,'' consisting of staunch right-wing conservatives, struck a raw nerve among the people of the two Koreas, as its proposed middle school textbook portrays Japan's military campaigns during World War II as having had a positive impact on East Asia. It is currently undergoing a government authorization process.
The joint exhibition in Pyongyang, the first major inter-Korean historical exchange attended by 21 South Korean scholars, national history compilation committee members and journalists, was made possible partly due to the fact that resentment against Japanese colonial rule (1910-1945) is one of the few things that binds the two Koreas.
Sponsored by the private Sa-un Institute of South Korea and the History Institute of the Academy of Social Sciences of the North, the exhibition presented viewers with about 1,000 historical records that prove the illegality of Japan's annexation of Korea in 1910.
They include the ``Japan-Korea Annexation Report,'' a Japanese paper depicting the fact that, prior to the annexation, a cavalry regiment, instead of regular foot soldiers, was dispatched to guard the Korean Emperor's palace in Seoul, since they would ``suppress the primitive people (Koreans) more '' with their looks.
``In addition to setting history straight, I hope that the records will help the ongoing negotiations between North Korea and Japan to form ties,'' said Lee Jong-hak of the Sa-un Institute, an archivist who tracked down most of the records.
An apology from the Japanese government and compensation for the colonial rule are some of the major hurdles Japan and North Korea have to overcome before agreeing on formal ties.
]]> 2018-12-07 02:40:18 UTC https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/312100279 Japanese Schools anjalibhatia1_1 https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/312374728 This article is a little older but it addresses the issue of what is taught in the Japanese schools and how much of it has to do with accurate portrayal of history.]]> 2018-12-07 18:59:32 UTC https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/312374728 Wages of Guilt: Japanese historian's fight for accurate textbooks anjalibhatia1_1 https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/312382778 This section of a chapter from Wages of Guilt focuses on the encounter between the Japanese professor who published a more truthful textbook and the government's successful attempts to stop him from doing so. ]]> 2018-12-07 19:16:02 UTC https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/312382778 xcheng2020 https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/312665457 This system did not arise directly from the democratization process after World War II, however.(*7) In the mid-1960s, Ienaga Saburō and other textbook authors, along with publishing company workers and junior high and high school teachers, undertook a strong protest movement against the screening process conducted by the Ministry of Education (predecessor to MEXT). They argued that this screening constituted censorship, which is forbidden by the Constitution, and they filed three lawsuits. At first the courts mostly ruled against them, but in the 1990s they won a substantive victory. The court ruled that the screening itself was constitutional but that the specific demands for revisions issued by the ministry were arbitrary and illegal. In line with this court ruling, the ministry subsequently exercised restraint in its requests for revisions under the screening process.]]> 2018-12-09 17:08:51 UTC https://padlet.com/xcheng2020/gz6d7jwzsrbc/wish/312665457