We Will Not Tolerate the Actions of the Government and the Ministry of Education
At present, screening of junior high school history textbooks under the auspices of the new education curriculum that will come into effect in April 2002 is already underway. With respect to those textbooks in the fields of society and history (henceforth referred to as history textbooks), a deeply worrying situation has arisen. The problems surrounding the history and civic education textbooks produced by the Japan Society for History Textbook Reform (The Society) go without saying, but even out of the 7 companies publishing history textbooks, the content of many of their Plain Cover Draft Editions (to be submitted for screening by the Ministry of Education) concerning modern Japanese history has regressed, and it is clear that many of those draft texts resemble those of twenty years ago.
In the Outline of Guidelines for the New Education Curriculum which was itself designed to address the advent of a 5 day week for all schools, the amount of time allotted to history has decreased, consequently textbooks have become smaller too. However this does not adequately explain the reduction in content outlined below.
New Junior High School History Textbooks
Here are some specific examples:
1. References to 'Comfort Women' have disappeared from 4 out of 7 companies' product (if we include The Society's textbooks, it would bring it to 5 out of 8 companies). Furthermore, even in those companies who have retained references to 'Comfort Women', only 2 of them place those references in the '15 Year Japan-China War, Asia-Pacific War' section; the remaining company only refers to 'Comfort Women' in the 'Postwar Compensation' section. In addition, only 1 company actually uses the term 'Comfort Women' (ianfu), while the other 2 refer to 'comfort stations' (ian shisetsu). Incidentally, the 4 companies that removed 'Comfort Women' references currently dominate 80% of the market.
2. References to the Nanjing Massacre (Nanjing Incident) have also been considerably rolled back. Firstly, out of 4 companies that used the term 'Nanjing Massacre', 2 have switched to the term 'Nanjing Incident', Three of those companies formerly used the term 'massacre' in the text, but all of them now refer to 'murder' (satsugai) or 'killing' (koroshita). Furthermore, while at present 6 companies refer to the numbers killed, only 2 will continue to do so, while the others will replace numbers with phrases such as 'large numbers (were killed'), 'many (were killed'), 'a lot (were killed') (one even obligingly provides a qualifying footnote explaining that there is no agreement on the number of casualties).
3. On the Three-All Policy (Kill All, Loot All, Burn All), although 5 companies used to refer to it, only 1 will continue to do so in future, moreover the 1 company that referred to Unit 731 will no longer do so.
4. References to the Battle of Okinawa have also regressed. From two pages to one, from ten lines to two and a half without its own sub-heading, from seven lines to five, from seven lines to four etc, with altogether 4 companies reducing the space allocated to this topic. In addition, 2 companies have omitted references to the number of civilians killed by the Japanese army and to 'group suicides'.
5. There are deliberate revisions of terminology, such as 'advance' (shinshitsu) instead of 'invasion'.
6. The reality of colonial domination is treated in vague terms, and references to aggression in Asia are greatly reduced.
All of the above substantively represent an attack on so-called 'masochistic history' by an array of forces including LDP parliamentarians and The Society, who seek to falsify history. And yet both the Japanese government and international opinion acknowledge 'Comfort Women' and the Nanjing Incident. We must not forget that Japan has already been severely criticized by Asian nations and their peoples for denying Japan's aggressive war and war crimes. Also, the Battle of Okinawa is a vital educational component essential to acknowledging the contemporary problems of Okinawa. There is no reason to revise, omit or reduce those references in textbooks. We are convinced that clearly conveying this history in textbooks and teaching it in schools will yield a correct consciousness of history and of war, and that this is essential to the fostering of custodians of a peaceful 21st century. It is also vital to promote coexistence with Asia. It is clear that the deterioration of textbooks outlined above will attract criticism not only from within Japan, but from Asia and the international community.
Why Are Textbooks Deteriorating?
Why has this deterioration in textbook content occurred? Each publisher has submitted their drafts for screening, and on the surface it looks like 'self-censorship'. However, we believe that for the following reasons, it is not simply a case of 'self-censorship' but rather 'self-censorship' as a result of powerful pressure from the Government and the Ministry of Education.
In June 1998, the then Minister for Education Machimura Nobutaka, responded to questions in the Diet by stating that 'the sections on modern and contemporary history in history textbooks have "changed". We are examining whether corrections can be made before they are submitted for screening'. In response, from January 1999 the senior bureaucrats of the Ministry of Education asked the managers of textbook companies to 'make the content (of textbooks) more balanced' and to 'rethink the line-up of authors'. In reacting to this initial stage of pressure, it is thought that the textbook publishers did not want to omit the content related to 'Comfort Women' or to alter the material on the Nanjing Massacre/Incident or the Three-All Policy. This can be appraised through examining the content of textbook manuscripts prior to the production of Plain Cover Draft Editions. In effect, the content of these manuscripts was largely unchanged from that in existing texts (this is what we could glean from the product of 2 companies concerned). Therefore, we can assume that the content of those manuscripts was altered before they were submitted to the Ministry in the form of a draft text. At around December 1999, the Presidents of companies publishing textbooks in Social Studies for junior high schools were contacted by sources in the Prime Minister's office and told the following:- 'we have been reliably informed that you have been asked to deal with the sections on 'Comfort Women' (this was confirmed by one company President). Upon encountering this political pressure, each company decided to practice 'self-censorship' before proceeding with the production of draft texts. One particular company's editor visited each author individually to seek the authors' cooperation regarding the company's new policy of reducing references to 'Comfort Women' and deleting footnotes concerning the Nanjing Massacre. Furthermore, in response to a query from an author along the lines of 'what has happened?', one editor replied 'it's the voice of heaven'.
We can contemplate three reasons why the 7 companies engaged in self-censorship on this occasion.
1. The effect of attacks from the Right, such as The Society
2. The influence on the choice of textbooks of the Broad Option System
3. Pressure from Government, the Ministry of Education and politicians
Of course, while we cannot ignore reasons 1 and 2 above, it is No. 3 that is decisive. In other words, the current 'self-censorship' is not the spontaneous will of textbook companies, but rather the result of being forced to do so by the application of political pressure by the Government and the Ministry of Education.
We Need Debate on a Grand Scale to Protect the Achievements of the Popular Movement
From the mid-1980s, the contents of Japan's history textbooks improved. At last in the 1990s, the reality of colonial rule, the truth about aggressive war, 'Comfort Women', the Nanjing Massacre, Unit 731, aggression and war crimes such as forced recruitment, massacres and aggression against the citizens of South-East Asia, and the truth about the Battle of Okinawa, were all included in textbooks.
Finally, it was possible for children to garner a correct historical consciousness through examining war from the perspective of aggressors and victims, complicity and resistance. This is the fruit of the Japanese people's movement that began with international criticism emanating from Asian countries, and the 32 year battle of the Ienaga Textbook Lawsuits. We can't sit back and watch while Right wing pressureand political interference from the Government negates the fruits of such a prolonged struggle.
In particular, regarding 'Comfort Women.' in response to the United Nations Human
Rights Sub-Committee Coomaraswamy Report's recommendation that 'the truth about
"Comfort Women" be taught in schools', the
Japanese Government told the Sub-Committee that 'Comfort Women are discussed in
history textbooks'. The present situation whereby text is omitted due to political
interference amounts to blatant violation of an international commitment. The
Japanese Government, which only gives lip-service to expressing regret for the war,
is interfering politically in the content of history textbooks and through measures
such as 'self-censorship', is gradually deleting historical facts from history
textbooks. This should be criticized internationally, and must not be tolerated.
Children and Textbooks Japan Network 21
Tokyo
Japan
Tel: 81 - 3 - 3265 7606
Fax: 81-3-3239 8590
Email: kyokashonet@a.email.ne.jp
Web: http://www.ne.jp/asahi/tawara/goma/
