Row over new textbooks in Japan

By Gautaman Bhaskaran

TOKYO, AUG 8. If there are accusations of education being saffronised in India, there are charges of school textbooks in Japan glossing over the country's wartime atrocities.

In fact, a book, written by a group of nationalist authors, has been approved for the first time by the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education for use at three schools for disabled children. The move has been criticised on two grounds. One, much to the chagrin of China and South Korea, the text is said to paint a brighter, rosier picture of Japan's role in the Pacific war belittling the enormous suffering the Chinese and Koreans bore. Two, teachers have said that the Tokyo Board decided to target the handicapped institutions to make it easier for others to adopt the controversial book.

A teacher was reported to have said that the text ``almost justifies Japan's action in the war, when human rights of the disabled were violated with impunity''. However, the authors of the book feel that the texts now in use are ``self- denigrating''. They portray Japan as an aggressor. It was time that the average Japanese was taught to respect and love his country, they felt.

The textbook affair comes at a time when China and South Korea, victims of Japan's wartime aggressions, are angry over a plan by the Japanese Prime Minister, Mr. Junichiro Koizumi, to visit the Yasukuni shrine on August 15, the anniversary of the nation's surrender during World War II. Three of the 17 Ministers here have confirmed that they will visit the shrine. Five of the remaining 14 have refused to say what their plans are.

Mr. Takeo Hiranuma, Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry, said his visit - and also that of Mr. Koizumi - merely reflected a sense of respect to the departed. But he did admit that trade ties between Japan and China could be affected in the short term. The shrine, of course, commemorates even war criminals who were hanged after the hostilities ceased.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : International
Previous : South Africans held in Zimbabwe for violence?