Concerning Japan's history, Chinese textbooks focus on
pre WW2 events and rarely mention contemporary Japan.
Teachers also mention they do not have time to teach
contemporary Japan society to their students. One has to
bear this in mind when one textbook among others
mentions China, in a way the Chinese leadership does not
really enjoy the content...
Quotes :
A nationalist textbook newly approved by the Tokyo
government is driving the deepest wedge in Japan-China
relations in decades, but few of the country's students
have ever read it.
Though given away for free, the book titled "New History
Textbook" is used by only 18 of 11,102 junior high
schools in Japan, reflecting many teachers' concerns
over its content. It has been denounced by the leading
teachers' union, and is well to the right wing of
mainstream public opinion.
Outside of Japan's classrooms, however, the textbook is
anything but obscure.
Since it was first approved by a government screening
panel four years ago, the textbook has been singled out
by Japan's neighbors as evidence the country is trying
to whitewash its militarist past.
And its unrepentant tone and omission of Japan's wartime
atrocities — including germ warfare and the forcing of
tens if not hundreds of thousands of women into
prostitution — have outraged many Japanese educators and
liberals.
It is now at the center of yet another regional rift.
The approval of the book's newest edition this month
fueled street protests in several Chinese cities,
threats of a boycott of Japanese products and violence
against at least two Japanese students, plunging
relations between the two Asian giants to their lowest
level in years.
Even North Korea has piped up, saying the Education
Ministry's approval of the text demonstrates the
nation's leaders are "political dwarfs."
The book's publishers claim surprise at the outcry.
"We only hope more schools choose our book," said
Fusosha spokeswoman Yoko Ishimaru, acknowledging the
textbook could have been more popular.
Only 10 public and eight private junior high schools use
the textbook, meaning it reaches just 0.1 percent of the
1.2 million seventh graders.
Teachers' concerns over the content have limited use of
the textbook, which covers all of Japan's history. The
current edition has 236 pages, only about 20 of which
deal with the 1920-1945 period, the height of Japanese
expansionism.
But those 20 pages are highly inflammatory, with
passages defending Japan's militarism as an attempt to
liberate Asia from western colonialism and claiming that
resource-poor Japan was pushed into a corner and used
aggression as a last resort. Similar logic was used by
Japan's wartime leaders.
Critics say the text underscores a disturbing, broader
trend.
"All history textbooks are shifting their focus away
from Japan's wartime atrocities," said Mikio Someya, a
spokesman for the liberal Japan Teachers' Association,
the country's leading teachers' union.
For example, he said, none of the textbooks approved
this month mentions Japan's official role in
establishing front-line brothels during the war.
Historians say as many as 200,000 women from Korea,
China, the Philippines, Taiwan and the Netherlands were
forced into sexual slavery for Japanese soldiers.
Japan's military also seized up to 800,000 men from
China, Korea and other Asian countries in the early
1900s and shipped them to Japan to work in coal mines
and ports under brutal conditions.
Tokyo has acknowledged its wartime offenses, but refuses
to compensate victims directly or apologize, saying all
government-level compensation was settled by postwar
treaties.
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has also
angered many Chinese and Koreans by repeatedly paying
his respects at a Shinto shrine honoring Japan's war
dead, including several war criminals.
Officials say the criticism of its textbook screening
process — and decision to approve the book in question —
is unfair.
They claim screening is intended only to ensure that
textbooks do not contain factual errors or express
interpretations of history that go beyond what most
scholars would consider defensible. It does not mean the
government agrees with everything on every page, they
say.
Critics, however, argue the process bolsters the
government's own right-leaning bias.
"They are approved because their contents reflect the
views of the government and conservative ruling party
members," said Yoshifumi Tawara, who heads Children and
Textbooks Japan Network 21, a liberal activist group. AP
end of quotes
Japanese textbook rarely used
ReplyDeleteJapan's nationalist "New History
Textbook" is fueling the deepest
ebb in Japan-China relations in
decades, but few Japanese students
have ever read it.
Though given away for free, the
text is used by only 18 junior
high schools -- out of 11,102
junior highs in all of Japan. It
has been denounced by the nation's
leading teacher's union, and is
well right of mainstream public
opinion.
Outside of Japan's classrooms,
however, the textbook is anything
but obscure.
Since it was first approved by a
government screening panel four
years ago, the text has been
singled out by Japan's neighbors
as evidence that the country is
trying to whitewash its militarist
past.
And its unrepentant tone and
omission of Japan's wartime
atrocities -- including germ
warfare and the forcing of tens if
not hundreds of thousands of women
into prostitution -- have outraged
many Japanese educators and
liberals.
It is now at the center of yet
another regional rift.
The approval of its newest edition
earlier this month fueled street
protests in several Chinese
cities, threats of a boycott of
Japanese products and violence
against at least two Japanese
students, plunging relations
between the two Asian giants to
their lowest level in years.
Even North Korea has piped up,
saying the Education Ministry's
approval of the text and Japan's
recent push to get a permanent
seat on the United Nations
Security Council demonstrate how
this nation's leaders are
"political dwarfs."
The text's publishers claim
surprise at the outcry.
"We only hope more schools choose
our book," said Fusosha
spokeswoman Yoko Ishimaru,
acknowledging that the textbook
could have been more popular.
Only 10 public and eight private
junior high schools use the
textbook, meaning it reaches only
0.1 percent of the 1.2 million
seventh graders in Japan.
The text's limited usage reflects
many teachers' concerns over its
content.
The book covers all of Japan's
history, from ancient times to
modern. The current edition has
236 pages, of which only about 20
cover the 1920-1945 period, the
height of Japanese expansionism.
But those 20 pages are highly
inflammatory, with passages
defending Japan's militarism as an
attempt to liberate Asia from
western colonialism and claiming
that resource-poor Japan was
pushed into a corner and used
aggression as a last resort.
Similar logic was used by Japan's
wartime leaders.
Critics of the text acknowledge
that it is farther right than
most, but say it underscores a
disturbing, broader trend.
"All history textbooks are
shifting their focus away from
Japan's wartime atrocities," said
Mikio Someya, a spokesman for the
leftist Japan Teachers'
Association, the leading teachers'
union in Japan.
For example, he said, none of the
textbooks approved this month make
any mention of Japan's official
role in establishing front-line
brothels during the war.
Historians say as many as 200,000
women from Korea, China, the
Philippines, Taiwan and the
Netherlands were forced into
sexual slavery for Japanese
soldiers.
Japan's military also seized up to
800,000 men from China, Korea and
other Asian countries in the early
1900s and shipped them to Japan to
work in coal mines and ports under
brutal conditions.
Tokyo has acknowledged its wartime
offenses, but refuses to
compensate victims directly or
apologize, saying all
government-level compensation was
settled by postwar treaties.
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro
Koizumi has also angered many
Chinese and Koreans by repeatedly
paying his respects at a Shinto
shrine honoring Japan's war dead,
including several war criminals.
Officials say the criticism of its
textbook screening process -- and
decision to approve the book in
question -- is unfair.
They claim screening is intended
only to ensure that textbooks do
not contain factual errors or
express interpretations of history
that go beyond what most scholars
would consider defensible. It is
not, they say, intended to mean
the government agrees with
everything on every page.
Critics, however, argue that the
process bolsters the government's
own right-leaning bias.
"They are approved because their
contents reflect the views of the
government and conservative ruling
party members," said Yoshifumi
Tawara, who heads Children and
Textbooks Japan Network 21, a
liberal activist group. "I think
textbook authors are avoiding
controversial topics."
Many Japanese sympathize with
concerns over the way their
history is taught, but believe the
reaction in China has been
excessive.
"I don't remember studying the war
much in school," said Akiko
Okumura, a 24-year-old company
employee in Tokyo.
"I understand the Chinese
position, but I don't think it is
right for them to direct their
anger at Japanese people in China
or to boycott Japanese goods."
Copyright 2005 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved.This
material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten, or
redistributed.
What Chinese textbooks don't say
Some things you won't find in
Chinese history
textbooks: the 1989 democracy
movement, the millions who died in
a famine caused by misguided
communist policies or China's
military attacks on India and
Vietnam.
As China criticizes Japan for new
textbooks that critics say
minimize wartime abuses like the
Japanese military forcing Asian
women into sexual slavery,
Beijing's own schoolbooks have
significant omissions about the
communist system's own history and
relations with its neighbors.
"With rising Chinese nationalism,
the efforts to rewrite history, to
reinterpret history according to
the demands of nationalism have
become a major national pastime,"
said Maochun Yu, a history
professor at the U.S. Naval
Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
Experts say China's textbooks are
written to heighten a sense of
national victimhood and glorify
the Communist Party that seized
power in a 1949 revolution and
lashes out at any threat to its
rule.
The books describe those who died
fighting Japan and other outsiders
as having "gloriously sacrificed"
themselves for China.
Propaganda paintings reproduced in
schoolbooks show Chinese
struggling against foreign
invaders -- poses imitated by
protesters who threw rocks at the
Japanese Embassy in Beijing over
the weekend during violent
anti-Japanese demonstrations in
several Chinese cities.
An eighth-grade history book used
in Shanghai, China's most
cosmopolitan city, repeatedly
refers to Japanese by an insulting
phrase that roughly translates as
"Jap bandits."
The book focuses on Japanese
atrocities and repeats China's
claim that 35 million Chinese died
or were injured during their
1937-45 war.
"Wherever the Japanese army went,
they burned, killed, stole and
plundered," the book says. "There
was no wickedness they didn't
commit."
Omissions of major events appear
aimed at shoring up China's image
of itself as a non-aggressor,
especially since the 1949
revolution.
The books don't mention the brief
but bloody 1962 border war with
India that broke out when Chinese
troops attacked Indian positions
to enforce territorial claims.
There is nothing on the 1979 war
when Chinese troops attacked
Vietnam. The assault was ordered
to punish Hanoi for ousting the
murderous Khmer Rouge regime in
Cambodia, which was an ally of
Beijing.
Also missing:
• The 1989 crackdown on democracy
demonstrations, when Chinese
troops killed hundreds and
possibly thousands of unarmed
protesters.
• The estimated 30 million Chinese
who starved to death during the
1958-61 "Great Leap Forward,"
revolutionary leader Mao Zedong's
attempt to speed up China's farm
and factory output through mass
collectivization.
Textbooks gloss over ally North
Korea's invasion of South Korea at
the start of the 1950-53 Korean
War, a conflict that drew in
troops from the United States and
other countries on the side of the
South and China's army in support
of the North.
The texts say only that "civil war
broke out," without mentioning how
it started. America is portrayed
as an invader that forced Beijing
to intervene by threatening
Chinese territory.
A seventh-grade text also accuses
the U.S. military of using
biological weapons during the
Korean War, repeating a claim made
by China, North Korea and the
former Soviet Union during the
Cold War but never proven.
While Japan's distortions of its
history appear driven by a
reluctance to accept shame,
China's are aimed at preserving
communist rule, said Sin-ming
Shaw, a China scholar at Oxford
University in England.
"Not owning up is a calculated
political policy," Shaw said.
end of quotes