Liberal Japan

The Japan Times has weighed in on the debate about the Battle of Okinawa and what can be acceptably taught in schools:

EDITORIAL
Battle for textbook accuracy
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The education ministry has publicized the screening results for new textbooks, most of which are scheduled for use at junior and senior high schools starting in April 2008. Conspicuous is the government’s efforts to impose its historical view of the mass suicides among Okinawan residents during the Battle of Okinawa.
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Screeners told the authors of history textbooks aimed at senior high-school students to remove phrases that originally said, in effect, that the Imperial Japanese Army forced the suicides on local residents. As a result, phrases referring to coercion by Japanese forces have disappeared. Through last year, screeners had not objected to such phrases.
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The education ministry admits that the existence of coercion by Japanese forces is a commonly accepted view among historians. Still, it justifies the screening process on the strength of theories that the existence of direct military orders for mass suicide has not been proven. It also cites a pending libel lawsuit filed by a former commander of an army unit on Zamami Island of the Kerama Islands against an author and a publishing house for printing books stating that he issued an order telling local residents to kill themselves. (On Kerama Island, 553 people are reported to have died in mass suicides, including 171 on Zamami.)
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The ministry should heed what historians like professor Hirofumi Hayashi at Kanto Gakuin University have to say: that many pieces of testimony indicate that Japanese forces distributed hand grenades to local residents, strictly ordered them not to be captured by U.S. forces and told them to kill themselves when the moment arrived. He points out that irrespective of whether army unit commanders issued suicide orders, the situation as a whole clearly shows that Japanese forces applied coercion.
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In this year’s textbook screenings, the ministry had all references to such coercion deleted, while it admitted that the existence of coercion remains a commonly accepted view among historians. This is illogical and contradictory.

The Asahi shimbun echoes these comments in their editorial:

EDITORIAL/ Okinawa’s forced suicides
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The government has instructed publishers of many high school history textbooks to alter descriptions of mass suicide incidents during the World War II battle in Okinawa. In latest textbook screening, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology told the publishers to eliminate all references to the Japanese military’s direct role in these tragedies.
The ministry criticized descriptions that said civilians were forced by the Japanese Imperial Army to commit mass suicide. The government says it is not clear the military issued such orders. Many publishers complied, and their textbooks now state vaguely that civilians were “driven into mass suicide,” instead of that the people were “forced by the Japanese military to commit mass suicide.”
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The tragic mutual killings of civilians took place in the Kerama islands, where invading U.S. forces landed first in the Battle of Okinawa. Several hundred islanders killed themselves and their families in mass suicides.
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By removing references to the Japanese military’s direct involvement in these acts, the government obscures the abnormal nature of Japan’s militarism. The military did not want to allow Okinawans to be captured by American soldiers and so it forced them to commit suicide. Isn’t this move to rewrite textbooks an attempt to distort history?
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The education ministry’s textbook screening raises very troubling questions.
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One disturbing question is why the ministry is today ordering removal of references to the Japanese military’s involvement in these events.
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A nation must face up to the facts of history, no matter how painful. Educators must teach that to the children who will shape the nation’s future.

The Yomiuri also has their take on this, which is fairly predictable:

Textbook change raises questions / Battle of Okinawa puts interpretation of history in crosshairs
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The results of a survey released Friday of history textbooks show once again the difficulties of teaching war history while survivors of that time are still alive and still carry deep traumas from their experiences.
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After the screening of middle and high school history texts, the Education, Science and Technology Ministry asked for the description of the Battle of Okinawa to be modified, taking issue with the inclusion in accounts of the 1945 battle that “the Imperial Japanese Army forced local residents to commit mass suicide during the battle.”
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Historians say the ministry’s change in policy is a reflection of the latest academic theories. But the sentiments of people in Okinawa Prefecture who were affected by the events of the time are complicated.
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A ministry official said regarding the reasons for the changes, that “in recent years, there have been theories that reject the existence of orders from the Japanese Army” for people to commit mass suicide.
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The official also cited court testimonies by a former army major and others concerned from a lawsuit at the Osaka District Court in which they demanded compensation.
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The plaintiffs filed a defamation lawsuit, seeking compensation from Iwanami Shoten Publishers and writer Kenzaburo Oe because it stated the former major ordered locals to commit mass suicide during the battle.
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Regarding whether the suicides were forced by the army, historian Ikuhiko Hata said, “The consensus of historians has been established that there were no such orders from the Imperial Japanese Army.”
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“In Okinawa Prefecture, no mass suicide occurred on remote islands where army soldiers weren’t stationed. The link between the Japanese Army and mass suicide can’t be denied,” said Tsunehiko Miyagi, 73, who attempted but failed to commit suicide in Zamami Island.
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“Because I was a primary school student [at the time], I didn’t know of such an order,” Miyagi added. “But residents who transported hand grenades from an army depot were told, ‘If the worst happens, kill yourselves.’ This can be interpreted as an order.”
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He also expressed worry about how students may feel after reading the new passages in the textbooks. “The description, ‘They were forced to commit mass suicide,’ lacks a ‘by whom.’ I fear students may be unable to understand the link to the army.”
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House of Councillors member and former Okinawa Gov. Masahide Ota also has weighed in on the issue. “The reality of the Battle of Okinawa is not understood at all. If residents’ mass suicides weren’t forced by the army, the ministry should show how it can be proved from evidence. If ambiguous descriptions are in textbooks, the reality of the Battle of Okinawa will be wrongly passed to future generations.”
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Writer Kazutoshi Hando said regarding the sentiment of residents in the prefecture that: “Even if the event only happened once, it varies among those who experienced it how they recognize it. It’s a difficult question how to teach modern history while those who experienced it are still alive.”
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Just reading the editorials it seems probable that the citizens were basically told to commit suicide and under the coercive influence of the military, did so. However, I would guess there were no official papers documenting this, nor perhaps was there any official order. So because there is no “official” document or order then, the suicides had nothing to do with the military? Give me a break.

Anyway, note that ALL three editorials are MISSING two vital points.

1. Why must only one version of history be taught?
2. Why should a central authority have ultimate say in what will or won’t be taught in EVERY school throughout Japan?

I realize that saying this is perhaps impolite given Japan’s history, but I can’t help but think, Dark Empire.

Highschool students are quite capable of taking the information presented in each of the editorials above, then weighing it, then forming an opinion. That’s what education should be about.

So, and I’m sorry for shouting, but:

WHAT’S THE @#$%ING PROBLEM?

Okay, I’ll calm down.

But really, why not just explain the controversy to the children? Would that be subversive in some way? Sorry, kids, not everyone agrees about this, here are some of the commonly held views.

Gee, maybe the teachers could even ask the children to try and form an independent opinion. Let the children go home and talk about this issue with their parents or relatives or friends, and then report back to the class about it.

Obviously education should not be like feeding a baby small spoonfuls of easy to digest purée.

It should be about disturbing people and upsetting them. It should be about stimulating someone to the point they’re excited about learning and want to learn more.

The real problem here, which is indeed the same problem as the controversy over the comfort women, and the same problem with singing of “Kimi Ga Yo”, is the idea that one size fits all. We’ve all got to get into this lockstep and learn the same thing.

While Japan is not homogeneous, and never will be, the clear goal is not a homogenous Japan but a homogenized Japan.

Right?

Previous related blog entries:
Kimi ga Yo, national anthem controversy

Playing “Kimi ga Yo” just another gig?

The emerging educational divide: good or bad?

Boost state’s education role

News Article Links:
Japan’s Textbooks Reflect Revised History by Norimitsu Onishi

Japan orders history books to change passages on forced World War II suicides (AP)

Texts stop saying army forced Okinawa suicides (Japan Times)

Okinawa battle played down for 1st time in textbook screening (JapanToday)

Nobel laureate Oe blasts Japan over textbook revisions (Channel News Asia)

Japan to Revise Books on WWII Suicides (The Guardian)

Background Links:
The Okinawan Election and Resistance to Japan’s Military First Politics

GlobalSecurity.org: Battle of Okinawa

1945 suicide order still a trauma on Okinawa

Wikipedia: Battle of Okinawa

Wikipedia: Okinawa

Wikipedia: History of Ryukyu Islands

Free Okinawa
Okinawa has suffered long enough. To join this group is a pledge of your support for the people of Okinawa. A people that have lost their true freedom since the Japanese invasion and the forced denouncement of the rightful King in 1897. To know the modern history of this land is to know the horror of war, deceit and suppression. This group is dedicated to supporting Okinawa with their horrible burden of American military occupation and Japanese indifference. FREE OKINAWA!

Ryukyu Cultural Archives

The Complex Character of Ryukyuan Culture

Discussion and Blogs:
Irish Times: “Abe unleashes the deniers of history”, NYT on textbook revisionism (debito.org)

Americans Told Okinawans to Commit Suicide (Normadic Purview)

JAPAN TO REVISE TEXTBOOKS: “Japanese Soldiers Did NOT Force Okinawa Civilians Into Suicide in WWII” (Free Republic)

Japanese Literature Nobel Laureate Blasts Japan Over Textbook Revisions (The Malaysian)

Japanese revision of History textbooks AGAIN a.k.a THIS IS BULLSH*T (Live Journal)

And Japan Fakes Its Past History. 1984, Anyone? (Pen Raker)

RSS link to discussion at JapanToday

OKINAWA SUICIDES DURING WAR DOWNPLAYED IN TEXT BOOKS? (Japundit)

Japan’s Textbooks Reflect Revised History (The China Desk)

Japan Orders Rewrite of History (Rising Sun of Nihon)