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07-27-2010, 05:15 AM
I have never looked at a Japanese history book, but I'd like to take a look at some someday as I like learning history (especially from different perspectives).
I can't imagine any countries being too different about this kind of issue. Like for example I remember a lot of things being left out of my history books in high school (in California). I remember a lot of skirting around things that would normally be considered bad about America by the teacher. I remember the teacher skipping large portions of the textbook and even adding in lessons that weren't in the textbook. I think there are many things in play. Why would a textbook be shortened or why would a teacher skip or add parts? Why do textbooks concern themselves with certain topics while completely avoiding others? For starters, these textbooks have to have a certain amount of pages to make them managable for teachers. So as time passes certain things have to take the back seat. I haven't looked at an American History textbook in a while, but I would imagine that 9/11 has appeared in textbooks and has replaced something else. Similarly to keeping lengths of textbooks short so they're managable for teachers, teachers will always teach in a way that is comfortable or most important to them. Maybe a teacher is Jewish and wants to focus on concentration camps or maybe the teacher is Japanese American and wants to talk about internment camps or maybe the teacher is African American and they want to talk more about Slave era America or about equal rights-- excuse the stupid word choice, but a teacher's background or ethnicity will color what's covered in a class. There is also the brain washing aspect of textbooks. They will include things that will make people think what the government or what the publishers of the books want you to think. So to understand this better-- to understand where these books are "coming from" it helps to look at the companies associated with these publishers. I remember "Mcgraw Hill" being the publishers of most of my history books. Taking a 5 second look at wikipedia, I found that it is the "parent company of Standard & Poor's, Platts, and J.D. Power and Associates". So when reading a book written by a corporation like that you have to understand that they are about money. I distinctly remember getting that feeling whenever opening my history textbooks in high school-- why I have no idea. These books are expensive-- they cost WAY more than their worth and are a guaranteed sale for these companies if they can get contracts. So how are they going to sell them? Maybe they'll write what the buyers want them to write (or more importantly not write what they don't want them to write). Who's buying these textbooks? I feel like there's more to this picture that I simply don't understand though. If I'm overlooking something I hope someone here will educate me about it. As far as Japan goes who's publishing their history books? The same companies that produce all their other books? Do companies have any relation to big corporations? If so, what kinds of corporations? Does any of this point to why the parts of history in question are left out? Is it simply a matter of the goverment getting involved? Even still though, I believe that it's in every country's interest to do this to their textbooks. I know America does it. I wouldn't be surpised if China and Korea do it too. Not every country's history is squeaky clean. It's a shame to not educate people about some wrong doings of a country, but it's also a shame to harp on negative things all the time. It certainly is an interesting subject though-- observing what textbooks will leave out or put in. On the flip side, why do China and Korea feel so compelled to bring this issue up? I know it's obvious, but I think it's worth humoring. What are they being taught/reported that would cause this? What do they serve to gain by doing this? I think there is always something to gain by doing these kinds of things. I'm not trying to defend anyone, by the way. I'm not trying to be mr. negative either... but I think it helps to look at all sides of these things to try to find all probable reasons. To me one of the beautiful thigns about the internet-- it supplies a place to store this erased history. Unfortunately it supplies it all in a sensitive format that can easily be changed and edited in an instant. It also supplies a way to supply false information! This is why first hand accounts or your own experiences are so important. 
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07-27-2010, 05:18 AM
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