|
|
|
||||
|
||||
|
Japanese high school textbook (non) controversy -
07-25-2010, 07:51 AM
Upon coming to Japan one of the things I was a little bit wary of was the Japanese view of history. So much so that I avoid talk of history altogether with Japanese people unless they are REALLY close friends.
This wariness was born out of a lot of things that I had heard about the Japanese education. In particular that there are huge omissions in high school textbooks when it comes to some of the terrible things that occurred or they are justified and revised. Right now Im reading a book about Japanese history textbooks and it turns out that such textbooks make up only 1-2 percent of textbooks published.... furthermore a lot of schools REJECT these sorts of textbooks. The book does take up some issues regarding language surrounding these incidents in some of the textbooks (the way in which the army is distanced from Japan using language for example) but these issues, while perhaps interesting to a linguist or a social science major, are hardly issues which would cause international concern, nor issues that are limited to Japan only. When you see all the fuss that is drummed up in Korea and China about these textbooks you have to wonder... what are the Korean and Chinese media saying to the Korean and Chinese population? Also I find it a bit hypocritical that China in particular get bothered about historical revision when they themselves have been occupying and colonizing Tibet since the 1950s (Tibet actually established themselves as independent in the early 20th century however they themselves never thought of themselves as "Chinese" rather to the Chinese they were on the periphery of their civilization in the same way that what is now modern day Korea was.) yet claim that Tibet is a part of China. 
|
|
|
||||
|
||||
|
07-25-2010, 08:13 AM
YouTube - Japanese History Textbook "The Truth?" (English Subtitle)
Interesting video I found on youtube.
|
|
|
|||
|
|||
|
07-25-2010, 11:38 AM
I don' tknow but many secrets of the past might be hard to keep hidden in this worldwide global information technology world.
YOU TUBE inparticular. I guess most government share many many secrets they would rather their own people stay ignorant about. Most history I was taught at school was medieval history and nothing about the ww2. I grew up in during ww2-- Now I notice that our school children are being shown something of that time also. We need to be educated about our histories I feel. The tibetans are treated terribly. It was not until I read JUNG CHANG's "WILD SWANS" that I learnt so much about China that had previously been a mystery to me.
|
|
|
||||
|
||||
|
07-25-2010, 03:55 PM
Hahahaha...
This is something I have brought up countless times when the topic of Japanese history revision and the great "scandal" involving the the textbooks come up. ANY book can be published and call itself a "textbook" - there is no rule governing this. Schools have the freedom to choose any textbook they like. They don`t choose those types of books unless they are, well, that kind of school... Which the majority are not. Last time I heard, there were only two schools using the textbook that had the big scandal - and both were private and below 100 students. It`s all blown out of proportion. And seriously.
|
|
|
|||
|
|||
|
07-26-2010, 02:24 AM
I suspect most people gloss over certain parts of thier history. I recall when I was stationed in Germany not to discuss WW2 much and never do anything related to Nazi's....they really don't like talking about that.
Everyone wants to see their country as the big herioc type, not the bad guy. Heck, nobody thinks they are the bad guy in any war, they all think they are the good guy. .
|
|
|
||||
|
||||
|
07-26-2010, 03:53 AM
Quote:
The reason why you are probably told not to mention the war in Germany is because you aren't going to make any friends by bringing it up for other reasons. It is generally a serious issue in Germany so discussing it lightly and saying obnoxious things like "If it weren't for us Americans, Hitler would still be in power", even if in a context in which it might be well intended, will definitely have the potential to rub people up the wrong way.
|
|
|
||||
|
||||
|
07-26-2010, 05:27 AM
Quote:
 as for the issue of tibet being independent... that is not what "US propaganda" tells me: YouTube - (01) Why We Fight: "Battle of China (ca. 1944) 1/5   US
|
|
|
||||
|
||||
|
07-26-2010, 05:46 AM
I am not sure why you are posting a film reel over 60 years old as evidence of modern propaganda.
|
|
|
||||
|
||||
|
07-26-2010, 06:20 AM
Quote:
The curriculum itself is just a very vague outline, with certain facts required to be taught. There is nothing in there about how the facts should be presented, how they should be taught, or what "political color" the teaching should have.... Or about what else is presented in addition to the curriculum. That the controversial textbook was published is just free speech. The author is welcome to put his opinion and beliefs in a book form and call it a textbook. That doesn`t mean anyone will use it... And most likely, very very few people would ever have heard of it or looked at it if it had not been for the huge controversy. I don`t know about the rest of the world, but I do know that there are far more controversial "textbooks" in the US - aimed at home schooling, etc. Home schooling isn`t common at all in Japan (and could be considered illegal here) so the "alternative" textbooks just have to be tossed out there in the hope that some private school will choose to use them. There is no reason to destroy or ban the book.
|
 |
| Thread Tools | |
|
|
