News analysis: Japan's revisionist gov't seeks to politicize kids' education with reworked textbooks

The Japanese government, in its latest display of flagrant revisionism, has through the education ministry set in place a mechanism to warp the younger generations' perceptions of geography and history by authorizing a number of social studies textbooks for use in junior high schools containing hugely biased if not erroneous content.

In total, the education ministry announced that it had authorized 18 textbooks for use in junior high schools' social studies classes, meaning that all the subjects' approved study guides, including those for elementary schools approved for use this month, contain content that will serve to fan the flames of historical and territorial disharmony between Japan and its closest neighbors.

At the crux of the controversy is the textbooks' content overtly towing the right-wing, revisionist line of the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, at a time when the world is scrutinizing Abe and his administration's actions ahead of a statement to be delivered by the prime minister on the anniversary of the end of WWII this summer.

With the approved textbooks reflecting the government's equivocal view that some contested islands are inherently Japan's, authorities on the matter believe that the move will serve to further sever diplomatic ties between Japan and its neighbors, while simultaneously ensuring the growing discord is passed on to Japan's future generations.

"Territory-related descriptions in school textbooks have certainly been on the rise in the recent past and this is worrisome, as teachers are duty-bound to teach a prescribed curriculum even if it's one that has been politicized by the government," David McLellan, a professor emeritus of postgraduate Asian Studies told Xinhua.

"Disputes over land or territory are nothing new in the world, but in terms of education, progressive countries tend to firstly concede there is a dispute in the first place as a point of historical fact and then present a balanced view of the situation to better inform the students, rather that dictate to them," he said.

"Of course subjects like mathematics and science are taught differently, particularly the former, as learning a particular formula will always lead to the same objective results. Put simply, one plus one will always equal two. But the social sciences are supposed to develop critical thinking and interpretation, not spoon feed children rewritten governmental indoctrination, this is hugely irresponsible and dangerous and not in the best interests of raising and educating children to become balanced global citizens," said McLellan.

He went on to explain that it wasn't just the politicization of the books' content that was of concern, but the fact that some of the former content had been rewritten to perfectly reflect the Abe administration's revisionist ideology, at a time when the prime minister is under the spotlight for pushing such an ideology onto the Japanese public and, indeed, the world, by slyly questioning historical facts pertaining to Japan's wartime savagery, as well as attempting to lessen certain acts of atrocity through semantics and verbal camouflage.

The new textbooks to be used next year perfectly tow Abe's revisionist line, barely mentioning monumental wartime such tragedies such as the Nanjing Massacre committed by the Japanese Imperial Army and changing the language from former textbooks' which read, "...the Japanese Army killed many captives and civilians" to current descriptions seemingly absolving or removing Japan from all involvement in stating, "...captives and civilians were involved in the tragedy and casualties were exposed..."

In addition, political observers have highlighted further instances of, not just the whitewashing of historical acts of aggression and brutal behavior by Japan, but, again, the removal of Japan as a perpetrator. Previous content in the textbooks that stated "Japan's acts of atrocity were condemned" have been entirely deleted from the latest editions.

On the land survey during Japan's occupation of Korea, the former textbooks state that the move was "under the banner of modernizing Korea", but the reviewed books describe the move as " with the purpose of modernization". And the Imperial Army forcing Okinawans to commit mass suicide at the end of the Battle of Okinawa has been phrased in the new textbooks as "many Okinawans falling into a hopeless situation of suicide."

Education experts like Hidenori Fujita largely concur that historical and geographical education here is rapidly going awry.

The Kyoei University professor said that the new text books lack balance and fail to represent the feelings of unjustness from countries like China and South Korea -- ironically Japan's closest neighbors, yet both embroiled with Japan in disputes over territory and both victims of Japan's wartime barbarity -- and are lacking in detail about the specific claims from non-Japanese parties regarding issues of territory and history.

It would seem the Education Ministry has carte blanche to teach what it likes about history and geography, as dictated by Abe and his revisionist lawmakers and this revisionist campaign has already been launched abroad.

The government has set aside more than half a billion U.S. dollars for a diplomatic and propaganda offensive to restore Japan 's "honor" and it recently announced the establishment of "Japan Houses" around the world to promote the country's image and to whitewash past war crimes.

"The first 'Japan Houses' will be set up in London, Los Angeles, and Sao Paulo by the end of 2016, but the plan does not end there, " sources close to the matter confirmed to Xinhua.

"We are half-satisfied. By mobilizing all means, we must strengthen Japan's information strategy so that in a real sense, we can have others 'properly' understand what is good about Japan, " said Yoshiaki Harada, a lawmaker with Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party -- evidence of the governments efforts to push their revised "honorable image" overseas.

Reports also show that 19 leading American historians recently blasted efforts by Abe to whitewash historical records by applying unreasonable pressure on McGraw-Hill publishing company in the United States to change textbook passages concerning the Japanese military's terrible abuse of "comfort women" during the 1930s and 1940s.

Japan also recently offered 5 million U.S. dollars to Columbia University for a Japan studies position, to help further push its agenda in the United States.

It was the first time Tokyo has made such a grant in more than four decades and political professor and expert on Japan-Korea relations at Kobe University, Kan Kimura, said that due to concern that Japan is conceding ground in an information war with some of its neighbors, it's attempting to catch up, by spreading its version of history as fast and as far overseas as it can.

"This concerted ideological campaign is part of the Abe administration's remilitarization of Japan and preparation for war. It is aimed at whipping up patriotic sentiment at home to dragoon a new generation of youth to go off to war, while blunting criticism abroad not only of past crimes, but the Japanese government's current military build-up," a recent editorial on the matter stated.

"What we're seeing here is a coordinated approach from multiple angles to revise history here, so as to grant Japan access to a global, militarized future without having to reflect, remember, recollect, recall or show remorse for any of its past wrongdoings, " proffered political analyst Teruhisa Muramatsu.

"This is the height of ultra-nationalism and perfectly in line with Abe's, his ministers' and numerous ruling party lawmakers' affiliation with the ultra-right Nippon Kaigi organization, which calls for Japan to fully return to its former imperialism," the expert told Xinhua.

"Abe, as an ultraright nationalist connected to Nippon Kaigi, has a clear agenda, the world now knows this. At first he was subtle. Then he hid in plain sight. Now he's flaunting his revisionist, militaristic and imperialistic stance and in doing so mocking his detractors, and the textbooks are all part of this," he said.

"The entire events that predicated the Sino-Japanese war in 1937 are covered in a single page, and, sadly, the Nanjing Massacre, comfort women issue and even the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are barely footnotes in these books," said Muramatsu. Endi