Local governments refuse history textbook to enter their classrooms
The ultra-conservative "New History Textbook" is suffering setbacks. Several municipalities have rejected the adoption of the history textbook, which is strongly criticized at home and abroad for glossing over Japan's war of aggression.
By July 25, Tokyo's Chiyoda and Suginami Wards and Kunitachi City decided to delete the "New History Textbook" as an option, followed by the Shimotsuga district of Tochigi Prefecture.
The "New History Textbook" and "Civics Textbook" for the next school year were edited by the Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform and approved by the Education and Science Ministry.
As a rule, municipalities in summer make decisions on textbooks to be used from the following April at public schools.
In Suginami Ward on July 24, 550 people, urged by the sense of crisis that the textbooks might mislead children about historical facts, formed a "human chain" to encircle the ward office to express their opposition to the use of the textbooks in the ward's public schools.
In the Shimotsuga district of Tochigi, a residents' movement pushed the local government into overturning the preceding decision to use the controversial textbook. It was learned that none out of the district's two cities and eight towns supported the use of the textbook.
The Japan Lawyers Association for Freedom, which is an organization of lawyers positively standing for the defense of democracy, human rights, and social justice, on July 24 published with a South Korean counterpart a joint statement in opposition to the use of the textbooks at schools.
It states that the "New History Textbook" glorifies the war of aggression and incites chauvinism, and that the civics textbook is intended to induce children into despising Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, heading to its eventual abolition. The joint statement is a result of a joint symposium the two organizations held on July 7 in Seoul. (end)