and Japan Won WWII too.

[Faded]

Just to make sure the Next gen of Gaijin are as equally F*cked

Tokyo Adopts Nationalist History Text


Email this Story

Aug 26, 8:51 AM (ET)

By KOZO MIZOGUCHI

TOKYO (AP) - A history textbook under attack by critics for omitting Japanese wartime atrocities was approved by educators Thursday for use in a public secondary school in the capital.

Tokyo's six-member school board ruled the "New History Textbook" would be used by 160 students in a joint junior high-high school opening in April, when the Japanese school year begins.

The school - Tokyo's first city-run, six-year secondary school - will be the first ordinary public school in Tokyo to use the textbook, said Tokyo city spokesman Yasuhiko Kiriyama.

In the current academic year, 15 schools around the country, including two nursing schools in Tokyo, are using the books, Education Ministry spokesman Yoko Kuki said.


The "New History Textbook," penned by nationalist scholars, was approved in 2001 by the Education Ministry amid protests from South Korea and China. The Japanese scholars issued a statement Thursday lauding the school board's "good judgment" in approving the textbook.

Critics say it omits Japanese wartime atrocities, including germ warfare in China and the use of hundreds of thousands of sex slaves for the Japanese military.

Opponents of the textbook criticized Thursday's decision.

"We demand the education board retract its decision immediately," said Ayako Okino, deputy director of "Children and Textbooks Japan Network 21.""We will do our utmost to prevent the pro-war thinking in the textbook from being forced on children."

Government officials say the Education Ministry's screening mainly involves fact-checking and approval does not mean the contents reflect official views on history.

Japan has admitted that a germ warfare unit operated in China during the war, but has refused to release details. Historians say Unit 731 may have killed as many as 250,000 people in experiments in the 1930s and 1940s.

The United Nations' human rights committee has said Japan is accountable for wartime sex slavery and should officially apologize and compensate the victims. Historians say some 200,000 women - mostly from Korea but also from the Philippines, Taiwan, China and the Netherlands - were forced into wartime sex slavery.

Tokyo has acknowledged its military's systematic involvement in brothel operations but has refused to pay compensation or apologize, saying all government-level compensation was settled by postwar treaties.

[same]

The thing that scares me is that this isn't a topic for the average Japanese. My girl went to an anti government school and got lots of the comfort women and Unit 731 stuff. She thinks it shocking. But it's not a topic. The teachers at her school were anti hinomaru, anti kimigayo. Most of the students were bemused by it all, from what she says. Who deprived these kids of topics? Topics are fucking brilliant.

[Andocrates]

I think it's time for Japan for forget that stuff. Why is it a good idea to rub a 15 year old's nose in a 60 year old pile of shit? Do we feel guilty for the wanton slaughter of civilians by America in Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Or the lust with which we hunted down and killed American Indians? Probably not, I don't.

Anyway, the Chinese won't let them forget it anyway. Visit any Japanese BBS you want and see for yourself.

It's one thing if they re-write the book to say it didn't happen, but it doesn't need to be rammed down those kids throats for the next 100 years.

[same]

Andocrates, agreed. But I think some countries can lay these ghosts to rest because they have matured into societies where they are unlikely to be repeated. To achieve that, you have to first acknowledge that the events happened. In Germany they went overboard and made the next generations feel guilty for the sins of their parents/grandparents. Young Japanese shouldn't be forced to feel guilt, but they should be encouraged join other young people round the world to ensure WWIII never happens.

[blackcat]

yes "same" is right.

the contrast between germany and japan is like night and day.

making people feel guilty is not the issue, telling the truth IS!

I suggest a little guilt may be a good thing for children to feel as this may lead to a greater awareness of "öthers" lives!! totally lacking in japan.

The minisrty of education once said "japanese children must be proud to be japanese" if that means lying about RECENT history(war criminals are still living BTW) then that pride is incomplete.


go onto any japanese bbs and you will find just as many japanese denialists!

This country are WITHOUT DOUBT heading down the same path...just a matter of time.

[Andocrates]

the contrast between Germany and Japan is like night and day.

Let's see, isn't Germany the country who makes gaming companies turn animated soldiers into robots? Have you ever met a German? Contrite my ass.

making people feel guilty is not the issue, telling the truth IS!

What is this truth you speak of? Truth is as subjective as religion. Do you believe your government and schools taught you "the truth?" A school is supposed to give you a general education. What you learn after school is wide-open. It's one book in one grade.

I suggest a little guilt may be a good thing for children to feel as this may lead to a greater awareness of "öthers" lives!! totally lacking in Japan.

Guilt is the poison of the human soul. Guilt is Catholics and masturbation, guilt destroys people it doesn't lead to anything good. I don't see what a 15 year old has to feel guilty about anyway. Do you feel guilty because Jeffrey Dahmer ate some people?

The minisrty of education once said "japanese children must be proud to be japanese" if that means lying about RECENT history(war criminals are still living BTW) then that pride is incomplete.

That sounds like a very logical quote to me. And, what lie are you speaking of? Show me the lie and I'll believe you. Does the text book say those events didn't take place? Your history books were chock full of lies, by the way. As far as war criminals do you mean the American soldiers who raped and killed in Vietnam or Iraq?

Bottom line, Japan pisses you off. The Japanese piss you off because they don't act like you think they should. Meanwhile America is busy re-writing history textbooks right and left to try and include obscure black heroes and great women because there are so few famous ones, and completely ignoring (for example) the Chinese population who helped build America. Clean up your own country then you start on Japan.

[kurohinge1]

Without getting too emotional, here's my two cents:

It's always good to teach kiddies about the sins of their fathers. That way they'll understand why other kiddies throw rocks at them, and that some things (like rape, torture and systematic murder) are naughty.

It's also good to teach them how their fathers sinned (the system that allowed or even cajoled them into it), so that they understand that some systems lend themselves to abuse and naughtiness.

[blackcat]

ando
you are one dumb cocksucker I`m not american so suck my balls!!!

Japans history textbooks are avioding the truth and watering it down not just my opinion sherlock!! do your won research you dumb fuck.

every country has shit to answer for...and japan is one! that doenst mean i cant see it other nations, YOU however are the fuckwit making excuses for one country and charging others with crimes.

btw GRREEAAT point the germans make solider software!!! they also faced what they did and moved on! the issue in japan hasnt moved on not because of what i think....but what millions remember.

[Taro Toporific]

"He who controls the past commands the future. He who commands the future conquers the past. " - from '1984' by George Orwell

"History is what historians write."
---page 1 of any college historiography textbook

[Bongo]

I think it's time for Japan for forget that stuff. Why is it a good idea to rub a 15 year old's nose in a 60 year old pile of shit? Do we feel guilty for the wanton slaughter of civilians by America in Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Or the lust with which we hunted down and killed American Indians? Probably not, I don't.

Anyway, the Chinese won't let them forget it anyway. Visit any Japanese BBS you want and see for yourself.

It's one thing if they re-write the book to say it didn't happen, but it doesn't need to be rammed down those kids throats for the next 100 years.

Perhaps that is why the US just killed 15,000 people in Iraq to the tune of the American mass media and general public going "Hubba Hubba USA"!
Americans obviously need it rammed down their throats a bit more!

[Taro Toporific]

Without getting too emotional....

Without getting too emotional, I wanna be "subreptitious" when I grow up and have "agitprop vehicles fleeing hither and thither in the streets".

Commentary: Japan's rightists doomed to failure in reattempting to ...
Xinhua, China - August
28 (Xinhuanet) --The reattempt of Japan's rightists to gloss over the history of aggressive wars in a subreptitious textbook is doomed to failure due to profound concerns and strong protests from the public in Japan and the countries that fell victim to the wars. ...
....The public in Japan have always expressed disgust the rightists who talked nonsense and played ignominious roles in history-distorting incidents. ... Japanese citizens have also showed dislike to noise pollution produced by the rightists' agitprop vehicles fleeing hither and thither street by street and broadcasting militarism songs with loudspeakers. ...

[Andocrates]

ando
you are one dumb cocksucker I`m not american so suck my balls!!!

Hey Blackcat did I piss you off? It wasn't personal. I agree with most everything said about the Japanese in this thread. Japan has still never really owned up to the comfort women. They acknowledge it but they never apologized.

But the allies raped far more women in WW2 then the Japanese, (mostly those crazy Russkies) so why don't we hear about that? Simply because we won the war.

In America we went through a period of "the white man sucks" in all our history books. White people were pointed at as the source of all the worlds problems. It never made the white man feel bad, instead it led to the "angry white man" syndrone.

I think kids should be taught history without trying to guilt trip them. It's not that I don't think they should be taught about Japan' dark past, it's just that this history book issue is a "tempest in a teapot. "

[blackcat]

ando...
sorry about the tirade i did take it personally i suppose. my appologies.

I agree with you that we in the west are self righteous and two faced at times. the russians went mad thats true as for who raped more...don`t know, but systematic slavery japan ruled, unit 731 etc. lets also not forget what the germans did to the russians so one could say there was a strong revenge element by the russians....however korea/china/east timor/phillipines/indonesia certainly did not rape thousands of japanese women!! japan has no excuse.

that brings me to the point so often overlooked...the japanese complain to this day about american occupation..IE Okinawa(and in many ways i agree with them) but lets remember what their occupation of other countries was like....total takeover with absolute brutal rule...and they complain

the most important thing is they were not occupied by the russians...and they forget this fact, imagine if the russians got to tokyo first as they did berlin japan could be like north korea even today divided down the middle.(and how much brutality they would have suffered)

other than hiroshima/nagasaki they got of relatively lightly when you think of the scale and nature of the crimes.

and today i get sick of seeing Uni students hand in thesis saying "because of the oil embargo japan had to go to war" "manchuria incident dragged japan to a war" etc etc. where another student does a thesis on comfort women only to have her professor throw it on the floor and say "i can`t accept this"

just last year a gov. offical claimed japan were the true victims of WWII

the level of denial lies in japan is unreal. just 60 years ago and they treat itl ike ancient history, truth is most of them dont give a fuck, and will believe anything they are TOLD.

the germans had come to realize Hitler was their greatest enemy and blindly following a madman to war was not an option, perhaps thats why there was strong opposition to iraq in germany...this time the madman Bush!

Japan have not come to realize this esp. the younger generation, they have suffered the bullshit history and are so uneducated in world events and the dangers of populist politicans(ishihara etc.) the 40`s tend to know, but the future doesnt look bright for them just so they can feel patriotic.

i dont think guilt is the issue, its knowing what happened....and the definite answer is they dont.