[Editorial] Japanese History Textbooks; Worse Than Last Time

Once you get the wrong kind of thoughts in your head they do not change easily. That is just as true when there are hidden political motives. We are talking about a new middle school textbook by the far-right Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform which has been submitted to Japan's education ministry for approval.

There should be no need to detail each historical distortion. It is plenty enough to see that the textbook has a separate section titled "the Japan that helped modernize Korea," in a naked glorification of Japanese colonial rule. It leaves out description of the "comfort women," and the fact that Koreans were forced to adopt Japanese names and were subject to forced mobilization and other key facts about colonial rule, such as Korean resistance, were left out. It does include the claim that Dokdo is Japanese territory. It makes the perfect collection of historical distortions.

While fabrications of history from far-right elements in Japan are nothing new, this time around it is far more serious because many officials with the education ministry, which is responsible for textbook evaluation are participating in the effort to have it approved, as are some members of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). A few days ago a high-ranking official at the education ministry went so far as to say the clause requiring that textbooks take into consideration neighboring nations "encourages a masochist history education." The education minister might as well be a member of the organization when he says it is "a really good thing that there are less descriptions of comfort women and forced mobilization in the textbook."

We ask the Japanese government to thoroughly correct the distortions in the organization's textbook. If it does not, it will be understood as having attempted massive historical distortions at the government level. We hope to see Japanese civil society become active in issue as well. Japan will have a dark future if it calls for a future-oriented relationship while on the other hand is unable to overcome far-right forces trying to spread imperialist and ultra-nationalist thinking.

Relations will surely sour at a rapid pace if the Japanese government does not take ample action. Right now even Dokdo has become an issue. Japan needs to understand that an increasing number of Koreans think it is time to reconsider the whole of Korean-Japanese relations.

The Hankyoreh, 12 March 2005.

[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]