| Description |
In 1982 and 1986, the Japanese Ministry of Education revised some history textbooks in a manner which upset many of Japan's Asian neighbors. Changes in wording and tone, particularly about events of Japan's operations in Asia during World War II, alarmed the governments of South Korea and mainland China $ These governments objected because they feared that if the Japanese government succeeded in altering the way schoolchildren viewed the events of world War II, nothing would stop a recurrence of this ultra-nationalism in some form. The textbook revision system and its history shed the most light on these fears-. From the Meiji period, those in power in Japan have played an active role in this censorship process. Since the end of the united states Occupation after World War II, the Japanese government has strengthened its authority over textbook revision with the Ministry of Education acting as its censor. This authorization process has become so complex that publishers themselves tend to censor textbooks before they ever reach the Ministry so they might avoid any bureaucratic problems. The textbook controversies of 1982 and 1986 provide a context for discussing Japan's new role in Asia. Japan has actively resumed relations with mainland China and South Korea in the past few decades and prospects for continued cooperation loom great. However, Asians in general seem to fear a revival of ultra-nationalism in Japan with yen instead of guns as its tool for expansion into and subjection of the rest of Asia. The textbook controversies of the 1980s fueled these fears as Japanese leaders seemed oblivious to their fellow Asian's objections to the textbook revisions. The specific words and phrases changed by the Japanese government pertain only superficially to the key issue here: Japan's government has complete control over the authorization process and might easily use that control to foster a new ultra-nationalistic state. |
