New history, old wounds: China and Japan battle over history textbook
Most people may believe that the reason for studying history is to learn what happened in the past," begins the foreword to Japan's "New History Textbook," "but that is not necessarily correct."
This is not the kind of opening that inspires confidence in a text's objectivity. The "New History Textbook" was introduced in 2001 by a group of right-wing scholars and politicians with the explicit aim of giving junior high school students a more positive sense of their national history. It characterizes Japanese aggression in World War II, notably its invasion of China, as a counterattack against Western imperialism, and consigns the Japanese Army's atrocities following its 1937 conquest of Nanjing -- known as the "Rape of Nanking" -- to a footnote, even questioning the number of victims.
The book has proven disastrous for Japan's image abroad; indeed, it seems there are more Chinese students who have rioted over the "New History Textbook" than Japanese students who have read it. Almost no Japanese junior high schools have actually adopted the text -- just 18 out of more than 11,000. But it is certified by the country's Education Ministry, and the Chinese find this deeply offensive.
Read entire article at Boston Globe
This is not the kind of opening that inspires confidence in a text's objectivity. The "New History Textbook" was introduced in 2001 by a group of right-wing scholars and politicians with the explicit aim of giving junior high school students a more positive sense of their national history. It characterizes Japanese aggression in World War II, notably its invasion of China, as a counterattack against Western imperialism, and consigns the Japanese Army's atrocities following its 1937 conquest of Nanjing -- known as the "Rape of Nanking" -- to a footnote, even questioning the number of victims.
The book has proven disastrous for Japan's image abroad; indeed, it seems there are more Chinese students who have rioted over the "New History Textbook" than Japanese students who have read it. Almost no Japanese junior high schools have actually adopted the text -- just 18 out of more than 11,000. But it is certified by the country's Education Ministry, and the Chinese find this deeply offensive.