Revisionist Movement Defies Pressure

[Joseph Svinth]

Rafu Shimpo, July 31, 2000, page 3:

A conservative nonprofit "textbook reform group in Japan is campaigning to revise Japanese school history and civics textbooks, which they allege are "unreasonably negative" of Japan's wartime actions.

"Why is only Japan under attack 50 years after the war?" said Akinori Takamori, director of the Japnaese Society of History Textbook Reform...

They allege that Japanese history education has been so distorted by pressures from foreign countries, "childrenof the next generation will never be proud of their own country"...

An earnest supporter and popular comic book author, Yoshinori Kobayashi, plays a major role in attracting young people with his books which glorify the Japanese military battles against American forces..."

[WWII started, these people say, when] the United States goaded Japan, which was exhausted after its war with Russia [I assume the 1938 attack on Manchuria is meant?], into another war by imposing sanctions against Japan for its expansion in Asia...

[Gil Gillespie]

Joe, thanks for that input. Revisionism is a scary shadow. I remember confronting an ugly skinhead punk years ago who leeringly denied the historical existence of the Holocaust. I realized exchanges with him only validated him. That is a frightening spectre. I was unaware of the revisionist movement in Japan.

[Leo Chang]

wow...I remember a few years ago that some asian countries (or interest groups in the said countries, I forgot) were trying to force the Japanese Ministry of Education to include more evidence of Japanese atrocities in WWII. Perhaps that wave of international pressure partially contributed to this rise in Japanese nationalism?

just a guess

I may not be the best person to speak on this but, how many sanctions are still in place against Japan? Non it my knowledge, and they haven't been in decades. I think the revisionists are just unwilling to admit that they did commit autrocities. We all have bad parts of history which must be overcome, but the modern belif it seems is too deny events ever happened. We see how well that works when people repress bad memories, I think it is even worse when entire countries do it. A concern of mine is the revisionist movement going on in America, granted it is not too extreme yet, but it seems that people are trying to denegrate our founding fathers more and more.

Jeff Bristol

Revision is commonplace everywhere, but especially in those countries where these type of crimes existed. And they ask why?

Well, I suppose fifty years is enough time that schoolchildren don't need to know what their own country did in the name Nationalism, or fascism. In fact, fascism is a response to these atrocities in some places, but of course it mustn't be seen like that. Blinders are in heavy use these days.

It doesn't take some nazi skinhead to deny the past. Fully one-third of Americans believe the Holocaust never happened or is way overblown. Is this the revised history instore for future generations? Probably. At least to some extent, it will be. It is now, in that a bigger and growing part of the countrys' children are being home schooled for that very thing. Of course, the answer is that we worry about our kids safety in today's school system, so we remove the child which removes them from the problem, including learning to exist and accept society the way it is. These parents are not skinheads and don't consider themselves bigoted. It certainly isn't purposeful, is it? I was prohibited from reading Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck unless I had a parent's written permission, and this was Jr. high school. Guess in which library I found it? Yep. The school library.

As time goes by (and it is doing so at an incredile rate), recycling of history goes on and on. Possibly the one good thing which comes from this, is that since public schools are funded by property tax, which makes the public school in the poor section of town devoid of timely history books, than maybe they will be the ones who learn a more accurate version of the truth, and that will stop some poeple from revising it so quickly. This is strictly a guess, but since in my precious home city, Los Angeles, sent reporters into schools in the middle-upper class neighborhoods, such as Encino just to check the dates on math, science, and history books, and also into "inner city (nice name for poor and rat infested neighborhoods)" in the late seventies and found those living in Encino were reading texts written only the year before, and those in the poor neighborhoods were learning from used books dated 1957, it may be time for us to take another look at how we finance learning, so it doesn't make College entrance exams nearly impossible to pass for some, and those who do get in do not bring or bring the attitude that we aren't proud enough of our past..But maybe we are are so overtly sensitized to lynching that even including this in the books will not phase anyone. I think this is going on in Japan, Eastern Europe, South and Central America, not to mention "a sea to oily sea."

It is indeed a problem. A survey was conducted and 75% of russians believed, and were educated, that the American moon landing was staged in Hollywood, because the russian space program is the best.

I find it interesting that at several high schools I went too they would teach you all about Harriet beecher Stowe, but was Uncle Tom's Cabin the library, of course not. Why, because it used actual events to protray a message, no slave beating allowed in politically correct literature. It justs annoys me the amount of people I have had to CONVINCE that the Americans imprisoned Japanese during WWII. In order for students to learn it is now necessary to go and read books outside of class, for even some basic history. Children are being told that, yes Washington was a great man, but he owned slaves. What does this mean to a child? Well, Washington did create our country, but he wasn't a very good man because he had slaves. I remember a story about a school in New Orleans having it's name change from Washington to a black activist (I don't mean any racist sentiments by this) because Washington was a slave owner and he shouldn't be honored in such a way, it could confuse children. I'll show 'em confused.

People simply need to become more informed, all over the world, than we already are. Many countries can't help it, but we sure as heck can, and so can the Japanese, the germans and the rest of the free world. People just choose not too. Our world's greatest flaw is growing apathy.

Jeff Bristol