The battle for hearts and minds: Patriotic education in Japan in the 1990s and beyond

Nationalisms in Japan

Volumn , Issue , 2006, Pages 131-154

  Rose, Caroline ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 69449092216     PISSN: None     EISSN: None     Source Type: Book    
DOI: 10.4324/9780203966945     Document Type: Chapter

References (67)

1. See A. Okada, 'Education of Whom, for Whom, by Whom? Revising the Fundamental Law of Education in Japan', Japan Forum 14: 3, 2002, 425-41.
2. For an assessment of some of these reforms, see R. Goodman and D. Phillips (eds), Can the Japanese Change their Education System? Oxford: Symposium Books, 2003.
3. Priestley, M., 'Global Discourses and National Reconstruction: the Impact of Globalization on Curriculum Policy', The Curriculum Journal, 13: 1, 2002, 133.
4. See, for example, A. Huyssen, Twilight Memories: Marking Time in a Culture of Amnesia, New York: Routledge, 1995;
5. D. McKiernan, D., 'History in a National Curriculum: Imaging the Nation at the End of the 20th Century', Journal of Curriculum Studies, 25: 1, 1993, 3-51.;
6. G.B. Nash, C. Crabtree, and R.E. Dunn, History on Trial: Culture Wars and the Teaching of the Past, New York: Vintage, 1997.
7. MEXT, Kyōkasho seido no gaiyō (Outline of the Textbook System), Tokyo: MEXT, 2001, p. 9.
8. In fact, the two camps were never fully united in their respective struggles, and there are many examples of factionalism within each of the groups. See L.J. Schoppa, Education Reform in Japan: A Case of Immobilist Politics, London: Routledge, 1991;
9. R.W. Aspinall, Teachers' Unions and the Politics of Education in Japan, New York: SUNY Press, 2001, for examples of the many differences of opinion within the MoE, LDP, Nikkyōso, and so on.
10. See C. Rose, Interpreting History in Sino-Japanese Relations: A Case Study in Political Decision-making, London: Routledge, 1998, for descriptions of the 'biased textbook campaigns' of the 1950s and 1980s.
11. Y. Nozaki and H. Inokuchi, 'Japanese Education, Nationalism, and Ienaga Saburo's Court Challenges', Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars, 30: 2, 1998, 42.
12. Y. Tawara, Tettei Kenshō: Abunai kyōkasho (Dangerous Textbooks - A Thorough Inspection), Tokyo: Gakushūno yūsha, 2001, p. 49.
13. Y. Tawara and H. Ishiyama, Kyōkasho kentei to kyōno kyōkasho mondai no shoten (Focus on Textbook Authorization and Today's Textbook Problem), Tokyo: Gakushūno yūsha, 1995, p. 64.
14. Tawara and Ishiyama, Kyōkasho kentei, p. 68.
15. Tawara Tettei Kenshō, p. 50;
16. P. Bu, 'Guanyu Riben lishi jiaokeshu wenti' (On Japan's History Textbook Problem), Kangri zhanzheng yanjiu 4, 2000, 169.
17. Y. Tawara, 'Sengo hoshōmondai no genjōto kyōkasho (Textbooks and the Current State of Post-War Compensation)', in Kyōkasho ni shinjitsu to jiyūo renrakukai (ed.) Ima naze sensōsekinin o mondai ni suru no ka (Why is War Responsibility a Problem Now?), Tokyo: Kyōiku ShiryōShuppankai, 1998, p. 207.
18. Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform, The Restoration of a National History, Tokyo: Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform, 1998, p. 3.
19. Shuppan Rōren (ed.), 'Chūgaku rekishi kyōkasho ni ima nani ga okotteiru ka' (What is Going on with Middle School History Textbooks?), Kyōkasho Repōtō l: 41, 1997, 2-15.
20. Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform, Restoration, p. 32.
21. For critical analyses of the Tsukuru kai's activities and the new textbook, see J.K. Nelson, 'Tempest in a Textbook: A Report on the New Middle-School History Textbook in Japan', Critical Asian Studies, 34: 1, 2002, 129-48.
22. T. Beal, Y. Nozaki, and J. Yang, 'Ghosts of the Past: The Japanese History Textbook Controversy', New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies, 3: 3, 2001, 177-88.
23. T. Morris-Suzuki, 'The View Through the Skylight: Nishio Kanji, Textbook Reform and the History of the World', Japanese Studies, 20: 2, 2000, 133-9.
24. T. Takahashi, 'The Emperor Showa Standing at Ground Zero: On the (Re-)Configuration of a National "Memory" of the Japanese People', Japan Forum, 15: 1, 2003, 3-14.
25. Nelson, 'Tempest in a Textbook', 131.
26. For a more detailed analysis of the Chinese response to this third textbook issue, see C. Rose, Sino-Japanese Relations: Facing the Past, Looking to the Future, London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2004.
27. G. McCormack, 'The Japanese Movement to "Correct" History', in L. Hein and M. Selden (eds), Censoring History: Citizenship and Memory in Japan, Germany and the United States, Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2000, p. 56.
28. See Tawara, 'Sengo hoshōmondai', p. 209.
29. Tawara, Y. 'Kyōiku kihonhōkaiaku o kyōkōsuru fujin o shiita Koizumi dainiji kaizōnaikaku' (Koizumi's Cabinet Reshuffle Creates a Line-up Which Will Enforce Revision of the FLE') in SensōSekinin Kenkyū, 42, 2003 Reproduced at HTTP: (accessed 21 July 2004).
30. Tawara, Tettei Kenshō, pp. 50-1.
31. Shuppan Rōren, 'Chūgaku rekishi kyōkasho', p. 5.
32. See Tawara, 'Kyōiku kihonhō'.
33. M. Negishi, 'Education Ministry Pushes Pride in Flag and National Anthem in Textbook Screening', Japan Times International, 1-15 July 1999.
34. H. Inokuchi and Y. Nozaki, 'The Latest Report on the Japanese Government Screening of Junior High Social Studies Textbooks', H-Japan online posting January 23, 2001;
35. Tawara, Y., 'Junior High School History Textbooks: Whither "Comfort Women" and the "Nanking Massacre"?', Available HTTP: (accessed 23 July 2001).
36. Internet activism on the textbook issues has seen a marked increase in recent years in Japan, Korea and China and has played an important role in bringing activists together. For a study of Japan-Korean transnational activism, see I. Ducke, 'Use of the Internet by Political Actors in the Japanese-Korean Textbook Controversy', paper presented at a conference at MIT on 'Media in Transition II', 11 May 2002. Available HTTP: (accessed 29 July 2004).
37. December 2000 Appeal by Japanese Historians and History Educators, available at http://www.ne.jp/asahi/kyokasho/net21/e_yukou_seimei2001205.htm (accessed 4 October 2001).
38. 'Deeply concerned about the regressive history textbooks, we urge the Japanese government to take appropriate action', available at http://www.iwanami.co.jp/jpworld/text/statement01.html (accessed 23 July 2001).
39. Nelson, 'Tempest in a Textbook', p. 144.
40. Shuppan Rōren (ed.), '2002 nendo yōkyōkasho no saitaku kekka' (Results of Adoption of Textbooks for Use in 2002), Kyōkasho Repōtō, 46, 1997, 66.
41. An English translation of the conference declaration can be found online at: http://www.angelfire.com/ny2/village/textbook-conf.html (accessed 6 August 2003).
42. Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform, Restoration, p. 3 (italics added).
43. For reports on the Nanjing and Tokyo conferences, see the Asian Network for History Education, Japan, available at http://www.jca.apc.org/asia-net.
44. See K. Kimijima, 'The Continuing Legacy of Japanese Colonialism: The Japan-South Korea Joint Study Group in History Textbooks', in L. Hein and M. Selden, (eds) Censoring History: Citizenship and Memory in Japan, Germany and the United States, Armonk, N.: M. E. Sharpe, 2000.
45. D. Yang, ' "Regime of Truth" and Possibilities of Trans-national History in Japan and China', paper presented at Meiji Gakuin University International Workshop on 'Can We Write History?: Between Postmodernism and Coarse History', March 19, 2002, available HTTP: (accessed 29 July 2004).
46. The meeting was arranged by Tsukuru kai kyōkasho o soshi suru Tokyo nettowāku (Tokyo Network for the Prevention of (Adoption of) the Tsukuru kai's Textbooks). Available at http://www.ne.jp/asahi/kyokasho/net21/syuukai2004720.htm (accessed 20 July 2004).
47. For an explanation of the new six-year secondary schools, see P. Cave, 'Japanese Educational Reform: Developments and Prospects at Primary and Secondary Level', in R. Goodman and D. Phillips (eds), Can the Japanese Change their Education System? Oxford: Symposium Books, 2003.
48. See Tawara, 'Kyōiku kihonhō'.
49. Okada, 'Education of Whom', 431.
50. MEXT, 'Education Reform - Fundamental Law of Education and Basic Promotional Plan', 2003. Available HTTP: (accessed 28 July 2004).
51. A. Miyake, 'Kokoro no nōto' o kangaeru (Thoughts on Kokoro no nōto), Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 2003, p. 59.
52. Okada, 'Education of Whom', 425-41.
53. Y. Tawara, 'Ima, kyōiku · kyōkasho ga abunai' (The Current Dangers of Education and Textbooks), Gunma no kyōiku July 2003, reproduced at HTTP: (accessed 21 July 2004).
54. MEXT, Japanese Government Policies in Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology 2002. Available HTTP: http://wwwwp.mext.go.jp/wp (accessed 31 July 2004).
55. This example is taken from the 2002 middle school version of Kokoro no nōto, p. 22.
56. Teachers have praised the textbooks for these catchy slogans, which students are able to remember, see Miyake, 'Kokoro no nōto', p. 7.
57. For a list of people involved in the production of the books, see Shuppan Rōren, Kokoro no nōto to wa nanimono ka' (What is Kokoro no nōto?), Kyōkasho Repōto, 47, 2003, 23-7
58. Miyake, 'Kokoro no nōto', p. 64.
59. T. Takahashi, 'Kokoro' to sensō ('Minds' and War), Tokyo: Shōbunsha, 2003, p. 35.
60. Tawara, 'Ima, kyōiku'.
61. Miyake, 'Kokoro no nōto', pp. 47-8.
62. MEXT, Kokoro no nōto (Chūgakkō) (Notebook for Moral Education for Middle Schools), 2002, Tokyo: Akatsuki Kyōiku Tosho, p. 47.
63. Takahashi, 'Kokoro', pp. 45-6.
64. Shuppan rōren, 'Kokoro no nōto', 23-7.
65. Tawara, 'Ima, kyōiku'.
66. Takahashi 'Kokoro', p. 90.
67. Tawara, 'Ima, kyōiku'.