“South Korean Prime Minister Lee Wan-Koo on Thursday warned Japan it would face a “grim judgement” if it failed to address what he called the realities of history.”
The Korean government will “give teaching materials on sexual slavery instigated by the Japanese military during World War II to elementary, middle and high school teachers this month. Theses materials will help students better understand the sex slavery issue and…
“Manabisha, a Tokyo-based publishing company, will publish a middle-school history textbook for the first time that will include a passage about so-called comfort women, something that no other textbook currently in use mentions. The book was approved by the education…
“Our country’s textbook screening is carried out impartially and neutrally, based on professional and academic deliberations,” Suga told a news conference. “Since our country’s stance on Takeshima and history recognition have been consistent, we responded to (South Korea) by saying we…
“China is launching a nationwide investigation on the use of foreign textbooks at Chinese universities and colleges, following a previous government pledge to reject texts spreading “Western values” at the nation’s centers of higher education.”
Interview of Professor Ziegler with JBC, Feb. 17, 2015: “Next thing I know, I’m sitting in my office just like you and I are sitting here today — the door’s open, I have office hours. I was eating lunch. In pops…
“About 100,000 school textbooks, divided into two volumes, have been printed and will be distributed in the schools. The textbooks contain detailed information about [Da Nang’s] seafaring history” as well as “Viet Nam’s sovereignty over the islands that are currently occupied by…
“History textbooks in Korea and Japan are still riddled with inaccuracies in their descriptions of Korea’s March 1 Independence Movement 96 years ago, the catalysis of Korea’s fight against Japan’s colonial rule (1910-1945)…”
“Ambassador to the United States Kenichiro Sasae has rejected criticism by U.S.-based historians that Japan tried to meddle with descriptions in an American textbook over the use of “comfort women” at wartime Japanese military brothels…”
“The government will bolster education for school children on Japan’s sexual enslavement of Asian women during World War II to help them better understand the long-standing issue, the education ministry said Friday.”
“China’s education minister has vowed to ban university textbooks which promote “Western values”, state media said, in the latest sign of ideological tightening under President Xi Jinping.”
“Speaking in Parliament, Mr. Abe pledged to increase efforts to fight what he called mistaken views abroad concerning Japan’s wartime actions, when the Japanese military conquered much of Asia.”
Conservative/Center-right newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun calls to end “misunderstanding due to ‘comfort women’ in textbooks.” The article closes by making two assertions: first, “doubts have been raised about the conventionally accepted theory that the overwhelming majority of comfort women were Korean,” and there…
“The comfort women issue is a negative legacy of Japanese history. This makes it even more important to provide students with accurate knowledge about the issue so that similar tragedies never happen again.”
“A 17-year-old Korean girl tortured to death for opposing Japanese colonial rulers nearly a century ago has become the latest touchstone of the nationalism that is shadowing Asia’s economic rise… Textbooks have become part of the front line in East Asia’s…
Article from Kyodo News International: Japanese Foreign Ministry asks New York-based publisher McGraw-Hill Companies to change description of wartime comfort women in one of their world history textbooks
Article from People’s Daily, November 13, 2014: China adopts middle school textbooks devoted on Nanjing Massacre one month ahead of national day of remembrance
This article in the Japan Daily Press looks how textbooks will likely change to reflect the Japanese government’s position on territorial disputes.
Japan, Korea and Textbook History – This New York Times Opinion letter brings together reactions to the Time’s earlier piece (Jan 13, 2014) ‘Politicians and Textbooks’ which discusses efforts by Prime Minister Abe and President Park to alter the history in…
Politicians and Textbooks – A New York Times editorial that looks at Prime Minister Abe and President’s Parks attempts to alter history textbooks
History textbook wars cross borders – This opinion piece in The Japan Times explores how Japan, Germany, China, and the US have confronted their history in textbooks and whether or not any of them have truly escaped promoting a political…
Japanese history to be mandatory during high school years reports the Japan Daily Press
A Shifting View of Japanese History – This New York Times article compares excerpts from two Japanese Textbooks – Tokyo Shoseki (the most popular ninth grade text) and Ikuhosha (a conservative text)
In Textbook Fight, Japan Leaders Seek to Recast History – This New York Times article explores Japanese Prime Minister Abe’s renewed efforts to change history textbooks and increase patriotism.