Battle for textbook accuracy
(From The Japan Times April 6 issue)

歴史教科書に関する文科省の矛盾

    Screeners told the authors of history textbooks aimed at high school students to remove phrases that originally said, in effect, that the Imperial Japanese Army forced the suicides on local residents. As a result, phrases referring to coercion by Japanese forces have disappeared. Through last year, screeners had not objected to such phrases.

    Screeners examined the textbooks from the specific viewpoint of whether Japanese army units issued concrete orders for mass suicide. This was too narrow an approach, as it is historical fact that Japanese militarist indoctrination, which prohibited Okinawan residents from surrendering to the enemy and led them to think that suicide was the only option, had a crucial effect on the mind-set of local residents.

    The screeners' narrow approach can be compared to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's attitude toward wartime sex slavery. Mr. Abe has said nothing proves the existence of coercion "in a narrow sense" — in which "government authorities" intruded into houses and took women away by force.

    As far as wartime sex slavery is concerned, most high school world history and Japanese history textbooks have taken it up.

    But original versions of the textbooks did not mention the military's role in establishing and operating the "comfort women" system. Apparently, the authors had considered the government's view. This could be interpreted as self-censorship.

    The Battle of Okinawa lasted from March 26, 1945, when U.S. armed forces landed on the Kerama Islands, until June 23, when Japanese organized resistance ended. In that time, about 200,000 people died. It is estimated that about one-fourth of the Okinawan population died, as Japanese armed forces implemented a strategy aimed at bogging down U.S. forces and delaying an American invasion of mainland Japan. It is not far-fetched to say that the strategy sacrificed Okinawa to save "Japan proper."

    In the most recent screening of textbook references to the Battle of Okinawa, all expressions that said or hinted that the Japanese army forced local residents to kill themselves have been purged, as in these two examples:

    (Original) "Japanese forces made (residents) commit mass suicide and kill one another using hand grenades that (the Japanese forces) had distributed."

    (After screening) "Using hand grenades that Japanese forces had distributed, mass suicide and the killing of one another took place."

    (Original) "There were many incidents in which prefectural residents were forced to commit mass suicide and infants were killed by Japanese forces because they were considered an impediment to military combat and . . . . (prefectural residents) were killed because they were suspected (by Japanese forces) of being collaborators."

    (After screening) "There were many incidents in which prefectural residents were driven to mass suicide because they were considered an impediment to military combat and . . . . infants were killed by Japanese forces and (prefectural residents) were killed on suspicion (by Japanese forces) of being collaborators."

    The education ministry admits that the existence of coercion by Japanese forces is a commonly accepted view among historians. Still, it justifies the screening process on the strength of theories that the existence of direct military orders for mass suicide has not been proven. It also cites a pending libel lawsuit filed by a former commander of an army unit on Zamami Island of the Kerama Islands against an author and a publishing house for printing books stating that he issued an order telling local residents to kill themselves. (On Kerama Island, 553 people are reported to have died in mass suicides, including 171 on Zamami.)

    The ministry should heed what historians like professor Hirofumi Hayashi at Kanto Gakuin University have to say: that many pieces of testimony indicate that Japanese forces distributed hand grenades to local residents, strictly ordered them not to be captured by U.S. forces and told them to kill themselves when the moment arrived. He points out that irrespective of whether army unit commanders issued suicide orders, the situation as a whole clearly shows that Japanese forces applied coercion.

    In this year's textbook screenings, the ministry had all references to such coercion deleted, while it admitted that the existence of coercion remains a commonly accepted view among historians. This is illogical and contradictory.

The Japan Times Weekly: April 14, 2007
(C) All rights reserved

    検定官は、高校用歴史教科書の著者に対し、「日本軍が住民に対し集団自決を強制した」との記述を書き換えさせた。検定官が問題にしたのは、特定の陸軍部隊が集団自決について具体的命令を出したかどうかということだったが、これは解釈が狭すぎる。当時の軍国思想が住民に対し敵軍に降伏することを禁止し、自決以外に逃れる道はないと思いこませたのは歴史的事実だ。

    これは、安倍首相が従軍慰安婦問題について、軍による「狭義の」強制連行はなかったと主張していることを想起させる。

    多くの世界史、日本史の高校教科書は従軍慰安婦問題を取り上げているが、検定前の原文は、慰安婦制度に関する軍の関与に言及していない。政府検定を予想して自己検閲したのだろう。1945年3月26日から6月23日まで続いた沖縄戦では、1万2,500人の米軍人を含め20万人が死亡した。

    教科書原文の沖縄戦の記述で、例えば、「軍は住民に、配られた手榴弾を使って集団自決と殺し合いをさせた」という部分が、検定後は「軍が配った手榴弾を使って、集団自決と殺し合いが起きた」と変更された。

    沖縄住民を取材した関東学院大学の林博史教授は、日本軍は住民に米軍の捕虜にならないよう命令し、最後に手榴弾で自決するよう指示したのだから、具体的自決命令が出ていなくても、軍が自決を強要したのは明らかとしている。

    文科省は、上述のような強要が歴史家に認められていることを認識しながら、関連記述を削除した。非論理的で、矛盾した判断である。