Okinawa's voice is heard
(From The Japan Times Oct. 6 issue)

教科書検定問題、政府対応に変化

The angry reaction of Okinawa Prefecture residents to the deletion of references in history textbooks to the Imperial Japanese Armed Force's use of coercion and other forms of involvement in the mass suicides of local residents during the Battle of Okinawa has forced a change in the government's attitude. In an abrupt departure from the past policy for screening textbooks, it was the government that had ordered the references deleted.

Some 116,000 Okinawan residents, including conservative Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima, attended a Sept. 29 rally demanding that the education ministry withdraw its rewrite orders. All 41 municipalities in Okinawa and the Okinawa prefectural assembly also have adopted written opinions demanding retraction of the orders. As a face-saving measure, the ministry will let textbook publishers submit requests to correct their screened textbooks so that the original references can be restored.

Testimonies by survivors of the Battle of Okinawa indicate that the army's policies of indoctrination and pressure led to mass suicides. Many people killed themselves with hand grenades distributed by the army. The hysteria even drove some to kill family members. Rev. Shigeaki Kinjo, who with his brother killed his mother, writes that many families on Tokashiki Island started killing themselves with hand grenades after hearing that the army had issued suicide orders.

The ministry says that retracting the rewrite orders would undermine the screening system and pave the way for political interference in the system. The rewrite orders are based on recommendations by the Textbook Authorization Research Council, which serves as a fig leaf for the government. But its discussions are based on opinions submitted by the ministry's textbook screeners. At the very least, the ministry should make public what kinds of academic research formed the basis of the screeners' opinions, and what discussions the council held, so that the rewrite orders can be discussed academically in the open.

文科省の教科書検定で、沖縄戦の集団自決について「軍の強制」を示す記述が削除されたことに対し、沖縄県民の間で強い抗議の声があがり、政府の対応が変わった。

9月29日、11万6,000人が検定結果の撤回を求める抗議集会に参加した。沖縄県議会と県の全41自治体は検定結果撤回を求める意見書を採択した。出版社は、日本軍の関与に関する記述を復活させる訂正申請を行うことになった。

文科省は、検定結果を撤回することは、検定制度を弱体化させ、制度への政治介入につながるという。検定結果は、教科用図書検定調査審議会の意見によるが、その審議は文科省の検定担当者の意見に基づく。

文科省は少なくとも、検定担当者の意見のもとになった学術的研究の内容、審議会の議論の内容を公開し、検定結果が公正に検討できるようにすべきだ。