Japan's Civic Group Issued Appealing Paper Against Approval of History TextbookThe Thinking Association on Textbook Issue, one of the Japan's civic groups, on Thursday issued an urgent appealing paper to protest the approval of the controversial history textbook for junior high school by Education Ministry regardless the strong indignation both at home and aboard.The Japanese Society For History Textbook Reform, which drafted the history textbook, is a nationalist group alleging the current history textbook full of self-denigration and advocating delete from the textbook such historical facts as "comfort woman" and notorious Nanjing Massacre, it said. "Although a total of 137 changes were made on the textbook, it failed to change its essence of justification on Japan's past aggression," it added. In an urgent meeting last month, the association demanded Japanese government to deal with the history textbook issue in line with the Constitution, Education Law, the article on neighboring countries over textbook issue, the 1995 special statement by former Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama and the joint statement made in Japan-South Korea summit in 1998. The approved textbook described its Asian Pacific War as " Greater East Asia War of the Co-prosperity", thus labeling a kind of "self-defense" to the aggressive war against Japan's Asian neighbors, the appealing paper said. "In the textbook, Japan shows no repentance and earnest self-examination toward its past aggression which inflicted great sufferings upon people in neighboring Asian countries," it noted. To approve and publish such a history-distorting textbook will not only greatly damage Japan's relationship with its Asian neighbors but also harm the younger Japanese generations, the appealing paper pointed out. The textbook seriously twists the historical facts, which represents a dangerous nationalism, it added. The association will continue to stage activities to protest the approval of the textbook and call the junior high school to refrain from using such a textbook. Japanese Education Ministry officially approved the controversial history textbook on April 3, arousing indignation and protest from neighboring Asian countries and peace-loving organizations in Japan. |
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