By Chen Ze'an, Li Ziyue and Liu Zan
Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) recently approved high school textbooks for use from the 2027 academic year, with some history textbooks deliberately downplaying, denying, and glorifying Japan's history of aggression.
The war of aggression launched by the Japanese militarists inflicted profound suffering on the world, especially Asian countries. As Japan's right-wing forces have long sought to deny this history of aggression and evade war crimes, revising history textbooks has become their old trick to distort the Japanese people's view of history.
Three main tactics
First, using verbal camouflage to sidestep acknowledgement of aggression. For example, regarding Japan's launch of the September 18 Incident and its occupation of Northeast China, a publisher's textbook in 2002 placed relevant content under the chapter "Japan's Invasion of China," stating that the Japanese Kwantung Army enabled the establishment of Manchukuo—implying that the Kwantung Army manipulated the establishment of the puppet state of "Manchukuo." However, the 2012 edition revised the wording to say that the Kwantung Army proclaimed the establishment of Manchukuo, diluting the implication of manipulation. Furthermore, in the 2016 edition, the chapter title was changed to "The Manchurian Incident and the Rise of the Military," erasing the term "invasion" entirely.
Second, downplaying Japan's war crimes through content cuts. A publisher's history textbook in 2008 included the term "Nanjing Massacre" in the main text, cited the statement of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East regarding the death toll, and mentioned the 300,000 victims recognized by China in the notes. However, in the 2023 edition, both the term "Nanjing Massacre" and the death toll recognized by China were deleted, while the relevant content of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East was only included in the notes.
Third, distorting and glorifying Japan's history of aggression through narrative framing. A publisher's history textbook in 2009 referred to Japan's forced labor of local people during its invasion of Southeast Asia as local residents being forced to perform grueling labor, and noted that Japan was in fact seizing resources for its own country under the pretext of "liberating Asia." However, the 2024 edition changed the relevant expression to "mobilizing local residents as laborers" and deleted the criticism of the Japanese military's pretext of "liberating Asia."
The puppeteers behind the scenes
Japan's textbooks are compiled by various publishers, reviewed by Japan's MEXT, and selected by local education boards after being approved. There is no doubt that the Japanese government is the puppeteer behind the scenes for textbooks promoting erroneous historical views to enter schools.
The failure of Japan to eradicate militarism after World War II has allowed many militarists to return to politics, with their numerous descendants who have inherited their political capital entering politics or even rising to higher positions. Many of them are constantly seeking to reverse the verdict on the war of aggression and whitewash the crimes of their predecessors.
These politicians collude and exploit each other with so-called right-wing "scholars." Founded in 1997, the Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform serves as one of the main civilian forces pushing for the revision of history textbooks in Japan, advocating right-wing historical views and compiling right-wing textbooks. Kanji Nishio, a core member of this group, has close ties with current Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
Endless harm
Each edition of these poisoned history textbooks has spread erroneous historical views across Japanese society, misleading the Japanese people, especially the younger generation, fueling extreme nationalist sentiments in Japan, and laying an ideological foundation for the right-wing forces to revive militarism.
An active-duty officer of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force recently intruded into the Chinese Embassy in Japan with a knife, sparking public outrage. Multiple media outlets revealed that the internal textbooks and training materials within the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) have long been rife with poisoned elements of revisionist historical views. Takakage Fujita, secretary-general of the Association for Inheriting and Propagating the Murayama Statement, questioned the nature of the education provided within the JSDF.
Playing with words on textbook issues cannot alter the irrefutable historical facts. Japanese scholars have pointed out that only by deeply studying history and facing it with humility can Japan prevent the recurrence of historical tragedies. The Japanese people must have a correct understanding of historical facts, and Japanese history textbooks must faithfully recount Japan's history of aggression.
Editor's note: Originally published on news.cn, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.