Japan's textbook risky move on islands

China urged Japan last week to respect facts and instill in Japanese children the correct knowledge of history. The exhortation came in response to Japan's new draft guideline for school curriculum, which was released last Tuesday, for the first time requires elementary and junior high schools to teach students that China's Diaoyu Islands, and other islands that Japan has disputes with the Republic of Korea, are "inherent" Japanese territory. The ROK too has formally protested these claims by Japan.

This is not the first time that the content of Japan's government-censored textbooks have caused controversy and enraged China, the ROK and other Asian countries. Three years ago similar documents were issued by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, instructing teachers to "prepare" their classes for doctored history.

Earlier, the decision to adopt a government-approved textbook or not was made by local school boards, and in some cases citizens also had a say in that decision. The controversial textbooks recommended by the Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform, also known as Tsukurukai, in 2005 were given a cold shoulder by the schools and other organizations, and eventually had to be disowned by the publisher.