Japan plans to unveil contents of new textbook early April

Responding to mounting protests from Korea and China, Japan`s Education-Science Ministry has decided to publicize in early April the revised contents of all history textbooks, including one authored by a right-wing group that is the focus of an ongoing controversy. Education-Science Minister Nobutaka Machimura, said he understood that far-reaching revisions were made of the history book that sparked the latest scandal, adding that the ministry would make public the contents of the book immediately after deciding whether to authorize it and giving notification to its authors.

In the past, the ministry approved new school textbooks in March but did not publish their contents until June or July, when exhibitions of new textbooks are traditionally held. The Japanese government`s latest decision was apparently aimed at deflecting complaints from Seoul and Beijing over the contents of the new history book.

Meanwhile, two major Japanese dailies, the Yomiuri Shimbun and Sankei Shimbun, said in editorials that the Korean and Chinese reaction to the new history textbooks constituted interference with Japan`s internal affairs. The Yomiuri, in particular, contended that the textbook`s contents were leaked by the Japanese mass media in an attempt to draw an outraged reaction from foreign countries. The Yomiuri went on to say that a certain Japanese mass media outlet distorted what it called historical fact by insisting that Korean women mobilized as a labor workforce during World War II were actually forced to serve as prostitutes for Japanese soldiers. The Sankei Shimbun noted that it was difficult to understand the Japanese Foreign Ministry`s statement that it did not regard the Korean and Chinese censure as interference in domestic matters. Decisions on the content of Japanese textbooks should never be influenced by foreign pressure, the paper added.

Shim Kyu-Sun ksshim@donga.com