Japan Shows Mixed Response to Revision Demand

Japan is showing various reactions to Korea’s demand for the revision of Japanese history textbooks. The Japan’s Ministry of Education, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and publishing companies began to examine the Korea’s correction proposal and to discuss how to take measures on this issue. The Korea’s correction proposal was the main issue in the Japan’s Diet meeting on 9th. However, the Japanese press showed two contrasting views on the correction proposal.

- Japanese government’s response

Japan Ministry of Education mobilized the textbook investigators and began to examine Korea’s correction proposal. On May 9, an official in the textbook department said ‘Since we cannot ignore the Korea’s demand, we will examine the proposal sufficiently. However, there is no way to break the rules’. This reconfirms Japanese government’s position that there will be no correction unless there is ‘clear fallacy’.

Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs also began their investigation. An official hinted that the examination would take time by saying ‘Didn’t it take more than a month in Korea?’ This official said, ‘Since Ministry of Education is in charge of this issue and the solution should be found within the existing system of authorization, it is a difficult task for Ministry of Foreign Affairs to deal with’.

The publishing companies are closely watching Ministry of Education’s reaction. It is because the issue of textbook correction is not the kind of issue which the individual publishing company can handle by itself. It is also because Ministry of Education’s decision on this issue will greatly influence the future situation.

- Japanese Diet’s response

In the Diet meeting on 9th, Rep. Hatomaya Yukio asked for response from Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro by arguing that ‘If Japan wants to keep the friendly ties with the neighboring countries, we should face up to the past. We should not consider our nation’s benefit alone’. Prime Minister Junichiro responded to this by saying that ‘I am seeking a way to solve this issue without damaging the friendly ties with Korea and China’. He made no further comment on this issue.

- Japanese Press: Two contrasting voices

In its editorial, Asahi Shimbun said that ‘The demand for the correction is based on the meticulous examination by the experts in our neighboring countries. We want to humbly and calmly listen to their demand’. Asahi also urged that ‘We hope that all the textbook publishing companies would take the demand seriously’.

However, Sankei Shimbun argued in its editorial that ‘Correction cannot and should not take place’. Yomiuri Shimbun also unreasonably argued that ‘It is the Korean textbook which requires the correction since it has mistaken ‘labor Jungshindae’ as ‘military comfort women’.

Shim Kyu-Sun ksshim@donga.com