Photo/Illutration The Habomai islets are part of the Northern Territories, while Shikotan is visible in the left background. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Textbook screeners took issue with some of the wording related to territorial issues in senior high school textbooks, particularly passages that did not reflect the Japanese government’s stance.

The education ministry released the results of the screening process on March 30. The textbooks will be used from the school year starting April 2022 after local education boards choose the textbooks for their jurisdictions.

The textbooks were screened to ensure they met curriculum guidelines revised in 2018. Those new guidelines clearly state that territory should be taken up not only in history textbooks but also those covering geography and civics.

“We thoroughly went through the curriculum guidelines and were very careful about the wording, but screeners still issued comments taking issue with our textbook,” an executive of a textbook publishing company said. “While none of the comments called for drastic rewriting, there were a large number that went into very detailed points.”

Some of the more detailed changes requested were related to the Northern Territories, four small islands off the eastern coast of Hokkaido that were seized by the Soviet Union in the closing days of World War II.

Publishers that initially wrote that the Northern Territories were effectively controlled by Russia were told to change the wording.

Ministry officials said the original wording could mislead some students into thinking that Russia had legitimate control of the islands.

The publishers decided to use the phrase “illegally occupied” to describe Russia’s involvement over the islands.

Publishers of textbooks with maps that did not show the names of the four Northern Territories were also told to include the names Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan and Habomai.

Territory was featured prominently in the curriculum guidelines revised in 2018 because of the 2006 revision of the Basic Law on Education that was passed when Shinzo Abe was serving his first stint as prime minister. The law said fostering “love of the country and regions” was one of the important objectives of education.

During Abe’s second stint as prime minister, he emphasized negotiations with Russia to gain the return of the Northern Territories. Although the government continued with its stance that the islands were illegally occupied by Russia, it did not press that point with Moscow.

A ministry official said textbooks should allow students to understand the basic thinking of the government on various issues.

Publishers were also asked to revise the sections in their civics textbooks dealing with the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea to make clear that no territorial dispute existed over those small islands.

But an education law expert said students might stop thinking if textbooks only included the views of the government.

Katsutoshi Namimoto, a professor emeritus at Rissho University, said even if textbooks say that no territorial dispute exists over the Senkakus, there is always the possibility of Japan and China becoming involved in a conflict over those islands.

“The curriculum guidelines also encourage students to think in a multifaceted manner,” Namimoto said. “Students should be presented with materials, such as the views of the other government, and other elements that will allow them to think more deeply about the issue.”

(This article was written by Kazuyuki Ito, Satomi Sugihara and Senior Staff Writer Mayumi Ujioka.)

Related News