In August this year, the Juntai Preparatory School, a well-known Japanese tuition school, deleted some of the accounts of historical events such as the Nanjing Massacre in Japanese history textbooks. Now, according to Japanese media reports, after about 60 lecturers of the school jointly protested, the school decided to withdraw the deleted content.
Screenshot of the Asahi Shimbun report
According to Japan's Asahi Shimbun reported on October 14, the history textbooks previously deleted by the Juntai Preparatory School include not only the Nanjing Massacre, but also related accounts of the disputed island of Dokdo (known in Japan as "Takeshima" and South Korea as "Dokdo").
Around the Nanjing Massacre, the content of "(The Japanese army) tortured and killed the Chinese people, surrendered troops, and captured more than 100,000 people" in the textbook of "Modern Japanese History II" of the Juntai Preparatory School was deleted; around Dokdo, the content of "During the Russo-Japanese War, Japan incorporated 'Dokdo' into Japanese territory and named it 'Takeshima'" in the school's "Modern Japanese History I" textbook was deleted.
Japanese History Textbook at Sadadai Preparatory School, courtesy of the Asahi Shimbun
Most of the textbooks are reportedly available to liberal arts students who have graduated from high school. Since 20 years ago, Juntai instructors have revised these two textbooks every year based on the trend of entrance examinations and the content of textbooks.
As for why the content was deleted, Surugadai Gakuen, the school that operates the Surudai Preparatory School, reportedly said that on August 29, images of the dokdo account in the school's textbook were posted on Twitter, triggering many criticisms. In addition, the university's account of the Nanjing Massacre has also caused controversy. On the 31st of the same month, the LDP Senate member Hiroshi Yamada's office also made several inquiry calls. Therefore, after "comprehensively judging various accusations" on the same day, the school decided to delete some of the accounts of the dokdo and Nanjing massacres in the history textbooks, and posted the deletion places in some school buildings.
According to a relevant person in Juntai, on September 17, the school also explained to the lecturers: "The debate on Twitter has become a social issue. This time, the school focused on early resolution, but we fully realized that the revision of the textbook could not be done without the permission of the author. ”
However, this explanation did not receive the support of the lecturers at the university. According to reports, on September 27, about 60 lecturers from various subjects such as Japanese history, physics, English, Chinese, and other subjects of juntai preparatory school jointly submitted a petition to the school. Lecturers stressed that "juntai has unwritten regulations, and the content of the textbook is the responsibility of the lecturers of each textbook" and that "the autonomy of educational activities, as a part of the freedom of research and education, must be guaranteed."
They also put forward two requirements, one is that "the preparation of teaching materials and test questions will also be the responsibility of each lecturer in the future, and no adaptation and deletion shall be made without the consent of the author and lecturer"; the other is to "withdraw the deletion without the author's permission, and the subsequent measures will be negotiated between the school and the author".
The school reportedly consulted with protest lecturers in October. A relevant person in Juntai said that in response to the above requirements, the school has informed the relevant lecturers that "an agreement has been reached and will be implemented conscientiously." In an interview with the Asahi Shimbun, the school's publicity department also replied that the university and the lecturer decided to negotiate a response to the withdrawal of the deletion in the future, and the previously deleted content will be re-discussed.
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