Nomination of Prof. Saburo IENAGA for Nobel Peace Prize
AHRC - NOMINATION LETTER FOR NOBEL PRIZE Canada ALPHA
Nomination Letter for Nobel Peace Prize
Signatories of Nobel Prize Nomination for IENAGA Saburo
Who are eligible as nominators for Nobel Peace Prize
Support Statements of Nominators and Supporters
Photos of Ienaga's struggle against censorship of history textbooks in Japan
Vancouver Sun, March 7, 2001 - Persistence of memory by John Price
Globe and Mail, March 8, 2001 - Frail professor nominated for Nobel
Globe and Mail, August 30, 1997 - Texts illegally censored, Japan court rules
Vancouver Sun, August 30, 1997 - Japanese historian wins war battle
December 2000 Appeal by Japanese Historians and History Educators
NOMINATION LETTER FOR NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
SABURO IENAGA
The
historian George Santayana wrote that "Whoever forgets the
past is doomed to relive it."
As
we enter a new century there is a continuing danger that the
lessons of the horror of world war which were so bitterly learned
in the first half of the twentieth century may be forgotten.
Professor
Saburo Ienaga has devoted a large part of his life to ensuring
that the truth about what happened in Asia in the Second World
War is known and remembered in his native Japan.
Professor
Ienaga was born in 1913 in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, and graduated
from the Literature Department at Tokyo Imperial University (the
present Tokyo University) in 1937. He became a teacher and in
1941 at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour he was a
teacher in a high school in Niigata. He did not participate in
the Second World War, and has spoken of his shame at failing to
offer resistance as a teacher to the compulsory teaching of war
propaganda and imperial myths at his high school during the war.
Professor
Ienaga later became a professor at Tokyo University of Education
and subsequently at Chuo University. He was awarded the Japan
Academy Prize in 1948 and the title of Professor Emeritus at
Tokyo University of Education. He became a specialist in the
history of Japanese thought and Japanese cultural and legal
history, and is the author of nearly one hundred works spanning
from ancient to contemporary subjects. His broad range of
subjects include " Historical study of the Independence of
the Judiciary", " The Constitution in Historical
Context", " Japanese Cultural History", and "
The Pacific War".
In
1965 Professor Ienaga initiated a court case in Tokyo by suing
the Japanese Government, which through "textbook screening"
i.e. amendment and censorship of school textbooks, had been
controlling the content of history taught in secondary schools.
Books censored had included some of Professor Ienaga's works.
Professor Ienaga then initiated his second and third lawsuits
against the government. Through the textbook screening the
government repeatedly removed or softened truthful descriptions
of atrocities committed by the Japanese military before and
during World War II. A notable example was the Government's
insistence in Ienagas third lawsuit that references to the
Nanking Massacre had to be " mentioned as what happened in
confusion", although the massacre in fact involved the
systematic killing of hundreds of thousands of civilians over a
period of weeks. Another issue in dispute was the government's
insistence that all textbooks avoid the negative expression
"aggression" in relation to the Japanese Army's
occupation of China and instead use only the term " military
advance". Professor Ienaga's case was based on the argument
that textbook screening violated the freedom of expression and
freedom of education guaranteed in the Japanese constitution, and
so were unconstitutional and illegal.
Professor
Ienaga lost the first two lawsuits which he brought against the
government in 1965 and 1967. The first suit lasted 27 years until
1993, and the second lasted 22 years from 1967 to 1989. In 1984
he initiated a third suit arising from eight screening comments
made by the government on his draft textbooks from 1980 to 1983.
In 1989 the district court ruled against most of his arguments.
He then appealed to the High Court which ruled that three of the
eight screening comments were illegal. These three screening
comments include those relating to the description of the Nanking
Massacre, including mention of widespread rape.
In
1997 Professor Ienaga's appeal on the remaining five points
finally reached the Japanese Supreme Court, which ruled 3-2 in
Professor Ienaga's favour that the Education Ministry had acted
illegally when it removed from one of Professor Ienaga's
textbooks a description of Japan's biological experiments on 3000
people in northern China during World War II. In these biological
experiments, conducted by a germ warfare group called Unit 731,
subjects were operated on without anaesthetics, injected with
diseases such as typhoid and allowed to die without treatment.
The Japanese Government has never acknowledged the existence of
this unit, but its existence was documented because of the later
confessions by some of the doctors involved in the activities.
Ienagas
court challenge encouraged many school textbook authors to
include descriptions of Japanese war atrocities in their texts.
As a result, textbooks were significantly improved in the late
1980s and early 1990s.
However
despite the fact that Professor Ienaga has devoted himself full
time to the issue of the textbook screening since his retirement,
and has been battling continuously to make it possible for the
truth about World War II to be told since before he commenced his
first legal action 35 years ago, his victory in 1997 was only
partial. The Supreme Court rejected claims that four other
portions of his book had been illegally censored including a
passage which described the rape of Chinese women by Japanese
soldiers in Northern China.
This
partial victory reflects a continuing divide in Japan between
those like Professor Ienaga who want the truth about World War II
to be known and revisionists who claim that well-documented war
crimes and atrocities did not occur. These revisionist claims are
often used by right wing militarist groups and their sympathizers
which continue to exercise an insidious influence on Japanese
society. Those like Professor Ienaga who have spoken out for the
truth have often been physically attacked by extremists or
otherwise penalized. When Professor Ienaga first gained a victory
in one of his textbook lawsuits in 1970 right-wing extremists
issued death threats to him (as well as to the judge and to
lawyers involved in the case) and his house was surrounded day
and night by thugs who kept him awake by shouting slogans and
banging pots and pans. The actions of Professor Ienaga in
continuing to fight for the truth have therefore required great
courage, as well as determination and persistence.
By his determined fight over so many years to ensure that Japanese young people are able to read the truth about their country's recent history Professor Ienaga has done more than probably any other living person to ensure that the lessons of the history of World War II in Asia are not forgotten and that George Santayana's grim prophecy is not fulfilled in this region of the world. His contribution deserves the international recognition which the Nobel Peace Prize confers and the aims of ensuring lasting peace and discouraging revival of militarism will be greatly furthered by such an award. We therefore nominate Professor Ienaga for the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize.
List of
nominators provided by the coordinating groups outside Japan (As of January 30,
2001)
I. Members of national assemblies and governments, and members of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (total 19):
The Hon. David Anderson, P.C., Member of the House of Commons, Minister of Environment for Canada
Congressman David Bonior, United States House of Representatives
Libby Davies, Member of the House of Commons, Canada
Takako Doi*, Leader of Social Democratic Party of Japan, Member of House of Representatives, the National Diet of Japan
Stan Dromisky, Members of the House of Commons, Canada
Glyn Ford, Member of European Parliament
Congressman Michael Honda, United States House of Representatives
The Lord Inglewood, Member of European Parliament
Etsuko
Kawada*, Member of the House of
Representatives, the National Diet of Japan
Alan Peng-Fei Lee,
Deputy to the Chinese National People's Congress (Hong Kong)
Derek Lee, Member of the House of Commons, Canada
Dr. Leung Bing-Chung, Deputy to the Chinese National People's Congress (Hong Kong)
Sophia
Leung,
Member of the House
of Commons, Canada
Senator Carl Levin, the United States Senate
Shoji Motooka*, Member of House of Councillors, the National Diet of Japan
Stephen
Owen, Member of
the House of Commons, Canada
Joseph
E. Peschisolido,
Member of the House of Commons, Canada
Svend Robinson, Members of the House of Commons, Canada
Graham Watson, Member of the European Parliament and Chair of its Human
Rights Committee
*
The Japanese diet members are provided by the coordinating group in Japan.
II. University professors of law, political science, history and philosophy* (total 151):
*Institutions listed for purposes of identification
only
Howard Adelman, Professor, Philosophy, York University, Toronto
Charles K. Armstrong, Assistant Professor, History, Columbia University
Stephen Arons, Professor, Legal Studies, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Giovanni Arrighi,
Professor of Sociology & and
Director of the Institute for Global Studies in Culture, Power and History,
Johns Hopkins University
Yoshiko
Ashiwa,
Associate Professor, Graduate School of Social Sciences, Hitotsubashi
University, Japan
E. Taylor Atkins, Assistant Professor, History, Northern Illinois University
Andrew E. Barshay, Professor, History, University of California, Berkeley
Beatrice S. Bartlett, Professor, History, Yale University
Lawrence W. Beer, Professor Emeritus, Political Science, University of Colorado, Boulder
Aaron Berman, Professor, History and Dean of Faculty, Hampshire College, Massachusetts
Mary Elizabeth Berry, Professor of History, University of California, Berkeley
Lucien Bianco, Professor Emeritus, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, France
Robert Bickers, Lecturer in History, University of Bristol, U.K.
Herbert P. Bix, Professor of Social Sciences, Hitotsubashi University, Japan
Roger W. Bowen, Professor of History and President, State University of New York, New Paltz
Barbara B. Burn, Associate Provost for International Programs, University of Massachusetts/Amherst
Andrew Byrnes, Associate Professor and Director of Centre for Comparative and Public Law, University of Hong Kong
Milton Cantor, Professor, History, University of Massachusetts
Johannes M. M. Chan, Professor and Head of Department of Law, Hong Kong University
Maria Hsia Chang, Professor, Political Science, University of Nevada, Reno
Albert H. Y. Chen, Professor of Law and Dean of Faculty of Law, Hong Kong University
Joseph Y. S. Cheng, Professor and Chair of Political Science, Contemporary China Research Centre, City University of Hong Kong
Noam Chomsky, Professor of Linguistics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Miriam Usher Chrisman, Professor Emeritus, History, University of Massachusetts/Amherst
Paochin
Chu, Professor
of History, San Diego State University
Theodore Cook, Professor, History, William Paterson University
Bruce Cumings, Professor of History, University of Chicago
Richard D. DeAngelis, Professor Emeritus, Asian Studies, Fairfield College, Connecticut
Jerry Dennerline, Professor, History, Amherst College, Massachusetts
Dong
Zhenhua, Professor,
History, Beijing University, China
John W. Dower, Professor of History, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Jonathan Dresner, Assistant Professor of History, Coe College, Iowa
Prasenjit Duara, Professor, History and East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago
Melvin Dubofsky, Professor, History and Sociology, State University of New York, Binghamton
Alexis Dudden, Assistant Professor, History, Connecticut College
Arthur Power Dudden, Professor Emeritus, History, Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania
Peter Duus, Professor of History, Stanford University
Robert Y. Eng, Professor, History, University of Redlands
Robert Entenmann, Professor of History, St. Olaf College University, Minnesota
Robert Eskildsen, Assistant Professor, History, Smith College, Massachusetts
Jana Everett, Professor, Political Science, University of Colorado, Denver
Richard Falk, Professor of International Law, Princeton University
Joshua Fogel, Professor, History, University of California, Santa Barbara
Fumiko Fujita, Professor of American History, Tsuda College, Japan
Suzanne Gay, Associate Professor, East Asian Studies, Oberlin College, Ohio
Andre Gunder Frank, Visiting Distinguished Professor of International Studies, Florida International University
Takashi Fujitani, Associate Professor, History, University of California, San Diego
Mark Gallicchio, Professor, History, Villanova University, Pennsylvania
Xian Gao, Professor, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Senior Editor, China Social Sciences Documentation Publishing House, China
Timothy S. George, Assistant Professor of History, University of Rhode Island
Yash Ghai, Sir Y. K. Pao Professor of Public Law, Hong Kong University
Andrew Gordon, Professor of History and Director of the Reischauer Center, Harvard University
A. James Gregor, Professor, Political Science, University of California, Berkeley
A. Tom Grunfeld, Professor of History, State University of New York, Empire State College
Jack Hammersworth, Professor, History, West Virginia University
Charles W. Hayford, Visiting Professor, History, Northwestern University, Illinois
Li He, Associate Professor, Political Science, Merrimack College, Massachusetts
Laura Hein, Associate Professor of History, Northwestern University, Illinois
Joseph M. Henning, Assistant Professor, History, Saint Vincent College, Pennsylvania
Tze-ki Hon, Assistant Professor of History, State University of New York, Geneseo
Germaine A Hoston, Professor, Political Science, University of California, San Diego
Shiping Hua, Assistant Professor, Political Science, Eckerd College, Florida
James L. Huffman, H. Orth Hirt Professor of History, Wittenberg University, Ohio
Margaret R. Hunt, Professor, History, Amherst College, Massachusetts
William Johnston, Associate Professor of History, Wesleyan University, Connecticut
Tetsuro Kato, Professor, Political Science, Hitotsubashi University, Japan
Peter Katzenstein, Professor of Government, Cornell University
David L. Kenley, Assistant Professor of History, Marshall University, West Virgina
Ben Kiernan, Professor of History and Director, Genocide Studies Program, Yale University
Audrey Kobayashi, Professor, Geography, Queen's University, Canada
J. Victor Koschmann, Professor of History, Cornell University
Arne Kislenko, Professor, History, Ryerson Polytechnic University, Toronto, Canada
Mark E. Lincicome,
Associate Professor of History, College of the Holy Cross, Massachusetts
Jonathan
N. Lipman,
Professor, History and Asian Studies, Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts
Chang Liu, Assistant Professor, History, Christopher Newport University, Virginia
Xiaoyuan Liu, Associate Professor of History, Iowa State University
Dina Lowy, Assistant Professor, History, Gettysburg College, Pennsylvania
Lu Yan, Assistant Professor of History, University of New Hampshire
Xiaobo Lu, Assistant Professor, Political Science, Barnard College, New York
Seiichi Makino, Professor, Japanese and Linguistics, Princeton University
Robert Marks, Professor of History, Whittier College, California
Janice Matsumura, Assistant Professor of History, Simon Fraser University, Canada
Marlene J. Mayo, Associate Professor, History, University of Maryland, College Park
Richard H. Minear, Professor of History, University of Massachusetts/Amherst
Mike M. Mochizuki, Associate Professor, Political Science, Chair of International Affairs and Japan-U.S. Relations of Sigur Center for Asian Studies, George Washington University
Tessa Morris-Suzuki, Professor, History, Australian National University
Ting Ni, Assistant Profosser, History, St. Mary's University, Minnesota
James B. Palais, Professor, History, University of Washington
Kathy Peiss, Professor and Chair, History, University of Massachusetts/Amherst
Louis G. Perez, Professor of History & Director of General Education, Illinois State University
Elizabeth J. Perry, Professor of Government, Director of Fairbank Center for East Asian Research, Harvard University
Paul Pickowicz, Professor of History, University of California at San Diego
Brian Platt, Assistant Professor, History, George Mason University, Virginia
Kenneth Pomeranz, Professor and Chair of History, University of California, Irvine
John Price, Associate Professor of History, University of Victoria, Canada
Kenneth B. Pyle, Professor, History, University of Washington
Felix Rogers, Ph.D, President, Cranbrook Peace Foundation, Michigan
Murray A. Rubinstein, Professor of History, Baruch College, City University of New York
Wesley Sakaki-Uemura, Associate Professor of History, University of Utah
Mitziko Sawada, Professor of History, Hampshire College, Massachusetts
James C. Scott, Professor of Political Science, Yale University
Keiko Seki, Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, Hitotsubashi University, Japan
Mark Selden, Professor of History & Sociology, State University of New York, Binghamton
Franziska Seraphim, Visiting Assistant Professor, History, Duke University, North Carolina
William Sewell, Assistant Professor, History, Saint Mary's University, Halifax, Canada
Takashi
Shimazaki,
Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, Hitotsubashi University, Japan
Mona Siegel, Assistant Professor, History, University of Cincinnatti
Kerry Smith, Assistant Professor, History, Brown University, Rhode Island
W. Donald Smith, Visiting Assistant Professor, History/East Asian Languages and Cultures, University of Illinois
Alvin Y. So, Professor and Head, Division of Social Sciences, Hong Kong University of Science & Technology
Susan Mitchell Sommers, Associate Professor of History, St. Vincent College, Pennsylvania
Rob Stevens, Professor of Political Science, University of New South Wales, Australia
Su Zhiliang, Dean & Professor, History & Sociology, Shanghai Teachers University, China
Yan Sun, Associate Professor, Political Science, Queens and Graduate School, City University of New York
Robert C. H. Sweeny, Associate Professor of History, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada
Brij Tankha, Reader, History, University of Delhi, India
Hung-Chao Tai, Professor Emeritus, Political Sciecnce ,University of Detroit Mercy, Michigan
Yue-him Tam, Professor of History, Macalester College, Minnesota
Janet Theiss, Assistant Professor, History, University of Utah
Xian-sheng Tian, Assistant Professor of History, Metropolitan State College of Denver
Etsuro Totsuka, Associate Professor, Law (Comparative Legal Policies), University of Kobe, Japan
E. Patricia Tsurumi, Professor Emeritus of History, University of Victoria, Canada
John E. Van Sant, Assistant Professor, History, University of Alabama, Birmingham
Constantine Vaporis, Associate Professor, History, University of Maryland, Baltimore
Sinh Vinh, Professor, History, University of Alberta, Canada
Lukas Vischer, Professor Emeritus, Church History, University of Berne, Switzerland
Carrie Waara, Associate Professor of History, Castleton State College, Vermont
Bob
Tadashi Wakabayashi, Professor, History, York
University, Canada
Frederic
Wakeman,
Professor, History, and Director, Institute of Asian Studies, University of
California, Berkeley
James
Wald, Associate Professor, History, Hampshire College, Massachusetts
Immanuel Wallerstein,
Director, Fernand Braudel Center, State University of New York, Binghamton
Anne Walthall, Professor, History, University of California, Irvine
Enbao Wang, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Hawaii, Hilo
Fei-ling
Wang, Associate Professor, International Affairs,
Georgia Institute of Technology
Masao Watanabe, Professor, Graduate School of Social Sciences, Hitotsubashi University, Japan
Frederick S. Weaver, Professor, Economics and History, Hampshire College, Massachusetts
C. X. George Wei, Assistant Professor of History, Susquehanna University, Pennsylvania
Wei Hongyun, Professor of History, Nankai University, Tianjin, China
Wen Liming, Research Professor, Institute of Modern History, Chinese Academy of Social Science, China
Bert Winther-Tamaki, Assistant Professor, Art History, University of California, Irvine
Donald E. Willmott, Professor Emeritus, Sociology and Asian Studies, York University, Canada
Lawrence Wittner, Professor of History, State University of New York, Albany
Daqing Yang, Assistant Professor, History, George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
Shujiro
Yazawa,
Professor, Graduate School of Social Sciences, Hitotsubashi University, Japan
Mimi Yiengpruksawan, Professor of Art History, Yale University
Marcia Yonemoto, Assistant Professor, History, University of Colorado
Peter Zarrow, Professor of History, University of New South Wales, Australia
Suisheng Zhao, Associate Professor of Government, Colby College, Maine
Kate Xiao Zhou, Professor of Political Science, University of Hawaii
Ling Xiao, Ph. D. Candidate, History, Brown University, Rhode Island
Howard Zinn, Professor Emeritus of History, Boston University
Partial
Listing of Signatories**
provided by Ienaga Saburo-san o Heiwasho Koho ni Suisensuru-kai
(The Japanese Group for Nominating Saburo Ienaga for the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize)
**The total number of signatories as of February 1, 2001 is 99.
Yoichi Kibata, Professor, History (Modern English History), University of Tokyo
Keiichi Eguchi, Professor, History (Modern/Contemporary Japanese History), Aichi University
Takao Matsumura, Professor, History (Social History), Keio Gijuku University
Masato Miyaji, Professor, History (History of Meiji Period), University of Tokyo
Yasuo Sugihara, Professor, Law (Constitutional Law), Surugadai University
Kenji Urata, Professor, Law
(Constitutional Law), Waseda University
Contact
of the Japanese Group: Shin'ichi
Arai, Chair
c/o Kodomo to Kyokasho Zenkoku Netto 21
2-6-1-201 Iidabashi
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 102-0072, Japan
Tel. 03-3265-7606 Fax 03-3239-8590
Supporters
of Nobel Prize Nomination for IENAGA Saburo
(total
170 as of January 30, 2001)
William B. Abnett, Senior Advisor, The National Bureau of Asian Research
Gretchen A. Adams, Ph. D. Candidate, History, University of New Hampshire
Linda Gail Arrigo, Ph.D. Sociology, Resident Director, Council for International Educational Exchange, Taipei Study Center, Taiwan
Yarong J. Ashley, Ph. D., Academic Professional, Sociology, University of Wyoming
Jinglu Ai, M. D., Ph. D., Department of Neurology, University of Toronto
Darrell E. Allen, Instructor, History, Seattle Pacific University
Amiya Kumar Bagchi, Professor, Economics, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta
Chong-En Bai, Assistant Professor, School of Economics and Finance, University of Hong Kong
Doris G. Bargen, Associate Professor, Japanese, University of Massachusetts/Amherst
Lawrence W. Beer, Professor Emeritus, Political Science, University of Colorado
Theodore Bestor, Professor of Anthropology, Cornell University
Francesca Bray, Professor, Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara
Timothy A. Brennan, Professor, Cultural Studies and Comparative Literatures, University of Minnesota
Jeffrey Broadbent, Associate Professor, Sociology, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Charles Cabell, Assistant Professor, Japanese, University of Montana
Patrick Caddeau, Assistant Professor, Literature, Amherst College
Victor Lee Carpenter, Professor, Humanities, Hirosaki University, Japan
Yongchun Cai, Ph. D. Candidate, Chinese Literature, University of Toronto
Ming K. Chan, Research Fellow, Hoover Institute, Stanford University
Frank L. Chance, Far Eastern Bibliographer, Princeton University
Howard Chang, Professor, Civil Engineering, San Diego State Univeristy
Mathias E. Chang, Ph.D., Retired Manager, Ford Motor Co., Michigan
Chang Jui-te, Research Fellow, Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica, China
George Q. Zhao, Ph.D. Candidte, East Asian History, University of Toronto, Canada
Xiao-Lian Chen, M. D., Ph. D., Resident, Pennsylvania State University
Chak Yan Cheng, Professor of Research Program on Ethnic and Overseas Chinese, Lingnan University, Hong Kong
William A. Christian, Jr., Independent Scholar, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
John J. Clancey, Chairperson, Asian Human Rights Commission
Alvin P. Cohen, Professor, Chinese, University of Massachusetts/Amherst
Deborah Davis, Professor of Sociology, Yale University
Judith M. Dennehy, Youth Minister, St. Jerome Church
Kristine Dennehy, Ph. D. Candidate, History, University of California, Los Angeles
Robert F. Dennehy, Professor, Management, Pace University
Brett de Bary, Professor of Asian Studies, Cornell University
Masako Endo, Ph. D. Candidate, Sociology, State University of New York, Binghamton
Joan E. Ericson, Associate Professor, Japanese, Colorado College
Anita Fahrni, Member of Parliament, Canton Thurgau, Switzerland
Norma Field, Professor and Chair, East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago
Terre Fisher, Editor, Center for Chinese Studies Publications, University of Michigan
Stephen M. Forrest, Instructor, Asian Languages and Literatures, University of Massachusetts/Amherst
Bunji Fromartz, Attorney at Law, Brooklyn
Mobo C. F. Gao, Senior Lecturer, Chinese, University of Tasmania
Suzanne Gay, Associate Professor, East Asian Studies, Oberlin College
Lillian M. Genser, Former Director of the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies, Wayne State University, Michigan
Tomoko Goto, Librarian, University of British Columbia, Canada
Robert P. Gray, Ph. D. Candidate, History, University of Michigan
Rev. Thomas J. Gumbleton, Auxiliary Bishop, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit
Feng Jen, Ph.D. Candidate, Advanced Social and International Studies, University of Tokyo, Japan
Han
Jialing,
Vice-researcher, Institute of Sociology,
Beijing Academy of
social science, China
Paul Harris, Barrister, Founding Chair of the Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor and the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales
Michiko Hase, Assistant Professor, Women's Studies, University of Colorado
Yinan He, Ph. D. Candidate, Political Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Robert E. Hegel, Professor of East Asian Languages and Literatures, Washington University
Jacques Hersh, Professor, International Relations, Aalborg University, Denmark
Jeffry T. Hester, Associate Professor, Sociocultural Anthropology, Kansai Gaidai University, Japan
Christopher Hill, Lecturer, East Asian Literature, Harvard University
Leung Mau Victor HO, Journalist, Canada
Maarten C. Hoff, Ph.D in History, Chairman, Oud Cliënten Contact 45 Foundation, Netherlands
Judith L. Holmes, Lecturer, Legal Studies, University of Massachusetts/Amherst
Christian Hougen, Senior Evaluator/International Affairs Analyst, General Accounting Office of USA
Ling Huang, Ph. D. Candidate, Economics, University of California, Berkeley
Tin-Kan Hung, Professor, Civil and Enronmental Engineering, University of Pittsburgh
Hiromitsu
Inokuchi, Associate Professor, Sociology of
Communication, University of East Asia, Japan
Mildred M. Jeffrey, Governor Emeritus, Wayne State University
Ellen R. Judd, Professor and Chair, Anthropology, University of Manitoba, Canada
John Junkerman, Independent Film Director, Tokyo
Elizabeth Karpinski, Student, Columbia University Law School
Donald W. Katzner, Professor, Economics, University of Massachusetts
James Keefer, Lecturer, History, Camosun College
Eleanor Kerkham, Associate Professor, Asian and East European Languages and Cultures, University of Maryland
Lili M. Kim, Five College Fellow, Social Science, Hampshire College, Massachusetts
Albert I. King, Distinguished Professor and Director, Bioengineering Center, Wayne State University
Francis G. King, Ph.D., Manager, Ford Motor Co., Michigan
Lorinda Robertson Kiyama, Assistant Professor, Japanese Literature and English, Shokei College, Japan
Lucy King, Professor, Engineering, Kettering University, Michigan
Jenny Wai Ching Kwan, Member of the Legislative Assembly for Vancouver-Mount Pleasant, Government of British Columbia, Canada
Julia Kwong, Professor, Sociology, University of Manitoba
Liisa Laakso, Docent, Political Science, University of Helsinki, Finland
Ian V. Lau, Ph.D., Manager, General Motors Corporation, Michigan
Chuan-pu Lee, Distinguished Professor, Biochemistry, Wayne State University, Michigan
Ivy Lee, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, California State University, Sacramento
David D. Li, Associate Professor, Economics, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Peter Li, Associate Professor, Asian Languages & Cultures, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
E.W. Lindeijer, Ph. d, Msc, Bsc, Civil Engineer, Writer, The Netherlands
Xinsheng Ling, Assistant Professor, Physics, Brown University, Rhode Island
Jun Liu, Professor, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins Medical School
Liyan Liu, Ph. D. candidate, History, Ohio State University
Lydia Liu, Associate Professor, Chinese and Comparative Literature, University of California, Berkeley
Ron Loftus, Professor, Japanese and Chinese, Willamette University, Oregon
Dan Lusthaus, Professor of Religion, University of Georgia
Robin Madrid, Ph.D, Anthropology, American University, Washington. D.C.
Maryann Mahaffey, President Pro Temp, City Council of Detroit
Virginia Marcus, Senior Lecturer, Japanese, Washington University
Kathleen Woods Masalski, Outreach Director, Five College Center for East Asian Studies, Massachusetts
Susan Matisoff, Professor and Chair, East Asian Languages and Cultures, University of California, Berkeley
Kiyoko Matsuno, Professor, Art, Kyoto Seika University, Japan
Bob McBarton, American Express TRS, Antioch, California
Brian J. McVeigh, Associate Professor, Humanities, Toyo Gakuen University, Japan
Jonathan Mirsky, Journalist, London
James H. Mittelman, Professor, School of International Service, American University, Washington, D.C.
Michael Molasky, Associate Professor, East Asian Languages and Cultures, Connecticut College
Joe B. Moore, Associate Professor, Pacific and Asian Studies, University of Victoria, Canada
Takamitsu Muraoka, Professor, Oriental languages and cultures, Leiden University, The Netherlands
Christopher T. Nelson, Graduate student, Anthropology, University of Chicago
John Nelson, Assistant Professor, Theology and Religious Studies, University of San Francisco
Beth Notar, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Trinity College, Connecticut
Yoshiko Nozaki, Lecturer, Educational Policy Studies, Massey University, New Zealand
Gail Omvedt, Author and Environmental Activist, Kasegaon, India
Masahide Ota, President, Ota Peace Research Institute and Former Governor, Okinawa
Zuohong Pan, Associate Professor of Economics, Western Connecticut State College
John E. Philips, Senior Lecturer, Japanese, Washington University
Cyril Powles, Professor Emeritus, Trinity College, University of Toronto, Canada
Nicole L. Restrick, Associate Director, National Clearinghouse for US - Japan Studies
Cris
Reyns-Chikuma, Assistant Professor, French and
Comparative Literature, Lafayette College, Pennsylvania
Kenneth Richard, Professor, Comparative Culture and Japanese Literature, Siebold University of Nagasaki, Japan
Moss Roberts, Professor, Chinese, New York University
Jennifer Robertson, Professor of Anthropology, University of Michigan
Laurel Rasplica Rodd, Professor, Japanese, University of Colorado
Thomas Rohlich, Professor, Japanese, Smith College, Massachusetts
Joshua H. Roth, Assistant Professor, Anthropology, Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts
Allison Rottman, Ph. D. Candidate, History, University of California, Berkeley
John G. Russell, Professor, Region Studies, Gifu University, Japan
Marleigh Grayer Ryan, Professor Emeritus, Japanese, State University of New York, New Paltz
Deirdre Sabina Knight, Assistant Professr, East Asian Languages and Literatures, Smith College, Massachusetts
Lisa
J. Sansoucy, Ph. D. Candidate, Government, Cornell
University
Paul
G. Schalow,
Associate Professor, Asian Languages and Cultures, Rutgers University, New Jersey
David Schimmel, Professor, Education, University of Massachusetts/Amherst
Rev. Walter Schoenherr, Bishop, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit
Abigail Schweber, Research Associate, Centre for Asian Studies, University of Adelaide, Australia
Mariya Sevela, Associate researcher, Japan Research Center (EHESS, Paris), France
Hari P. Sharma, Professor Emeritus, Sociology, Simon Fraser University, Canada
Nick Sharman, Associate Professor, Economics, University of Melbourne, Australia
Ann Sherif, Associate Professor, East Asia Studies, Oberlin College, Ohio
June-Sang Siak, Ph.D., Manager, General Motors Corporation, Michigan
Robert J. Smith, Professor Emeritus, Anthropology and Asian Studies, Cornell University
Changqing Sun, Ph. D. Candidate, Agriculture and Resource Economics, University of California, Berkeley
Jinghao Sun, Ph. D. Candidate, East Asian Studies, University of Toronto, Canada
Nada Svob-Dokic, Scientific Advisor, Institute for International Relations, Zagreb, Croatia
Julia Tai, Professor Emeritus, Chemistry ,University of Michigan
Yuki Tanaka, Professor, International and Cultural Studies, Keiwa University, Japan
Peter Taylor, Professor, Geography, Loughborough University, U.K.
Richard Tanter, Professor of Environmental and Social Studies, Kyoto Seika University, Japan
Xiaoping Teng, Lecturer, Asian Languages and Civilizations, Amherst College, Massachusetts
Istvan Teplan, Executive Vice President, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary
Yoko H. Thakur, Japanese Teacher, Fairfax County Public Schools
Patricia M. Thornton, Coordinator for Teacher Development, University of Minnesota
Maia Tsurumi, Ph.D. Candidate, Biology, University of Victoria, Canada
Guangnan Tu, Senior Research Fellow, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, China
J. Marshall Unger, Professor, Japanese, and Chair, Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, Ohio State University
Bonnie Wade, Professor, Music, University of California, Berkeley
Jing Wang, Professor and Chair, Asian and African Languages and Literatures and Director, Center for East Asian Cultural and Institutional Studies, Duke University, North Carolina
William E. Willmott, Professor Emeritus, Sociology, University of Canterbury, New Zealand
Yi Wu, Ph. D. candidate, Anthropology, Columbia University, New York
Gang Xiao, Professor, Physics, Brown University, Rhode Island
Qiang Xiao, Associate Professor, Physics, University of Delaware
Benjamin Xu, ERB/NINDS, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Haiping Yan, Professor, Theatre and Comparative Literature, University of Colorado, Boulder
Yan
Lixian,
Vice-researcher, Institute of modern China, Chinese Academy of social
science, China
Yunxiang Yan, Associate Professor, Anthropology, University of California at Los Angeles
King-Hay
Yang, Assoc.
Professor of Bioengineering, Wayne State University
Hajime Yasukawa, Associate Professor, Social Psychology, Hitotsubashi University, Japan
Moshe Yegar, Research Fellow, Southeast Asian Studies, Harry S. Truman Institute of the Advancement of Peace, Jerusalem, Israel
Xiao-huang Yin, Chair and Associate Professor, American Studies, Occidental College, L.A.
Liqun Zhang, graduate student, Pennsylvania State University
Ming Zhou, Associate Professor of Technology, Indiana State University
Zehau Zhou, Assistant Professor, Information Literacy, York College of Pennsylvania
Zhu Chengshan, Director, The Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, Nanjing, China
Zhu Ling, Deputy Director, Institute of Economics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, China
Guo Zijian, Post-doctoral student, Civil Engineering, Tokyo University, Japan
Who are eligible as nominators for Nobel Peace
Prize
The following are entitled to nominate candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize:
Support Statements of Nominators and Supporters
The Honorable David Anderson, P.C., Minister of Environment for Canada
Linda Gail Arrigo, Ph.D. Sociology, Resident Director, Council for International Educational Exchange, Taipei Study Center, Taiwan
Congressman David Bonior, U.S.A.
John J. Clancey, Chairman, Asian Human Rights Commission
Libby Davies, Member of the House of Commons, Canada
Basil Fernando, Executive Director, Asian Human Rights Commission
Norma Field, Professor and Chair, East Asian
Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago
Lillian Mellen Genser, Former Director of the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan
Andrew Gordon, Professor of History and Director of Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies, Harvard University
Rev. Thomas J. Gumbleton, Auxiliary Bishop, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit
Laura Hein, Dept. of History, Northwestern University, Illinois, USA
Congressman Michael Honda, U.S.A.
Teruhisa Horio, Professor of Education, Chuo University, Tokyo
Derek Lee, Member of the House of Commons, Canada
Sophia Leung, C.M., Member of the House of Commons, Canada
Senator Carl Levin, U.S.A.
Richard H. Minear, Professor of History, University of Massachusetts/Amherst
Dr. Takaniitsu
Muraoka,
Full Professor of Hebrew, Ugaritic and Israelite Antiquities, Leiden
University, The Netherlands
Joe
Peschisolido, Member of the House of Commons, Canada
Svend Robinson, Member of the House of Commons, Canada
Dr. Felix J. Rogers, President of the Cranbrook Peace Foundation
Mark Selden, Professor of History & Sociology, State University of New York, Binghamton
Vancouver Sun, March 7, 2001 - Persistence of memory by John Price
John Price: |
World-renowned scholar and critic Noam Chomsky has nominated him for
the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. So has the Asian Human Rights Commission. Also in on the nomination is United States Senator Carl Levin, who
has been joined by unlikely ally, Lee Peng Fei, deputy to the National
People's Congress in China. Members of the European Parliament, including the chair of its human
rights committee, Graham Watson, are also on the nominators' list. Takako Doi, leader of Japan's Social Democratic party has stepped
forward in the same cause, as have more than 100 others in Japan. In Canada, New Democratic Party, Liberal and Canadian Alliance MPs
Svend Robinson, Libby Davies, David Anderson, Stephen Owen, Sophia
Leung, Joe Peschisolido, Stan Dromisky and Derek Lee have joined forces
behind the nomination. So -- who is Saburo Ienaga and why are so many people lining up
behind his nomination for a Nobel Peace Prize? At first glance, the slight, 88-year-old, bespectacled historian
doesn't seem to fit the profile of peacenik or freedom fighter. But he is, and has been for over 50 years. Every since the end of
the war in Japan, Ienaga has fought to make sure that the truth about
Japanese imperial aggression in Asia was told to future generations in
Japan and around the world. A professor of history at Tokyo University of Education, Ienaga
wrote dozens of histories, many related to the Asia-Pacific war that
lasted from 1931, when Japan invaded Manchuria, until 1945. A professional historian, Ienaga's scholarship covers a vast array
of topics, but his works on the war, including Taiheiy Sens (The Pacific
War) and Sens Sekinin (War Responsibility) stand out as serious
reflections on the causes and effects of war. But his frank assessments of aggression ran into roadblocks from the
Japanese government and education ministry which, through the textbook
editing process, tried to water down Japan's war of aggression and
atrocities such as the Rape of Nanjing. For example, a ministry textbook reviewer told him in 1963 that his
book on the war was "too gloomy on the whole," citing
illustrations in his book that depicted air raid destruction, the
effects of the atomic bomb and showed disabled veterans begging for
money. Ienaga sued the ministry for censorship and at the trial the
government brief pointed to his study on atrocities by Japanese troops
as being "excessively critical of Japan's positions and actions in
the Second World War." Three lawsuits and 32 years later, Ienaga finally won a partial
victory in 1997 when Japan's Supreme Court ruled 3-2 in his favour,
declaring the ministry of education had acted illegally when it removed
passages from his book that described the Japanese Imperial Army's use
of biological warfare against 3,000 people in northern China. In the 1970s, Japanese neo-nationalists (who consider Japan's war in
Asia as just) issued death threats against Ienaga and surrounded his
house day and night, shouting slogans and banging pots and pans. Such
threats and intimidation are no joke -- just ask Hitoshi Motojima, mayor
of Nagasaki for 15 years. He was harassed for years because he dared to
say he thought the Japanese Emperor, Hirohito, was partially responsible
for Japan's war of aggression. On Jan. 18, 1990, a year after Hirohito died, a right-wing extremist
shot Motojima in the back. The bullets pierced his lungs and he nearly
bled to death in a car waiting for help. Ienaga is not alone in his efforts. For years, scholars such as
Akira Fujiwara, Kiyoshi Inoue and Goro Hani have written and taught
about Japanese responsibility in the war. And hundreds of non-governmental organizations have come forward to
support elderly victims of Japan's war crimes, including the so-called
"comfort women" who were forced to become sex slaves to
Japanese troops. Japanese feminist and veteran journalist, Yayori Matsui, has
spearheaded a worldwide movement to make the perpetrators of rape during
war accountable for their crimes. Ienaga's struggle may seem distant but his efforts are pertinent to
Canadians today. For example, Ienaga has struggled to have the truth
told about the crimes of Unit 731, the Imperial army group that
perpetrated biological warfare, mainly in China. Yet the U.S. government
offered immunity to Japan's doctors of death after the war in exchange
for the information compiled by Unit 731. The Canadian government was complicit in this coverup in two ways.
Canada appointed Justice E. Stuart McDougall to the Tokyo tribunal that
failed to indict any of the perpetrators of biological warfare. And, as Steven Endicott and Edward Hagerman have shown in their
recent work, The United States and Biological Warfare, the Canadian
government also used the information obtained from Unit 731 for its own
program of biological warfare, developed at the Suffield Experimental
Station in Alberta after the war. Learning from Ienaga's example requires that we eschew the
triumphalism of victors in war and examine our own conduct. This is more
pertinent today than ever before because of our increasingly close ties
to the U.S., a country that has largely appropriated victory in the
Asia-Pacific war unto itself. Even in the U.S., however, Ienaga's influence is profound. For
example, in his recent Pulitzer prize-winning book, Embracing Defeat,
U.S. historian John Dower has challenged his own country's role in Japan
after the war: "One of the most pernicious aspects of the [American]
occupation [of Japan] was that the Asian peoples who had suffered most
from imperial Japan's depredations -- the Chinese, Koreans, Indonesians,
and Filipino -- had no serious role, no influential presence at all in
the defeated land. They became invisible. Asian contributions to
defeating the emperor's soldiers and sailors were displaced by an
all-consuming focus on the American victory in the Pacific War." We would do well to remember this as we approach the 60th
anniversary of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor this December, an
event for which Hollywood is already gearing up with a new blockbuster
starring Cuba Goodings Jr. To confront the past is not always easy. As Ienaga wrote in his
conclusion to The Pacific War: "The public only wants to forget the
unpleasant experience, but collective amnesia will also erase the costly
lessons of the war." Whether Ienaga wins the Nobel or not, his work stands as a beacon on
the path to make sure that not only we but also our children will
continue to say, "Never again." John Price teaches Japanese history at the University of Victoria
and is on the board of the Canada Asia Pacific Resource Network.
|
Globe and Mail,
August 30, 1997
By Catherine Bergman, special to The Globe
and Mail with Reuters News Agency
Governments
right to screen, delete schoolbook references to wartime
atrocities upheld
TOKYO Japan's
Supreme Court broke historic ground yesterday, recognizing for
the first time that the country's education officials had acted
unlawfully in censoring parts of history textbooks for high-school
students.
It was the final chapter of an epic 32-
year legal battle that pitted 83-year-old historian Saburo Ienaga
against the country's department of education over the issue of
what Japanese children should be taught about the Second
World War.
The court agreed with Mr. Ienaga's
contention that young Japanese should be told about the Japanese
Army's infamous Unit 731, which conducted biological-warfare
experiments on war prisoners in Manchuria.
While 'Unit 731' has not been
revealed in its entirety, the existence of such a unit within the
Japanese imperial Army with the purpose of conducting germ
warfare, and that the unit conducted live experiments on many
Chinese and others, was accepted by the academia at the time,
the court's ruling said.
Hence it was unlawful [for the
education ministry] to order the deletion of the passage from
the textbook.
Presiding judge Masao Ono ordered the
government to pay Mr. lenaga a token amount, 400.000 yen ($4,676)
In compensation.
However, it was a hollow victory for
the frail professor.
The court upheld the education ministry's
right to continue screening all textbooks and remove anything
objectionable, including references to wartime atrocities, and it
rejected the seven remaining claims made by Mr. Ienaga, including
passages describing the Battle of Okinawa and the Nanjing
Massacre, in which as many as 300,000 Chinese were massacred in
Nanjing In 1937-38.
As a result, high-school students still will
not be taught that. Japanese soldiers violated
Chinese women during the Nanjing massacre because, as
censors have commented, it is common throughout the world
for troops to rape women.
Textbooks also will remain silent on
the subject of Korean revolts against the Imperial Army during
Japan's occupation of Korea. Critics note that such references
would lead children to conclude that Japan was once a colonial
power.
Even Mr. Ienaga's success at exposing Unit
731 came a little late. Over the three decades that his case
wound through the court system, victims and witnesses of Unit 731
came forward, guilt-ridden soldiers spoke from their death beds
and scholarly research was published, with the result that
several of Japan's newer high-school textbooks have already
mentioned the existence of Unit 731 without incurring the wrath
of education officials.
Still, yesterdays decision was hailed
as a victory by Mr. Ienaga and his supporters because, for the
first time, the education department censors got a slap on the
wrist.
It is significant that the court has
now accepted the government's screening was illegal in some
respects, Mr. Ienaga told reporters. This is a very
important development.
Bureaucrats claim they are always
right, said Yutaka Saito, one of the 40 lawyers who had
been working on the case. Today's decision weakens the
credibility of the screening process.
The historian started his battle in 1965,
when the education ministry ordered him to revise numerous
passages in his New History of Japan because they
showed some Japanese actions during the Second World War in an
unfavourable light.
Mr. Ienaga argued that government censorship of school textbooks was unconstitutional, distorted history and whitewashed Japanese war crimes.
For many Japanese, however, the issues
behind the censorship remain immensely sensitive, and security
was high around the Supreme Court building in the centre of Tokyo
yesterday afternoon.
Ienaga, you are a puppet of the
Chinese, Japanese nationalists blared from loudspeakers, as
their black trucks, wrapped in flags, slowly circled the
courthouse.
The Nanjing massacre did not happen,
read a wide banner across the avenue.
Meanwhile, more than 600 Ienaga supporters
and peace activists were standing at attention, waiting for the
judgment. They included teachers, union organizers, academics and
people such as Naoko Ishioroshi, who identified herself as an
ordinary person.
Ms. Ishioroshi, 65, grew up during the war.
We were robots, we were taught not to think. We should
never again allow our children to become robots for the
government. We should never again go to war.
END
Vancouver
Sun, August 30, 1997
Associated Press
Headline: Japanese
historian wins war battle
Sub-headline:
The Supreme Court has ruled the government broke the law in
removing mention of an atrocity from his textbook.
TOKYO - Smiling and
bowing deeply, an 83-year-old historian acknowledged his victory
Friday in a court battle that's taken three decades to compel
Japan to tell schoolchildren the full story of the country's
actions in the Second World War.
For the first time,
the Supreme Court limited Japan's power to rewrite history -
ruling Friday that the education Ministry broke the law in
removing m mention of a Japanese atrocity from historian Saburo
Ienaga's high school textbook.
Moments after the
ruling, dozens stood in the packed courtroom to applaud Ienaga,
who rose to thank them.
"Today's ruling was not a complete victory," he said later at a news conference.
"But one more case of screening has been judged illegal.
"I see
positive light there," said Ienaga, who's sometimes
required police protection from right-wing thugs who believe he
disgraces Japan and its old Imperial Army.
Right-wing
activists outside the court denounced Ienaga through loudspeakers,
waving flags.
The justices ruled
3-2 Friday that the education ministry acted illegally in 1980
and 1983 when it removed from a textbook that Ienaga was writing
a description of Japan's biological experiments on 3,000
people in northern China during the war.
Victims were
injected with diseases such as typhoid, or dissected without
anesthesia and allowed to die without treatment. The disputed
section has since been restored to Ienaga's textbook.
However, the
Supreme Court justices dismissed or rejected claims by Ienaga
that seven other portions of his book were illegally censored,
including one about Japanese soldiers raping Chinese women
during the war.
Friday's decision
marked the first time Japan's highest court had declared there's
a limit to the ministry's power to screen and censor textbooks.
The court ordered the ministry to pay Ienaga the equivalent of
about $4,700 Cdn in damages.
END
News Release - September 2, 1997
Six
Ethnic Communities respond to Japanese Supreme Court Ruling
Vancouver,
September 2, 1997....Six ethnic communities representing more
than 10,000 Canadians who signed letters in support of Professor
Saburo Ienaga's lawsuit against the Japanese Education Ministry
for censoring accounts of WWII atrocities in Japanese history
textbooks are greatly encouraged by the Japanese Supreme Court
ruling of August 29, 1997.
In
one of his textbooks Professor Ienaga had referred to the
Japanese Imperial Army germ warfare group, Unit 731, which
conducted atrocious biological experiments on 3,000 people in
northern China during WWII. Subjects were operated on without
anaesthetics, injected with diseases and left to die without
treatment. But this reference to historical events was removed on
the order of the Japanese Education Ministry.
Following
a 32 year battle Japan's Supreme Court sided with Professor
Ienaga, ruling that the government acted illegally when it
removed reference to biological warfare experiments from a
proposed history textbook.
"We
commend Professor Ienaga for his unflinching determination to
fight long and deep seated intransigence by the Japanese
government in acknowledging Japan's crimes against humanity
during WWII," stated Ms. Thekla Lit, co-chair of ALPHA
Canada. "The Japanese government has repeatedly attempted to
cover up WWII atrocities through its textbook screening system,
censoring or tampering with historical facts in textbooks which
keeps generations of Japanese from learning the lessons from
history to prevent recurrence of similar tragedies."
"The
strong support from international groups, including our
organizations which represent 6 ethnic communities, is
appreciated by truth seeking forces in Japan. But there is much
work still to be done," stated Mr. Erwin Nest of Canadian
Jewish Congress. "The landmark court ruling finally gives
due justice to an honest and truth seeking Japanese scholar but
Professor Ienaga's victory is by no means total. The Japan
Supreme Court's ruling only narrowly applies to the Professor's
specific account on the Unit 731 atrocities in the history
textbook. It fell short of declaring the act of screening
textbooks unconstitutional."
The
Japanese government will still have the power to distort
historical facts. To date, Japan has repeatedly refused to offer
official apologies and compensations to her war victims,
including victims of the Nanking Massacre, military sexual
slavery (so called comfort women), forced slavery, Bataan Death
March and other atrocities.
"Until
these war crimes are addressed and redressed, peace loving people
the world over must work with their counterparts in Japan to
bring the Japanese government face to face with history." Mr.
Enomoto, president of National Association of Japanese Canadians
affirmed.
(END)
List
of six participating agencies:
Canada
Association for Learning & Preserving the History of WWII in
Asia
National
Association of Japanese Canadians, Human Rights Committee
Philippine
War Veterans & Ex-Servicemen Society of BC
Korean
Women's Association of Western Canada
August
15, 1945 Foundation
Canadian
Jewish Congress
12 September 2000
The Falsification of History Under the Guise of 'Self-Censorship'
Has Been Forced onto Textbook Publishers
By:
Committee for Truth and Freedom in Textbooks
Children and Textbooks Japan Network 21
Advisory Committee For Discussing Social Studies Textbook
Problems
Liaison Committee for the Japan Textbook Publishers Union
Committee for Monitoring Historical Truth
We Will Not Tolerate the Actions of the Government and the Ministry of Education
At present, screening of junior high school history textbooks under the auspices of the new education curriculum that will come into effect in April 2002 is already underway. With respect to those textbooks in the fields of society and history (henceforth referred to as history textbooks), a deeply worrying situation has arisen. The problems surrounding the history and civic education textbooks produced by the Japan Society for History Textbook Reform (The Society) go without saying, but even out of the 7 companies publishing history textbooks, the content of many of their Plain Cover Draft Editions (to be submitted for screening by the Ministry of Education) concerning modern Japanese history has regressed, and it is clear that many of those draft texts resemble those of twenty years ago.
In the Outline of Guidelines for the New Education Curriculum which was itself designed to address the advent of a 5 day week for all schools, the amount of time allotted to history has decreased, consequently textbooks have become smaller too. However this does not adequately explain the reduction in content outlined below.
New Junior High School History Textbooks
Here are some specific examples:
1. References to 'Comfort Women' have disappeared from 4 out of 7
companies' product (if we include The Society's textbooks, it
would bring it to 5 out of 8 companies). Furthermore, even in
those companies who have retained references to 'Comfort Women',
only 2 of them place those references in the '15 Year Japan-China
War, Asia-Pacific War' section; the remaining company only refers
to 'Comfort Women' in the 'Postwar Compensation' section. In
addition, only 1 company actually uses the term 'Comfort Women' (ianfu),
while the other 2 refer to 'comfort stations' (ian shisetsu).
Incidentally, the 4 companies that removed 'Comfort Women'
references currently dominate 80% of the market.
2. References to the Nanjing Massacre (Nanjing Incident) have also been considerably rolled back. Firstly, out of 4 companies that used the term 'Nanjing Massacre', 2 have switched to the term 'Nanjing Incident', Three of those companies formerly used the term 'massacre' in the text, but all of them now refer to 'murder' (satsugai) or 'killing' (koroshita). Furthermore, while at present 6 companies refer to the numbers killed, only 2 will continue to do so, while the others will replace numbers with phrases such as 'large numbers (were killed'), 'many (were killed'), 'a lot (were killed') (one even obligingly provides a qualifying footnote explaining that there is no agreement on the number of casualties).
3. On the Three-All Policy (Kill All, Loot All, Burn All), although 5 companies used to refer to it, only 1 will continue to do so in future, moreover the 1 company that referred to Unit 731 will no longer do so.
4. References to the Battle of Okinawa have also regressed. From two pages to one, from ten lines to two and a half without its own sub-heading, from seven lines to five, from seven lines to four etc, with altogether 4 companies reducing the space allocated to this topic. In addition, 2 companies have omitted references to the number of civilians killed by the Japanese army and to 'group suicides'.
5. There are deliberate revisions of terminology, such as 'advance' (shinshitsu) instead of 'invasion'.
6. The reality of colonial domination is treated in vague terms, and references to aggression in Asia are greatly reduced.
All of the above substantively represent an attack on so-called 'masochistic history' by an array of forces including LDP parliamentarians and The Society, who seek to falsify history. And yet both the Japanese government and international opinion acknowledge 'Comfort Women' and the Nanjing Incident. We must not forget that Japan has already been severely criticized by Asian nations and their peoples for denying Japan's aggressive war and war crimes. Also, the Battle of Okinawa is a vital educational component essential to acknowledging the contemporary problems of Okinawa. There is no reason to revise, omit or reduce those references in textbooks.
We are convinced that clearly conveying this history in textbooks and teaching it in schools will yield a correct consciousness of history and of war, and that this is essential to the fostering of custodians of a peaceful 21st century. It is also vital to promote coexistence with Asia. It is clear that the deterioration of textbooks outlined above will attract criticism not only from within Japan, but from Asia and the international community.
Why Are Textbooks Deteriorating?
Why has this deterioration in textbook content occurred? Each publisher has submitted their drafts for screening, and on the surface it looks like 'self-censorship'. However, we believe that for the following reasons, it is not simply a case of 'self-censorship' but rather 'self-censorship' as a result of powerful pressure from the Government and the Ministry of Education.
In June 1998, the then Minister for Education Machimura Nobutaka, responded to questions in the Diet by stating that 'the sections on modern and contemporary history in history textbooks have "changed". We are examining whether corrections can be made before they are submitted for screening'. In response, from January 1999 the senior bureaucrats of the Ministry of Education asked the managers of textbook companies to 'make the content (of textbooks) more balanced' and to 'rethink the line-up of authors'. In reacting to this initial stage of pressure, it is thought that the textbook publishers did not want to omit the content related to 'Comfort Women' or to alter the material on the Nanjing Massacre/Incident or the Three-All Policy. This can be appraised through examining the content of textbook manuscripts prior to the production of Plain Cover Draft Editions. In effect, the content of these manuscripts was largely unchanged from that in existing texts (this is what we could glean from the product of 2 companies concerned). Therefore, we can assume that the content of those manuscripts was altered before they were submitted to the Ministry in the form of a draft text. At around December 1999, the Presidents of companies publishing textbooks in Social Studies for junior high schools were contacted by sources in the Prime Minister's office and told the following:- 'we have been reliably informed that you have been asked to deal with the sections on 'Comfort Women' (this was confirmed by one company President). Upon encountering this political pressure, each company decided to practice 'self-censorship' before proceeding with the production of draft texts. One particular company's editor visited each author individually to seek the authors' cooperation regarding the company's new policy of reducing references to 'Comfort Women' and deleting footnotes concerning the Nanjing Massacre. Furthermore, in response to a query from an author along the lines of 'what has happened?', one editor replied 'it's the voice of heaven'.
We can contemplate three reasons why the 7 companies engaged in self-censorship on this occasion.
1. The effect of attacks from the Right, such as The Society
2. The influence on the choice of textbooks of the Broad Option System
3. Pressure from Government, the Ministry of Education and politicians
Of course, while we cannot ignore reasons 1 and 2 above, it is No. 3 that is decisive. In other words, the current 'self-censorship' is not the spontaneous will of textbook companies, but rather the result of being forced to do so by the application of political pressure by the Government and the Ministry of Education.
We Need Debate on a Grand Scale to Protect the Achievements of the Popular Movement
From the mid-1980s, the contents of Japan's history textbooks improved. At last in the 1990s, the reality of colonial rule, the truth about aggressive war, 'Comfort Women', the Nanjing Massacre, Unit 731, aggression and war crimes such as forced recruitment, massacres and aggression against the citizens of South-East Asia, and the truth about the Battle of Okinawa, were all included in textbooks.
Finally, it was possible for children to garner a correct
historical consciousness through examining war from the
perspective of aggressors and victims, complicity and resistance.
This is the fruit of the Japanese people's movement that began
with international criticism emanating from Asian countries, and
the 32 year battle of the Ienaga Textbook Lawsuits. We can't sit
back and watch while Right wing pressureand political
interference from the Government negates the
fruits of such a prolonged struggle.
In particular, regarding 'Comfort Women.' in response to the
United Nations Human Rights Sub-Committee Coomaraswamy Report's
recommendation that 'the truth about "Comfort Women" be
taught in schools', the Japanese Government told the Sub-Committee
that 'Comfort Women are discussed in history textbooks'. The
present situation whereby text is omitted due to political
interference amounts to blatant violation of an international
commitment. The Japanese Government, which only gives lip-service
to expressing regret for the war, is interfering politically in
the content of history textbooks and through measures such as
'self-censorship', is gradually deleting historical facts from
history textbooks. This should be criticized internationally, and
must not be tolerated.
Contact Details:
Mr Yoshifumi Tawara
Secretary-General
Children and Textbooks Japan Network 21
Komiyama Building 201
2-6-1 Iidabashi
Chiyoda-ku
Tokyo 102-0072
Japan
Tel: 81 - 3 - 3265 7606
Fax: 81-3-3239 8590
Email: [email protected]
TAWARA Yoshifumi
E-mail: [email protected]
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/tawara/goma/
Kodomo to kyoukasho zenkoku netto 21
E-mail: [email protected]
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/kyokasho/net21/