Japanese Rewrite of School History Texts Angers China and South Korea

Japan is rewriting history...literally. And they are angering their neighbors.

Middle-school text books have continued to minimize wrongs done in Japan's role in World War II and have chosen to gloss over the more unpleasant parts of Japan's wartime role. South Korea and China have expressed disappointment that Japan continues to "...justify and glorify wrongs committed in the past." (BBC Story)

China and South Korea were two nations that were invaded and occupied by the Imperial Japanese Army during the years prior to and during the war. The Chinese were particularly offended by the textbook describing the Nanjing Massacre, in which 300,000 Chinese civilians were slaughtered, as an "incident." China also doesn't want Japan to get a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council because of ongoing border and history disputes.

South Korea is upset because the textbook describes an ongoing border dispute between Japan and South Korea as an "illegal South Korean occupation" of disputed islands that are between the two countries and are claimed by both nations. The texts also skip over the part where 200,000 Korean women were used as sex slaves by Japanese soldiers.

Protests have been occurring in both South Korea and China in the last few weeks over these problems.

Japan should really tone it down if it wants to have the support of its neighbors in other matters. Why Japan is doing it now is a mystery, but it undermines Japanese democracy, openness and credibility when it tries to rewrite history in this way.