News Controversial history textbooks finally pass screening

History textbooks for junior high schools with a highly conservative flavor include the Jiyuusha editions written by members of the "Atarashii Rekishi Kyokasho o Tsukuru Kai" (the association for creating new history textbooks) and the Ikuhosha editions, but the education ministry says that the two publishers' combined share in the 2024 school year stands at only about 1%.

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However, the publisher's textbooks' string of screening failures began with the academic 2018 edition, and in the 2020 edition more than 600 flaws were pointed out. The education ministry apparently pointed out inappropriate terms in the edition for the 2021 school year including "Shina," a derogatory name for China, and "Wuhan pneumonia" for COVID-19.

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While many history textbooks begin with an explanation of the birth of humankind and the Paleolithic period, the Reiwa Shoseki edition started with the Japanese myth in the "Kojiki," or "records of ancient matters," declaring that the gods created the Japanese archipelago. The edition included a column featuring the prewar "Imperial Rescript on Education" as a means to ensure that "respecting the value of the individual," mentioned in the Basic Act on Education, "can be understood in a more correct form, rather than just as the enjoyment of rights." It also contained a description of the South Korean response to the wartime comfort women issue as a "rehash."

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