ID :
31177
Wed, 11/19/2008 - 22:22
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/31177
The shortlink copeid
Controversial textbook group members among defense academy lecturers
TOKYO, Nov. 19 Kyodo - The Defense Ministry released the names of people Wednesday who lectured in a defense academy class launched by sacked Air Self-Defense Force chief Toshio Tamogami in 2003, including executives of a group publishing a controversial history textbook.
Atsushi Fukuchi and Akinori Takamori from the Japanese Society for History
Textbook Reform have given lectures on the subject ''views on history and
nation'' at the Joint Staff College every year since its 2003 school year,
according to the list.
Tamogami launched the class in the school year which began in April 2003 after
becoming head of the college in December 2002. Tamogami left the post in 2004.
A total of 390 academy students took the class in the 2003 to 2008 school years
and they included ranking officers in the Self-Defense Forces shortly before
being promoted to generals and admirals, according to ministry officials.
The list also showed the lecturers taught at the academy when the current ASDF
Chief of Staff Gen. Kenichiro Hokazono served as principal from July last year
to March this year.
Hokazono declined to comment on Tamogami's views on Japan's role in World War
II, saying in a recent press conference, ''I refrain from making comments from
the viewpoint of whether views on history by the former ASDF chief were twisted
or reasonable.''
Fukuchi, a professor at Taisho University, taught subjects such as views on the
Greater East Asia War, while Takamori, a tutor at Kokugakuin University, taught
issues such as the origin of the emperor and its historical significance,
according to the list.
The Greater East Asia War is the term used in Japan in the past to describe the
Pacific aspects of World War II in its sphere of power.
Yoshiko Sakurai, a journalist known for her nationalistic viewpoints, also
spoke on the subject of social thought in the school year 2006, it said.
Tamogami was sacked as the ASDF chief immediately after he released an essay
denying Japan was an aggressor in other Asian countries before and during World
War II, a view clearly different from the position by successive Japanese
governments.
The textbook for junior high schools published by the society spurred
controversy both in and outside Japan, prompting other Asian countries which
had suffered under the wartime Japan to protest, saying the book was trying to
gloss over Japan's wartime aggression.
Atsushi Fukuchi and Akinori Takamori from the Japanese Society for History
Textbook Reform have given lectures on the subject ''views on history and
nation'' at the Joint Staff College every year since its 2003 school year,
according to the list.
Tamogami launched the class in the school year which began in April 2003 after
becoming head of the college in December 2002. Tamogami left the post in 2004.
A total of 390 academy students took the class in the 2003 to 2008 school years
and they included ranking officers in the Self-Defense Forces shortly before
being promoted to generals and admirals, according to ministry officials.
The list also showed the lecturers taught at the academy when the current ASDF
Chief of Staff Gen. Kenichiro Hokazono served as principal from July last year
to March this year.
Hokazono declined to comment on Tamogami's views on Japan's role in World War
II, saying in a recent press conference, ''I refrain from making comments from
the viewpoint of whether views on history by the former ASDF chief were twisted
or reasonable.''
Fukuchi, a professor at Taisho University, taught subjects such as views on the
Greater East Asia War, while Takamori, a tutor at Kokugakuin University, taught
issues such as the origin of the emperor and its historical significance,
according to the list.
The Greater East Asia War is the term used in Japan in the past to describe the
Pacific aspects of World War II in its sphere of power.
Yoshiko Sakurai, a journalist known for her nationalistic viewpoints, also
spoke on the subject of social thought in the school year 2006, it said.
Tamogami was sacked as the ASDF chief immediately after he released an essay
denying Japan was an aggressor in other Asian countries before and during World
War II, a view clearly different from the position by successive Japanese
governments.
The textbook for junior high schools published by the society spurred
controversy both in and outside Japan, prompting other Asian countries which
had suffered under the wartime Japan to protest, saying the book was trying to
gloss over Japan's wartime aggression.
