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Japanese History Textbooks
Questions
1. What are China and South Korea asking of Japan, and
why? China's state media, The People's Daily, reports that Japan's
history textbook "advocates imperialism, and whitewashes and denies
Japan's history of aggression." What does this quote mean?
2. What action has South Korea taken as an indication
of their indignation? What event could be affected if Japan does not
revise the textbook? Do you think the disruption of this event is
sufficient for Japan to reconsider the information in the book? Why or why
not? For which age group is the book intended? How thoroughly do you think
this audience should be informed about grisly historic events? Explain.
3. Can you think of examples from your own experience
in which you believe that you have learnt misleading historical
information about your country? If
you can think of such examples, why do you believe the information was
delivered inaccurately? What new information caused you to challenge the
original material that you learned?
4. Does it make sense to you that people with different
cultures, beliefs and perceptions would view history differently? If your
answer is ‘yes’, does that mean there can be no objective
interpretation of the past?
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