Period
2:
Revision
of Nationalism, 1957-1963
The end of the "postwar days" was declared in the Study Guidelines
which had been revised by the Ministry of Education in October, 1958. Under
the recognition that "present educational courses were made in special
circumstances under the occupation in 1951," new educational courses
were produced. This new policy appeared in the following censoring opinions
on textbooks in the 1960s.
First of all, changes in the names of historical events were pressed in
these various opinions. Against the "Japan-Chugoku ['China' in Japanese] Incident" in the original manuscripts, opinions
such as "Show it as 'the Shina Incident' for the reason it was called the Shina Incident at that time"42） began to be expressed around 1962 to 1963. The intention of this opinion was declared in the other opinion in 1964, "Cannot the Japan-Chugoku Incident be expressed as the Japan-Shina Incident or the Shina Incident? The name Chugoku is a name of the China side based on the Sinocentrist thought. Express
it as Shina."43）
The Japanese word "Chugoku" has the meaning "central country." In other words, "Chugoku" connotes that China is the central country of the world. The Ministry
of Education wanted to reject this concept. Also, the word "Shina" connoted the meaning the "oppressed" and the "victimized"
in the prewar days.44） It is just like "Negro" in English usage. According to NHK Broadcasting Glossary which NHK showed in 1983, "Shina" was assumed to be a forbidden word or a word to be said in other
ways in broadcasting. The reason is "'Shina' has a sound of before the war."45） The revival of such a word in school textbooks in the 1960s to replace
the word "Chugoku" is one of the expressions of postwar ethnocentrism in Japan.
| The Yihetuan Rebellion | |
| 1957 |
(248-249) ...It is Yihetuan [Boxers] in Shang Dong who caused the incident by using such a state. Yihetuan was about to approach Beijing and Tienchin in 1900, and to eliminate foreigners and foreign cultures from Shina. Therefore, the Powers cooperated, sent troops, occupied Beijing, and
rescued the residents. It is called the Yihetuan Rebellion [the Boxer Rebellion].
As a result, an enormous indemnity was imposed on Shina. Additionally, the residence of foreign armies in Beijing and the abolition
of defenses around Beijing, etc. were forced on Shina (Beijing Protocol in 1901). As a result, Shina received the interference of the Powers more strongly than before.
(250) Conservative and anti-foreign sects controlled the politics at the Qing dynasty. However, after the Yihetuan Rebellion had failed, the Qing dynasty began to comprehend it was unable to continue conservative and anti-foreign principles at last. |
| 1964a |
(264-265) The
Yihetuan Rebellion(1) occurred finally, extended to various places from Shang Dong to north Shina, and spread to Manchuria. This anti-foreign disturbance,(2) which promoted the boycott of the Christianity,
soon came to persecute foreign residents
in Beijing. Therefore, eight powerful countries
such as Japan, Great Britain, and the U.S.
cooperated and sent troops.(3) The conservative group inside the Qing dynasty openly supported this disturbance, and declared the war against the Powers. However, the united army occupied
Beijing in the twinkling of an eye, suppressed Yihetuan, and concluded
peace with Qing (the Yihetuan Final Protocol in 1901). As a result, Qing
received the disgraces such as the burden of the enormous indemnity and
the admission of foreign armies stationed at Beijing etc.(4) |
The 1957 version and the 1964 version have the word "Shina." The world history textbook of Yamakawa Publishing at this time
expressed the Chinese continent as the "Shina continent," and expressed Chinese people as "Shina people," following the textbook censoring opinion given by the Ministry of Education.
Another big change in the textbook
system at this time was the free distribution
system of textbooks. After 1963, all textbooks
for the compulsory education courses became
free. The system of the large area adoption
of textbooks was adopted at the same time.
Until then, the textbooks were adopted by
each individual school. Now, the system of
adopting textbooks was switched to a system
in which only one textbook was adopted in
the whole area or district over which one
Board of Education or one Educational Office
had jurisdiction.46） The reason given was a simplification of
the clerical work for the adoption. However,
because of this, freedom of each school and
teacher was substantially abandoned. The
pressure of bureaucratization as the basis
of a nation-state was given higher priority
than the principle of democracy. The era
of postwar democracy was over.