[Asia Economy Reporter Seoyoung Kwon] A famous Japanese cram school attempted to remove content from its textbooks stating that Japan forcibly incorporated Dokdo, but reversed the decision following protests from instructors.
On the 24th, the Tokyo Shimbun reported that Sundai Preparatory School, a large cram school in Tokyo, deleted certain parts from its textbooks, including the claim that Japan incorporated Dokdo into its administrative district in 1905 and content related to the Nanjing Massacre during the Sino-Japanese War. For example, in the Modern Japanese History I course, the explanation stating "During the Russo-Japanese War, Japan incorporated Dokdo into its territory, making it a fait accompli and naming it 'Takeshima'" was removed.
Additionally, the cram school attempted to delete the passage in Modern Japanese History II concerning the Nanjing Massacre that stated "Over a hundred thousand Chinese civilians, surrendering soldiers, and prisoners of war were massacred." This decision appears to have been made after inquiries from the office of Hiroshi Yamada, a right-wing member of the Liberal Democratic Party in the House of Councillors, and following criticism on various social networking services (SNS).
However, the instructors who authored the textbooks protested the unilateral deletion of content without prior agreement, stating, "This should be nullified, and future measures should be discussed again between management and authors." The instructors submitted a document to the cram school last month, which included demands such as "Textbook writing and problem setting are entrusted to the instructors of each subject, and content should not be deleted or revised without the consent of the authors or instructors."
They also pointed out, "Sundai's education is directly aimed at guiding students for exams, but at the same time, it is intended to promote critical and independent learning after university admission," expressing concern over the cram school's unilateral deletion decision.
The protest document was signed by over 60 instructors, including those responsible for Japanese history as well as mathematics and physics. As opposition from the instructors continued, the cram school management and instructors agreed to nullify the content deletion measures after reaching an agreement on the demands outlined in the document.
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