History Textbook Project: Japan

Jim Bowman, president of FEBC, explains: " Our organization (FEBC) has a production studio in Tokyo. It produces programs which are released from Jeju-do S. Korea for Japan on 1566 AM. Its director is Mr. Hachiro Kobayashi, formerly an insurance executive, who has directed our studio there for two decades. Our staff is Christian, 100% Japanese, a rarity in that country where less than 0.5% are of the Christian religion, including Roman Catholics and Protestants.

I was not surprised at all when the revisionist textbooks appeared, and apparently approved of by officialdom. In discussions with Mr. Kobayashi over the past 20 years, I was shocked to discover that many Japanese Christians say that MacArthur's mistake was in not hanging the Emperor as ultimately accountable for the actions of Japan in WWII. The Emperor is still considered divine, and is the icon and inspiration for Japanese nationalism.. Mr. Kobayashi's worry has been, for the two decades I have known him, that sooner or later, Japan will return to its former self.

The Japanese resistance to foreign culture is legendary, and connected to a sense of ethnic superiority. Mr. Kobayashi explained the concept of "Japaneseness", or "personhood," and the concept whereby a Japanese is no longer considered Japanese if this is lost. He listed several ways it can be lost, for example... 1)to show one's self incapable of productivity, as in failing college entrance exams (Japan's youth suicide rate may be the highest in the world), or to be terminally ill. 2)to accept a foreign religion. 3)to marry a foreigner (Eurasian marriages of native born Japanese are rarely seen outside the Christian context). The Japanese adopts Western symbols and adapts to globalization on the outside, but on the inside he or she is still 100% Japanese. Nor does he or she allow a foreigner to take away or rob that which is considered intrinsically Japanese. As an example, a friend of mine living in Japan noted the polite approval of his attempts to speak Japanese until little by little he began to master it, at which point he began to experience a sense of resentment and rejection. Apparently this is a common experience, as I have read it in a book on Japanese culture as well. There is almost a holy sense of what is Japanese.

It is commonly said in Asian economic news that "The only difference between Japan and Argentina is about a month.": The high personal savings rate which has kept some money flowing in the economy seems to keep things from going over the brink.. My Japanese friends say the situation is dangerous, but Japanese pride prevents whining at the international level. The economy has been in drastic recession for a decade and seems to have no hope of improving unless the economic culture undergoes significant change...which history suggests is not likely.

I agree that the history textbook issue is symbolic of forces within Japan which may ultimately lead to the threat of war".

Ronald Hilton - 4/30/02