Japan strict on application of traditional examples in textbooks

The approval of Japanese textbooks is the duty of the national Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) Ministry. So before the publishers are allowed to release their work, the MEXT checks any draft in order to make sure that they are in line with the national curriculum guidelines. This process repeatedly gained attention due to growing nationalistic tendencies in the lessons.

Even though Japan was criticized by neighbor countries for their disregard of historical facts in textbooks, the country is sticking to its policy. Besides an ignorance regarding the Nanking Massacre or territorial claims, an “inappropriate” example was banned from a textbook. When a publisher recently handed in a draft with the example of a person visiting a bakery, the MEXT banned the bakery and replaced it with a Japanese wagashiya, a more traditional store.
The reason:  bakeries, originally coming from Europe, assumingly won’t make the students reflect about their own culture.

The change might be a small one but as a consequence the actually important role of bakeries in the Japanese culture gets downplayed and the bakers experience an exclusion from society since in textbooks their workplace is considered unworthy.

Editorial staff (sz)

Sources

Image credit: Elementary School- Japan by Tony Cassidy  / CC BY-SA 2.0
Information source: studyinternational.com