Nobukatsu Fujioka
Nobukatsu Fujioka (藤岡 信勝, Fujioka Nobukatsu) (born 1943) is both a founder and vice president of the Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform (新しい歴史教科書を作る会 | atarashii rekishi kyōkasho wo tsukuru kai, abbreviated Tsukurukai, now headed by Nishio Kanji). He was once a professor at the Tokyo University and later moved to Takushoku University. He is now retired.[1]
He was born in Iwamizawa, Hokkaido, and raised in Shibecha, Hokkaido. He is noted for his efforts at removing from Japanese textbooks accounts of wartime atrocities committed by Japan during the Second World War. He is considered to be a conservative and a nationalist, and he has been quoted as saying that he "stand(s) for a viewpoint of history with an emphasis on national interest,"[2] and that the study of Japanese history is "subject to the ultimate moral imperative of whether or not it serves to inculcate a sense of pride in being Japanese."[3] He has also said that to "write [a history] based only on verified historical truths makes...[it] insipid and dry. I had no choice but to write from my own imagination to a great extent."[4]
In the early 1990s, Fujioka founded the Liberal View of History Study Group, which advocated "correcting history" by promoting a "positive view" of Japanese history and removing all references to what he referred to as "dark history." By 1995, he had created the Association for Advancement of Unbiased View of History (自由主義史観研究会, jiyūshugi shikan kenkyūkai)[5][6] and the committee to Write New History Textbooks. Among Japan's top ten bestsellers in 1997 were two volumes edited by Fujioka, History The Textbooks Do Not Teach and Shameful Modern History.
In late 1996, Fujioka and his followers joined with others to form the Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform (Tsukurukai, now headed by Nishio Kanji). This group authored The New History Textbook, which was one of eight junior high school history textbooks authorized by the Ministry of Education in April 2001. In December 2000, a draft textbook circulated by the Society and shown on national television elicited criticism from many Japanese historians and teachers.
He is an assenter of the negationist film The Truth about Nanjing.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "藤岡信勝・拓殖大学客員教授 | 花田編集長の右向け右！". 言論テレビ. 2020-10-03. Retrieved 2022-01-07.
- ^ "TIME Magazine - Asia Edition - March 10, 2013 | Vol. 183, No. 9". Asiaweek.com. Retrieved 2015-07-23.
- ^ "Rebecca L. Copeland | Professor Japanese Language & Literature". Artsci.wustl.edu. Archived from the original on 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2015-07-23.
- ^ [1] Archived January 13, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ [2] Archived February 5, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "「ドル」基軸通貨見直し論が高まる". Jiyuu-shikan.org. Archived from the original on 2015-08-01. Retrieved 2015-07-23.
External links
[edit]- Examining the Japanese History Textbook Controversies; Kathleen Woods Masalski National Clearinghouse for U.S.-Japan Studies; East Asian Studies Center; Indiana University
- The Textbook Controversy; Charles Cummins Washington University webpage
- 'Let's Stop Apologizing' A professor's battles outside the classroom Asiaweek magazine article
- The Politics of Amnesia: Reconstructing the Asia-Pacific War; Takeo Hymans Japan Watch article
- The 'Comfort Women' Controversy: History and Testimony; Nozaki Yoshiko Z Magazine article
- Asia battles over war history: The legacy of the Pacific War looms over Tokyo's plans for the future; David McNeill and Mark Selden
