Collective self-defense noted in high school textbooks

March 24, 2017

TOKYO- A Japanese education ministry-appointed panel has sought concrete explanations about the use of collective self-defense and comfort women in the screening process for high school textbooks, the ministry said Friday.

All eight draft high school textbooks on contemporary society or politics and economy on which publishers applied for government authorization cover the 2014 cabinet decision to enable Japan to exercise its right to collective self-defense and the related security laws enacted in 2015, the ministry said.

On five of the textbooks and one on Japanese history, the panel judged that explanations about the conditions for the exercise of collective self-defense may be hard for students to understand.

In response, the publishers added, either to the main text or in footnotes, the three conditions that enable the government to exercise the right, including when there is an explicit danger that could threaten the country’s existence and eventually undermine the people’s right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

The education ministry said students may find it difficult to understand the topic without concrete explanations about the conditions under which the right can be exercised. Jiji Press