Forum - View topicINTEREST: Hiroshima Board of Education Removes Barefoot Gen Manga Excerpts From Peace Educational Ma
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KabaKabaFruit
 Posts: 1871 Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba |
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If this is seriously the direction Japan wants to go down because they don't want to disturb the "current reality" of today's youth, then I'm concerned how this will affect the overall mindset of subsequent Japanese generations who aren't being given the raw details of the before, during, and after events of the bombing as told through the eyes of the author.
History should not be downplayed because of "time issues" and "realities", you teach it so you or future generations don't repeat the mistakes of their elders or ancestors. |
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manapear
Posts: 1525 |
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Wasn't there a survey some years back from one of the major networks of people in Hiroshima or a similar area and how many of them were aware of what transpired during the war? Only some percentage of young adults knew the bomb dropped, but even fewer knew of Japan's own war crimes and imperialism. Even if it's because of "limited" time teaching the material, it seems side-eye.
The excuse is such a silly cop-out even, because most history is different from what children now experience in Japan. Are they going to remove works featuring meiji and sengoku era as well eventually? 
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GATSU
Posts: 15299 |
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Those kids might get the pleasure of experiencing what that author did, if Russia, China, N. Korea and Iran have their way. Also, Discotek has the anime, which you can watch for free on Retrocrush when it gets back up.
Last edited by GATSU on Sun Mar 26, 2023 12:45 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Likou
Posts: 13 |
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Well, tell me about how much of USA own war crimes they teach on schools. It's a pretty long list. |
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manapear
Posts: 1525 |
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It depends. I was raised in a "liberal" area, so slavery and the history with the indigenous was taught, and only a little about what happened to Asian Americans throughout history. Nonetheless, it was at least part of the curriculum. I've certainly heard it's less than that in other areas, which is unfortunate and unacceptable imo. (And note, I'm still just talking about elementary school and middle school here.) That said, I'm not going to defend the US. People here talk all the times about how we try to downplay or erase tragedies and issues. We're having this big discourse on CRT for that very reason. Same as is happening here with Barefoot Gen. And just like with the US government and people in power, Japanese politicians and other influential people are always trying to erase what Japan did to other Asian and islander countries and people. Neither wrong makes the other less relevant to discuss and critique. Last edited by manapear on Sun Mar 26, 2023 2:44 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Theodore Relic
Posts: 63 |
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In Japan? Probably not much, other than the opinion that Japan did nothing wrong, and that the US attacked them for little or no justification. Meanwhile, unlike when I was a kid in the 60s and 70s, crimes against minorities and the Native American population are well-known in the US. "But what about..." is no justification for what this school board is doing. If it's just a matter of explaining to school kids what Kamishibai is, or explaining to kids the difference between stealing koi to survive and simple theft, just teach Nakazawa's own autobiographical "I Saw It!", which is much shorter and gets to the point fast. But it seems to me this school board is more afraid of Nakazawa's political views, his willingness to talk about the bigotry against the Korean population, the absurdity of expecting civilians to fight off American and other soldiers with bamboo spears, the abuse of the school system itself and finally, blaming the war on profiteers within Japan who got rich while both military and civilians died. And that goes against the school systems and the right-wingers' status quo. |
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Top Gun
 Posts: 4570 |
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I love the BS excuse they're giving for this. "The students don't have any context for what they're seeing!"
Speaking as a teacher, that is literally your entire job description. TEACH them the context! |
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Jeff Bauersfeld
Posts: 109 |
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Uhhh, just in case you forgot history, the US is the only country in history that has ever nuked another country. And we did it twice. We/higher ups have also threatened to nuke all of those countries at some point and have had direct involvement in destabilizing those countries, including a hot war with Korea. |
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BadNewsBlues
Posts: 5917 |
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I mean you can provided the school you work for/the city or state you work in doesn’t have a problem with that.
We also burned a portion of Tokyo to the ground. |
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Theozilla
 Posts: 135 Location: Oakland, California |
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Apparently the far right lobbying group Nippon Kaigi is also one of the interest groups pushing the for the removal of Barefoot Gen.
https://twitter.com/1959Somosomo/status/1627208049286074368?s=20 |
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medicinodestiny
Posts: 28 |
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The unwritten benefit of being the ones in charge of what gets called a war crime is that you can decide all the things you do don't count, so therefore you never do anything wrong, amazingly enough. |
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manapear
Posts: 1525 |
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So it was right wing, historical whitewashing. That's more frustrating but not surprising. It would be nice if the recent criticisms and disproval rating of Kishida and scrutiny on groups like the Nippon Kaigi got the decision reversed at some point. |
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xxmsxx
 Posts: 563 |
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Is anyone surprised? |
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Avec ou Nous
Posts: 103 |
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I know Japan has more lenient standards, but elementary school kids reading Barefoot Gen seems a little bit much.
Aren't over 2/3rds of the Diet and Cabinet members part of Nippon Kaigi? This doesn't seem like a big revelation to say the people in charge are the ones proposing the laws and stuff. Japan is essentially a one-party state, afterall. |
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LaraCK
 Posts: 5 |
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This sounds absurd. They refer to the fact that the situations depicted in the story do not correspond to the current reality for children. Isn't the point of showing the modern generation what it was and telling them what to do to ensure it doesn't happen again? Keiji Nakazawa's Barefoot Gen manga is an essential piece of history that illustrates the horrors of the atomic bomb and its impact on the people of Hiroshima. It is a powerful tool for educating children about the consequences of war and the importance of peace. I find this topic very interesting, and I plan to write about it for my college project with this source https://ca.edubirdie.com/write-my-essay-for-me to get help from professional writers. It is essential to raise awareness about issues like this and to encourage discussion and reflection on the past. We should not be afraid to confront uncomfortable truths but rather embrace them as a way to learn and grow. Hopefully, this decision will be reconsidered.
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