AJW by Asahi Shimbun : 23 March 2016
Okinawa prefectural officials expressed outrage over a government-approved high school social studies textbook that suggested the Okinawa economy is excessively dependent on U.S. military bases.
“The contents differ from the views held by the prefectural and central governments,” a high-ranking Okinawa government official said. “Rather than a misunderstanding of the facts, it approaches the level of a vicious rumor. We have to wonder if the education ministry conducted a thorough screening.”
Teikoku-Shoin Co., publisher of the textbook, is considering filing a request to revise the questionable contents. The textbook is scheduled to be used in courses about modern society taught at high school from the 2017 school year.
A boxed column titled “Okinawa and U.S. military bases,” which takes up about two-thirds of a page in the textbook, explains the current situation of Okinawa and the large concentration of U.S. military bases in the southernmost prefecture. It also touches upon the plan to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, now in Ginowan, in central Okinawa Prefecture, to Nago, also in the prefecture.
The column mentions payments of rent for use of base land and consumer spending by those with the U.S. military.
“The level of dependence of the prefectural economy on the bases is extremely high,” it says. “The Japanese government is also paying Okinawa Prefecture a huge amount in economic promotion funds as a virtual exchange for allowing the bases to continue to remain there.”
The current social studies textbook published by the company has no such passages. The new textbook was approved by the education ministry’s screening committee on March 18 with no recommendation for revisions.
“We wanted to include various opinions related to the bases, but we have to apologize for inaccurate descriptions that could lead to misunderstanding,” an official with Teikoku-Shoin said. “We plan to revise what can be revised after consulting with the education ministry.”
According to Okinawa prefectural government officials, when Okinawa was returned to Japan in 1972, U.S. military-related revenues accounted for about 15 percent of gross prefectural income.
However, that ratio has fallen to about 5 percent in recent years. In fiscal 2012, the amount was about 216 billion yen ($1.9 billion), about half the revenues from the tourism industry.
“There are many aspects of (Okinawa’s current situation) that are still not adequately understood,” Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga told reporters. “We must continue to state our case.”
The Abe administration has clearly stated that it has no intention of linking economic promotion expenditures with the U.S. military bases.
(This article was written by Go Katono and Koshin Shisui.)
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201603230031
Okinawa prefectural officials expressed outrage over a government-approved high school social studies textbook that suggested the Okinawa economy is excessively dependent on U.S. military bases.
“The contents differ from the views held by the prefectural and central governments,” a high-ranking Okinawa government official said. “Rather than a misunderstanding of the facts, it approaches the level of a vicious rumor. We have to wonder if the education ministry conducted a thorough screening.”
Teikoku-Shoin Co., publisher of the textbook, is considering filing a request to revise the questionable contents. The textbook is scheduled to be used in courses about modern society taught at high school from the 2017 school year.
A boxed column titled “Okinawa and U.S. military bases,” which takes up about two-thirds of a page in the textbook, explains the current situation of Okinawa and the large concentration of U.S. military bases in the southernmost prefecture. It also touches upon the plan to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, now in Ginowan, in central Okinawa Prefecture, to Nago, also in the prefecture.
The column mentions payments of rent for use of base land and consumer spending by those with the U.S. military.
“The level of dependence of the prefectural economy on the bases is extremely high,” it says. “The Japanese government is also paying Okinawa Prefecture a huge amount in economic promotion funds as a virtual exchange for allowing the bases to continue to remain there.”
The current social studies textbook published by the company has no such passages. The new textbook was approved by the education ministry’s screening committee on March 18 with no recommendation for revisions.
“We wanted to include various opinions related to the bases, but we have to apologize for inaccurate descriptions that could lead to misunderstanding,” an official with Teikoku-Shoin said. “We plan to revise what can be revised after consulting with the education ministry.”
According to Okinawa prefectural government officials, when Okinawa was returned to Japan in 1972, U.S. military-related revenues accounted for about 15 percent of gross prefectural income.
However, that ratio has fallen to about 5 percent in recent years. In fiscal 2012, the amount was about 216 billion yen ($1.9 billion), about half the revenues from the tourism industry.
“There are many aspects of (Okinawa’s current situation) that are still not adequately understood,” Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga told reporters. “We must continue to state our case.”
The Abe administration has clearly stated that it has no intention of linking economic promotion expenditures with the U.S. military bases.
(This article was written by Go Katono and Koshin Shisui.)
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201603230031
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