Comments on: Japanese teacher disciplined for opposing nationalist textbooks

By: Al

Al — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 20:40:38 +0000

Hi…

For those who think that her teaching style is somehow misguided or that she made a “poor decision in teaching”… she was not teaching a letter-writing class, she was teaching History. And teaching History is exactly, not to mention courageously, what she did! As a student of modern Asian History, all I know is that I would like for someone to tell me her email address so I can write to her and tell her that she’s my hero.

By: IX

IX — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 00:02:57 +0000

A teacher may make students write a letter of any sort merely as practice in writing letters. Often, a teacher ill challenge students to write an opposing viewpoint to a controversial topic.
There is nothing wrong with having students write these letters as part of a lesson on “how to write a letter”.
However, if the letters were sent without administrative and parent approval, then there is a course for remedial action. Unfortunately, this looks to be more of a political punishment than a reaction to a poor decision in teaching.

By: Charles Hammond

Charles Hammond — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 04:05:28 +0000

I do not claim to be a historian or even a member of what could be called academia. Myself and My Wife who was born in Korea but now is a US Citizen are writing a book about her family history, their struggle against the Japanese and later against the Communist oppression of the north. The Japanese may have issues with their ability to deal with the truth; however, that is not my problem. I would applaud this teacher and the bravery of her pupils in their need to apologise to Korea. It is this imperialistic position that we must try to overcome in our modern societies.

One of my wife’s relatives was General Rho Pak-lin. I have his name written down as No, Paek-lin. He was sent to Japan during occupation and graduated from the Japanese Air Academy 2nd in his class, because he was Korean and not Japanese. Around 1919-1920 he was involved with a Korean Pilots school near Willows, in Glen County, California. Later when the school was closed after 2 bad crop failures he went to China. He tried to make the US government aware of the Japanese threat, but they were not interesting in what he had to say. He died in China trying to raise funds to support resistance against the Japanese. You could say he was a hero.

History is such a thing that its only value is that we learn something from it. If we fail to remember the oppression of the Japanese imperialistic empire, we make a mistake. Society must be on guard against imperialism and the oppression of all people. This is why we want to finish our book so we can pass it on to those who will come after us, less we forget.

By: Frog in a Well - The Korea History Group Blog

Frog in a Well - The Korea History Group Blog — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 20:53:59 +0000

[...] Qing, thanks to the Japanese, though they retained their independence. They didn’t repel the Japanese in the modern period at all, though they enlisted the aid of their largest, most powerful neighbors. In one sense [...]

By: Frog in a Well - The Korea History Group Blog

Frog in a Well - The Korea History Group Blog — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 10:11:40 +0000

[...] A brief update on the case of Masuda Miyako, the Tokyo middle school teacher who was suspended for having her pupils write a letter of apology addressed to South Korean president, Roh Moo-hyun. According to the Hangyoreh newspaper yesterday it seems that she has now been sacked. The grounds appear to be that she has not reconsidered her actions and is ‘unfit’ to be employed as a civil servant, although she has not lost her teacher’s licence. [...]