Rightist tendency a concern

Akindergarten in Osaka, Japan, was recently revealed to be instilling in its young charges ultra-nationalist ideas and anti-China and anti-Republic of Korea sentiment. The revelation came not long after the Japanese hotel chain APA was found to be placing books in its guest rooms that brazenly deny the Nanjing Massacre.

Such incidents, that occur one after another, have aggravated concerns about the rightist trend in Japanese society that is a reflection of the wrong perception of history held by the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and its policies regarding the country’s imperialist history. It is reported that kids in this kindergarten are taught to bow to the emperor’s statue and recite the 1890 Imperial Rescript on Education, which demands loyalty to the emperor and sacrifice for one’s country. Kids are also regularly organized to attend political rallies and distribute insulting materials against China and the ROK.

The Osaka kindergarten’s authorities made an apology after its activities were revealed, but insisted that it was absolutely opposed to any “vicious criticism”. In fact, Japanese society has increasingly displayed a tolerant attitude toward the growing rightist sentiment in recent years. In the eyes of many Japanese, Japan must shake off its historical burden to become a normal country.

Given this, any activities aimed at disseminating distorted historical viewpoints should prompt high vigilance from neighboring countries.

The dissemination of right-wing propaganda among the kindergarten’s kids is by no means an isolated case under the influence of Abe’s views and his connivance with rightist elements. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s wife even visited the kindergarten in 2014 and endorsed its educational practices.

In the face of outside criticism, the Japanese government has always sought to deflect it. The international community should be on a high alert against the revival and spreading of Japan’s rightwing thinking.