International Repression Of Anti-War Japanese Teacher In SF & Japan

International Day Of Action To Defend Anti-War Japanese Teachers
All Out On Friday October 5, 2007
Stop Firings and Repression Of
Japanese Teachers Who Oppose War

Over 1700 Japanese teachers have been punished and harassed for refusing to sing nationalist pro-war songs during graduation ceremonies throughout Japan's schools. In Tokyo alone, 388 teachers were subject to heavy punishment after 2004.

The effort to censor education books about the war crimes of Japan imperial government is part and parcel of the effort to remililtarize the schools and eliminate Article 9 of the Japanese constitution which prohibits war.

October 5 is celebrated internationally every year as World Teachers Day to defend teachers and oppose attacks on education and teachers. On this October 5, 2007, there will be delegations of teachers and community activists from around the world who will go to Japanese consulates and embassies to call for an end to the repression against Japanese anti-war teachers, against censoring Japanese school books and also against changing Article 9 of the Japanese constitution which prohibits war.

The US government has also played a key role in encouraging Japan to send it’s troops to the Middle East and also many US politicians go to Japan and urge it to militarize and ignore Article 9. In fact, former Japanese prime minister Nakasone who also privatized the railroads in order to break the militant rail unions in Japan said he wanted Japan to be a "aircraft carrier" for the United States.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education under pressure from the racist and nationalist Tokyo governor Ishihara has moved toward firing teachers Ms NEZU Kimiko and Ms KAWARAI Junko for their anti-war activity unless people around the world stand up to this repression. This repression and militarization is a threat to all people of the world and we urge educators, unionists, people from all communities and anti-war activists to join us on October 5, 2007.

San Francisco Picket and Delegation To Japanese Consulate
Friday October 5, 2007 4:00 PM
50 Fremont St/Mission San Francisco

For information or to endorse please contact
Committee To Defend Japanese Anti-War Teachers (415)867-0628 lvpsf [at] labornet.org
Endorsed by AFT2121, San Franciso Labor Council, Doro-Chiba, Transport Workers Solidarity Committee, Bob Mandel Member OEA Executive Board, Labor Video Project,Bay Area Labor Committee For Peace&Justice, Koreans Americans United For Peace KAUP, Rape of Nanking Redress Coalition
http://vpress.la.coocan.jp/ http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070717i1.html
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070720a7.html
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Japan-Forced-Suicide.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

To the members of AFT 2121 and UTLA, workers, citizens and students who are rising up for the International Teachers’ Day
October 5, 2007

Brothers and sisters rising up for the October 5 International Teachers’ Day!
My name is SATO Etsuko, teacher of a public junior high school in Yokosuka. I was punished two times for refusing to stand up to honor Hinomaru and Kimigayo (Japanese national flag and anthem) in school ceremonies.
On September 12, Japanese prime minister suddenly resigned, giving up his administration. He was definitely cornered by the growing anger of Japanese working class against expanding poverty and inequality, and bankruptcy in the pension program through expending a large amount of premiums and other pension fund in constructing military airports, nuclear plants as well as rescuing banks and private companies. As a result he was confronted with historic defeat in the recent Upper House election. Now it is a great opportunity for us workers.
We know also in the US a large amount of people have been driven into poverty by the Bush administration that has been privatizing and selling out education, medical service and social welfare to the corporations and depriving education, medical service and pension of working people in favor of huge military expenditure in the Iraq war. We shall never admit both Abe and Bush administrations that seek to survive in sacrifice of their own working people and expand the war.
In both countries, we, education workers, have actually been forced to play a part of bringing up soldiers who go to the battlefields of aggressive wars for the purpose of survival of dying imperialism.
In Japan, in 1999, the National Flag and National Anthem Law were legislated and Hinomaru and Kimigayo have forcefully been introduced in public school ceremonies. As a result, in Okinawa and Hiroshima, to name typical examples, where no school had raised Hinomaru or sung Kimigayo before the legislation, every public school were compelled to accept the Hinomaru and Kimigayo ceremony. Freedom of thought and conscience, stipulated by the constitution, is violated. Not only teachers but also pupils and their parents are forced to stand up and sing Kimigayo in front of Hinomaru to express worship to the rule of Emperor and put faith to the state. Disobedient teachers are violently disciplined. In Tokyo, where the Governor Ishihara openly declares destruction of the current constitution and imposed upon our colleague, sister NEZU Kimiko faced six-month suspension for disobedience in Hinomaru and Kimigayo issue; she is now threatened to be discharged if she repeats refusal on the next occasion. She is followed by 1700 teachers who have been punished for not standing up in school ceremonies across the country and tens of thousands of colleagues are continuing disobedience, although without being disciplined. We education workers are firmly determined not to bend our knees in front of enforcement and unjust disciplinary measures. "We shall never send our children to the battlefields again", is our common pledge. We are absolutely right and no one can defeat us.
We learned that in the US children of poor families, whose personal data (for example, unable to pay fees) are leaked by means of the NCLB, are sent to the battlefields by military recruiters that intrude into schools. We learned also that many teachers who are determined to oppose to war and defend children are bravely fighting back this and succeeded in kicking off military recruiters from schools in widening solidarity with pupils and their parents.
Our struggles not to send children to the battlefields and your struggles to expel military recruiters from school and defend children from being soldiers are identical in their essence and aspiration. On the occasion of the recent National Convention of the NEA, almost all the delegates, whom we addressed to, signed our petition to stop unjust punishment on sister NEZU Kimiko. The news immensely encouraged us that AFT 2121 and SFLC adopted resolution of demanding to stop unjust dismissal on sister NEZU. With these powerful push, we shall expand our activity of gathering endorsement for our petition to defend sister NEZU among a large amount of fighting unions and organizations to defend children, students and workers against war and Japanese as well as US imperialism.
We education workers categorically refuse cooperation with war. We refuse to bring up children into tools of the state power. We shall do everything we can do to carry out our determination.
In solidarity with you fighting in the US, I will start a fresh struggle in my workplace. Let’s fight together!

SATO Etsuko, Ohtsu Junior High School Branch of Miura Peninsula District Teachers Union, Japan Teachers Union
SATO Etsuko


http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20071003a1.html

Okinawa may defeat textbook censorship

Minister hints references to military-ordered mass suicides in '45 may stand
Kyodo News

Education minister Kisaburo Tokai indicated Tuesday his ministry may let history textbook publishers continue saying the army forced civilians to commit mass suicide during the 1945 Battle of Okinawa.


The ministry had issued orders in March to strike such references, prompting a massive public outcry in Okinawa.

"If textbook publishers apply for revisions (to retain the references), we may screen them again," Tokai said, adding he has ordered the ministry to deal with the issue and try to soothe Okinawa's outrage.

Responding to Tokai's statement, some publishers already started preparing to revise their textbooks to reinsert the references on the army's role in the mass suicides, sources said.

The furor stems from the ministry's regular textbook screening process in March, in which it told publishers of high school history texts to rewrite references suggesting the embattled Imperial army forced or told civilians to kill themselves and their loved ones with hand grenades supplied by the military.

Okinawa's anger spilled over Saturday when 110,000 people staged a protest rally in Ginowan, demanding the ministry retract its instruction to the publishers.

A statement adopted at the rally said, "It is an undeniable fact that the mass suicides would not have occurred without the involvement of the Japanese military and any deletion or revision of (the description) is a denial and distortion of testimony by many people who survived the incidents."

The rally was the largest in Okinawa since the prefecture was returned to Japan by the United States in 1972, according to organizers. Okinawa was the only inhabited part of Japan that experienced ground fighting during World War II.

Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima told reporters he will visit Tokyo on Wednesday and directly demand that the government make the retraction.

"The ministry appears to be changing its attitude now," Nakaima said. "I want to visit Tokyo as soon as possible and convey our stance to the government."

Although Tokai said he wants to quell Okinawa's anger, he earlier indicated it would be difficult to retract the instruction because it would be perceived as "intervention by politics into textbook screenings."

But he did not comment on whether politics played a role in the ministry's March instruction that publishers rewrite references on the mass suicides and mass murder-suicides of civilians in Okinawa.

The solution is likely to center on "voluntary steps" by textbook publishers to reinsert the references in question — a face-saving solution for the education ministry.

Several publishers have begun consultations with textbook authors and will file applications as early as this month to make revisions once they have decided on the new descriptions, the sources said.

The publishers said they are hoping to be able to begin work on printing the new textbooks in November as they will be used in the academic year starting next April.

In a related move, Tetsuo Saito, policy chief of New Komeito, the ruling coalition ally of the Liberal Democratic Party, and other lawmakers paid a call on Tokai on Tuesday to ask the education ministry to retract its March instruction.

Four opposition parties — the Democratic Party of Japan, the Japanese Communist Party, the Social Democratic Party and Kokumin Shinto (People's New Party) — agreed to present a joint draft resolution to the Diet demanding a review of the textbook screening process itself.
The Japan Times: Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2007