SKIRMISHER

Eventually, dear old Japan would have every kid to believe what the country did during the last World War absolutely did not involve “sweet-talking” civilians to jump of the cliffs and kill themselves during the last losing days of the Battle of Okinawa. It might not be so surprising to soon find textbook descriptions of the Japanese Imperial Army running off to battle armed only with long-stemmed roses, crates of cabbage, and the yodeling songs their mothers sang in their hearts.

The Ministry of Education has ordered publishers to delete passages stating that the Imperial Army ordered civilians to commit mass suicide during the Battle of Okinawa, as the island was about to fall to U.S. troops in the final months of the war.

The decision was announced as part of the ministry’s annual screening of textbooks used in all public schools. The ministry also ordered changes to other delicate issues to dovetail with government assertions, though the screening is supposed to be free of political interference.

“I believe the screening system has been followed appropriately,” said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has long campaigned to soften the treatment in textbooks of Japan’s wartime conduct.

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