Nariaki Nakayama, the Japanese minister of education, culture, sports, science and technology, told a conference in Shizuoka Saturday that "comfort women" were fiction and that this "non-existent" issue should be removed from history textbooks, Asahi Shimbun reported. 

However, in developments yesterday, Hiroyuki Hosoda, Japan's Chief Cabinet secretary, clarified that "comfort women" did exist and that "the pride and dignity of many women were hurt," according to Reuters.

Nakayama also chose yesterday to clarify his comments, "I know there was such an actual situation. It's the terminology that did not exist."

It is doubtful whether the latest statements will appease the anger of Japan's neighbors, specifically South Korea and China, sparked by Nakayama's remarks on Saturday.

The fact that between 100,000 and 200,000 women were forced into sex slavery during World War II is indisputable and comments to the contrary fly in the face of historical fact.

And Nakayama's new found "sincerity" is undone by his ministry's record.

In April, the ministry approved a revised edition of the New History Textbook, which states Japan was an emancipator of China and Korea, freeing the countries from the tyranny of Western rule and that the invasion aimed to build common prosperity in East Asia. The book has become one of the eight approved history textbooks middle schools can choose to teach their children with.

Though the number of Japanese schools actually using the book is reportedly very small because most have rejected it out of historical conscience, young people still have no adequate access to knowing the real role Japan played during its colonial rule and aggression in China, Korea and other Asian countries.

The other seven approved textbooks have all suffered at the hands of the right-wing elements in Japan's government. In order to be passed by the Education Ministry once every four years, the books have been modified with the country's war crimes diluted, blurred with obscure language or even completely lost.

Most of them have dropped the term "comfort women," while all seven textbooks in their 1996 versions included the nomenclature "military comfort women." After 2001, books that used to have an account of the "Nanjing Massacre" replaced it with superficial and short sentences under the name "Nanjing Incident." Most of them chose not to mention the number of people who died in the atrocity -- more than 300,000 by Chinese count.

All this poses a great danger, as Japanese people are unable to learn the true history of their nation. The trend of glossing over Japan's militaristic past has been going on since the early 1980s when the education authorities required textbooks to change "aggression" into "advance into" when describing the country's occupation of Chinese territory.

That means the majority of Japan's workforce -- people who were born in the 1960s -- do not have a proper understanding of history. They were taught that their country was victimized during Western colonial rule and suffered in the two world wars. But they were not told the fact that their nation also enslaved, killed and victimized its neighbors. That explains why most Japanese, when asked about what they know about World War II, only think of the two atomic bombs dropped on their country.

If this situation continues, it will become extremely difficult for the Japanese people to learn from history and not repeat the mistakes of the past. And without learning of the suffering of other countries at the hands of Japan, it will be hard for Japanese to communicate with their neighbors and build a peaceful and prosperous region.

Sixty years after World War II, people who participated in, suffered from or witnessed it are dying off. The young will only have textbooks to find out what happened. So they need good textbooks that accurately sort fact from fiction.

A recently published book, jointly compiled by scholars and teachers from China, Japan and South Korea, is just such a history book. It also offers educators and policy-makers a new way of thinking.

Being the first common history text between the three nations, the book has succeeded in keeping a faithful account of history from a broader perspective that goes beyond the limited vision of a single nation.

Some argue that it is impossible for different countries to share the same perception of history because each of them will naturally have its own point of view, especially for events that involved war and a conflict of interest.

But this book Modern and Contemporary History of Three East Asian Countries has silenced the critics. It deals mainly with the period from 1840 to 1945 when the three nations were entangled in war, oppression or resistance.

Difficult as it may seem, the book manages to present a relatively impartial and well-documented account of the shared history of these three nations.

The success is largely attributed to the efforts of the compilers who believe history textbooks should be consistent with the values of peace, justice and truth.

Though disagreements and arguments naturally existed, compromises were made mainly in technical aspects rather than fundamental facts.

The idea for a common history text came into being shortly after the Japanese Education Ministry passed the right-leaning New History Textbook in 2001. Concerned with the negative impact the book would have on students, a committee formed of scholars, teachers and citizens' groups from the three countries decided to compile a book to give young people, especially those in Japan, access to a factual historical account.

Four years on at the release of the book, the situation has become even more troubling. Whether the book has its desired influence remains a big question, especially in Japan.

The low initial circulation, 20,000 in each country, is because the project is largely self-funded. Ironically, the past-distorting New History Textbook, supported by dozens of Japanese multinationals, sold like hot cakes with a total of 700,000 copies walking off the shelves up to October 2004.

The tri-nation text is no comparison to the joint history book of Germany and France, and that of Germany and Poland. Their success was based on support from the German Government, which long ago admitted its war crimes and put an end to the issue of past mistakes through thorough self-examination.

The Japanese government's moves in this regard are a far cry from those of Germany. Recent incidents, ranging from inappropriate remarks by top leaders on visits to the Yasukuni Shrine and verdicts by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East to provocative activities in the East China Sea, have made people once again worry about the direction Japan is heading in.

The Japanese government should understand a better future for Japanese youth requires it give up its self-centered nationalist perception, face history squarely, apologize to its neighboring countries for wartime atrocities, and back its words with action.

This will not only help get facts straight in textbooks but also contribute to a just and peaceful Asian and world community.

(China Daily June 14, 2005)