Saburo Ienaga - Background of The Lawsuit

Background of The Lawsuit

In April 1947, Ienaga published New Japanese History (新日本史) as a general history book. Upon request from Sanseido, Ienaga wrote a draft of a Japanese history textbook for high school based on his New Japanese History. The draft was however rejected by the Ministry of Education at the school textbook authorization of 1952. The reasons for rejection included such grounds as the claim that the description of the High Treason Incident (大逆事件) was not appropriate, and that the draft did not clarify the fact that the Russo-Japanese War was supported by the Japanese people. Ienaga reapplied for authorization without any corrections, and the draft somehow passed authorization and was published as a textbook for the school year of 1953, under the same title, "New Japanese History."

After wholly revising the first edition of the textbook, Ienaga applied again for authorization of the textbook in 1955. The draft passed authorization on the condition that 216 items in the draft be corrected. The Ministry of Education demanded that Ienaga correct the suggested elements two times subsequently. Ienaga corrected what he could, and refused correction on other parts. The revised New Japanese History was published in 1956. After the curriculum guidelines (学習指導要領) for high school social studies changed in 1955, Ienaga applied for authorization for the third and fourth editions of his textbook in November 1956 and May 1957. They went through the same process as the 1955 edition and were authorized for publication in 1959 and 1962 respectively.