ABSTRACT
In October 2009, Japanese Foreign Minister Okada Katsuya outlined a vision of an East Asian community in a policy speech on behalf of the newly formed Democratic Party government. In his speech, he spoke of a common history textbook in East Asia: “It would be ideal in the future to create a common textbook (among Japan, China, and South Korea), but it will take a long time. As the first step, it is important to conduct joint historical research.” 1 That a Japanese top government official spoke in favor of a common history textbook with Japan's neighbors is unprecedented. As recently as a few years ago, such a statement would have been unthinkable, since the conservative Liberal Democratic Party, which have nearly always been in power in postwar Japan since 1955, placed great emphasis on restoring Japanese pride through education and textbooks.
