Amid the controversy over patriotism in a bill to revise the Fundamental Law of Education, 50 elementary schools in Saitama Prefecture are already grading pupils for their "love of the nation."
But some teachers at these schools are choosing to look the other way: They say the notion is just too ambiguous to grade.
The concept of patriotism is not included in the current law, which has not been amended since it took effect in 1947.
The government-sponsored bill calls for "fostering an attitude (among children) that loves the nation and homeland." Outright calls for "patriotism" or "love of Japan" were dropped amid heavy criticism.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi during Diet debate said the students would not be evaluated on "love of the nation" at the compulsory education level.
That, however, has not been enough to assure worried teachers; some local entities already require such an evaluation.
According to the Saitama prefectural board of education, 50 elementary schools in four cities and two towns grade pupils for their love of the nation.
In Gyoda city, a model report card prepared by a group of principals includes "love of one's country" as one of four grade criteria for social studies.
The standard assesses students on their "willingness to study our nation's history and politics as well as Japan's role in international society, while trying to love the country and wish for world peace."
In the last school year, 14 of the city's 15 schools adopted the standard and awarded children either an A, B or C.
But, says one veteran teacher in charge of a sixth-grade class, many teachers in fact ignore the "love of the nation" aspect due to its obscurity.
"We evaluate pupils only for the first half on the basis of classroom attitude and homework," the teacher said. "There is no room for patriotism to be factored (into the evaluation)."
In Fukuoka city, 52 of the 144 elementary schools set a similar three-grade evaluation in the 2002 school year.
At one school, sixth-graders were assessed for their "willingness to cherish the nation's history and tradition, love the nation and nurture a sense of being a Japanese wishing for a world peace."
The Fukuoka schools, however, did away with the assessment in 2003 following criticism from Korean residents and lawyers groups.(IHT/Asahi: May 27,2006)
in before actually reading
3get lol
saitama lol
brainwashing lol
sounds like dqn spirit to me
Fortify Pearl Harbour!!!
＼ │ ／
／￣＼ ／￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣
─（ ﾟ ∀ ﾟ ）＜ さいたまさいたま！
＼＿／ ＼＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿
／ │ ＼
∩ ∧ ∧ ／￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣
￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣＼∩ ∧ ∧ ＼（ ﾟ∀ﾟ）＜ さいたまさいたまさいたま！
さいたま〜〜〜！ ＞（ ﾟ∀ﾟ ）/ ｜ / ＼＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿
＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿／ ｜ 〈 ｜ ｜
/ ／＼_」 / ／＼」
￣ / ／
That Futanari Paizuri fella shouldn't be Prime Minister.....doesn't matter how cool his hair is.
Love for your country really is ambiguous. I say it's bullshit if you end up with beliefs such as national destiny, exceptionalism, unilateralism, racism, etc. However, it can mean that pupils are taught to be responsible citizens who love their country enough to criticise it for acting contrary to their ideals of justice.
(Ignore me for I am a Eurofag, resume DQN)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoconservatism_%28Japan%29
Can't get through this world if you don't form your fraterneties dudes. Japanese are good at that, I wish it was different.
Very interesting, do you have a newsletter? I would like to subscribe to it.
Yes, I too.
Just fill out your information in the form at the end of this thread
Japan is like the coolest country on Earth.
Japan is like the coolest country on Earth.
Japan is a bit like the coolest country on Earth.
Japan is said to rank highly among the several countries which would be considered by many as the coolest on Earth.
Japan somewhat resembles the coolest country on Earth.
Japan is a moderately cold region of Earth.
Japan is a region of Earth.
Japan is a region.
Japan is Earth
Japan is.
Japan is Japan.
Japann
Japan is Japan is Japan is Japann is Jaapannnn iss Jaaappann∵nntnnn∵∵∵∵ta∵∵si∵n∵∵nn∵∵∵∵∵t∵∵∵s∵∵∵∵∵∵∵∵∵∵
∵Japanasinn∵
Ja
Pan
Great...
More stuff in Japan designed to eliminate individuality.
Japan already has enough conformism problems...
Japan sounds like a brand of dinnerware from africa.