Sunshine Textbook (3rd Grade) Program 4 - Is this offensive?

[temoshi]

There's a rather curious little reading section in the new Sunshine textbooks for 3rd Grade that I was hoping to get people's opinions on. We're not this far yet in the textbook and I haven't talked to my JTEs about it, but I've read ahead a little bit and found the use of this story very puzzling and possibly offensive. I really don't get why they would devote an entire chapter (four sections) to this story.

The gist of the story is as follows:

It was during World War II, the Americans bombing Tokyo and all kinds of bad stuff was happening. So, the Army ordered a zoo to kill all the dangerous animals, lest they get out during the bombing and hurt people. There were three elephants that the zoo-keepers didn't want to kill, but they had to follow orders. So, they tried to poison them, but they were too smart. They hoped the war would end and they wouldn't have to kill them. But, eventually they had to just let them starve to death and it was all sad and they were majestic beasts, etc., etc. The Americans kept bombing and these poor elephants died.

Obviously, I'm paraphrasing and being a bit sarcastic. But I really find the use of this story in an English textbook and its message quite puzzling. I'm trying not to read into it too much as the story is not directly about the war, but I can't help but find the story's implicit message, framed through a very limited view of the war, kind of offensive. It seems to be a thinly veiled allegory, where the Japanese are presented only as victims and the Americans are the real aggressors. Furthermore, anything bad that the Japanese do was because they were forced to do so by the actions of the Americans, and the individuals involved were "just following orders."

I'm quite aware that Japanese civilians suffered greatly during the war and I do not approve of past American attacks on civilian targets. However, it seems to me that this story presents an extremely narrow view of the war using this story about the elephants. There's no mention of what the Japanese army was actually off doing at the time (invading neighboring countries and being allied with a genocidal regime, etc.), and I don't foresee anyone wanting to have such a conversation. In this story, it's just about how those mean Americans forced some Japanese people "to do the unthinkable." As an American ALT teaching in Japan, I 'm not sure how comfortable I feel standing in front of my classes and telling such a story.

Like I said, we haven't covered this section yet and I haven't talked to my JTEs about it. Maybe I'm just thinking way too much about this, but I wanted to ask and see what you guys think about the use of this story.

[Siyris]

I don't use the Sunshine books at my school but here's my view of the story:

I think you are reading too much into it. You have to remember, these kids have trouble finding the SURFACE meaning of English... they don't have time or energy, or ability to do a deep reading and find the undercurrents of the story.

On top of that, odds are, the kids know a lot more about the truths of what happened during WWII on both sides than you did at their age. American schools are horribly good at omitting the things that make the US look bad from history text books (ie the fact that we knew hostilities had been officially stopped before we dropped the second a-bomb). Japan isn't perfect, but from what I learned by going through my students' textbooks, they are a lot more honest about the things Japan was doing that were 'bad' than America is about the things that it did that were 'bad'.

I don't think the story has the deeper meaning in it that you are seeing... and if it does, you can be sure that it was a petty lash out by whoever wrote the story, and not something that the students will pick up on. Your JTE might not even pick up on it. Undercurrents of language are hard enough when it's spoken and you have tone of voice to go on.... undercurrents and deeper meanings in written language are even harder to pick up -- and it's rare to find someone who is able to pick up on such things even if they are fluent in a second language.... much less 9th graders.

If you are really uncomfortable with it, you could try talking to your JTE, but if you go to have that conversation, I would suggest going into it with the offer of finding/writing your own story that hits the same vocab words and the same grammar points.

[phoenixphreak]

Some of each really...

I don't believe that 'all/most' students here know that much about the wars. Does the book even mention who the war was with? In the old-sunshine books, The Red Ribbon story talks about Hiroshima, but doesn't even mention who dropped the bomb...
It is my understanding that 'many' (not all, obviously) Japanese people know the true story, but kind of keep it hidden away as it is dishonorable. I have seen numerous English textbooks that mention the war (with titles like 'Black Rain'), but none of the ones I've seen have done so in any light outside of Japan being a victim, while never mentioning who the offender was.

That said, I don't think it was necessarily anti-America, unless of course it was explicitly so. But that would take a real quote, not a sarcastic paraphrasing.

(Just as a pre-emptive defense, perhaps this is only true of the area I'm in and the schools I deal with, though I've been to numerous High Schools in our sub-prefecture. My current understanding/opinion is from those schools' texts, conversations with the English teachers, and other conversations over my 3 years in this area.)

[arcaneartist]

Just my two cents here...

This is actually a fairly common story in Japan. I remember when I was studying Japanese in college, my teacher had me read a nearly identical story in Japanese ( I think it might have been from a children's book, if I remember correctly!)

I don't think it's anti-American, but rather it's trying to remind students an important, albeit dark, history between Japan and America. If you want to think about it this way, it can at least show how far the two countries have come since the war. From talking to a few Japaense people about this topic, many understand that this is simply an aspect of war and don't necessairly discriminate Americans because of it.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

This strikes me as more of an ITIL topic, hey. It's really not possible or advisable to have an honest discussion about Japan's - or anywhere else for that matter - approach to teaching the more questionable aspects of their own history on the official forums.

Seriously though, how did you get lucky enough to miss the incessant recitations of "A Mother's Lullaby" at speech contests? I counted them last year, there were 16 out of a total of 30-odd speeches.

[word]

It seems to be a thinly veiled allegory, where the Japanese are presented only as victims and the Americans are the real aggressors. Furthermore, anything bad that the Japanese do was because they were forced to do so by the actions of the Americans, and the individuals involved were "just following orders."

Welcome to Japan!

I think you are reading too much into it. You have to remember, these kids have trouble finding the SURFACE meaning of English... they don't have time or energy, or ability to do a deep reading and find the undercurrents of the story.

Yeah, this, pretty much.

If you want to think about it this way, it can at least show how far the two countries have come since the war.

word

My own village has a pretty brutal history. It's fascinating that I'm teaching in classrooms and living in the village with MG.

This strikes me as more of an ITIL topic, hey. It's really not possible or advisable to have an honest discussion about Japan's - or anywhere else for that matter - approach to teaching the more questionable aspects of their own history on the official forums.

We welcome such topics over there! In fact, the Sunshine books already came up in a thread a month or two ago....

http://www.ithinkimlost.com/japan-jet-school-related/17865-new-new-crown-books-2.html

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

It seems to be a thinly veiled allegory, where the Japanese are presented only as victims and the Americans are the real aggressors. Furthermore, anything bad that the Japanese do was because they were forced to do so by the actions of the Americans, and the individuals involved were "just following orders."

Welcome to Japan!

I'm so glad it wasn't just me thinking that.

[EhimeDave]

American schools are horribly good at omitting the things that make the US look bad from history text books (ie the fact that we knew hostilities had been officially stopped before we dropped the second a-bomb). Japan isn't perfect, but from what I learned by going through my students' textbooks, they are a lot more honest about the things Japan was doing that were 'bad' than America is about the things that it did that were 'bad'.

Sorry to derail thread. But that isn't true.

Hostilities between the USA and Japan did not end until the official announcement of the Japanese surrender on August 15th, 1945 (Nagasaki was bombed on August 9th). Hostilities between Japan and China and Japan and the Soviet Union continued until early September and ended with the official surrender of Japan on September 3rd, 1945.

[coop52]

I think it's actually a MEXT requirement that all 3rd year English books have some sort of story related to WWII.

[temoshi]

As I said, I'm aware that Japanese civilians suffered greatly during the war (much more than Americans did at home) and I do indeed feel a sense of shame about American bombing of civilian targets, the dropping of atomic bombs, etc. However, my point in this thread is not to say that I'm uncomfortable discussing America's role in World War II. Much as you had no control of the policies of apartheid, I had no control over actions that were taken over 40 years before I was even born. So, anyone who thinks that I came to Japan to apologize for these things is quite mistaken. In my experience, most people are not eager to talk about the war, especially with an American (with a few drunken exceptions). However, the stares that I get from some of my students when there is some reference to the war or atomic bombings in our textbooks are quite palpable. My wish is just to have some balance in a discussion that is about the war, however indirectly. I would be more than willing to share my views on that part of history, which include an acknowledgement of great wrongdoing on both sides. I just feel that most people would not be comfortable having that conversation, and it might be inappropriate for an ALT to have in a junior high school English class.

[word]

Setting an honest and forthright example, as opposed to trying to defend the action or play it down, might be the example that is needed for the Japanese students and teachers to take a long, hard, look at what their own government did during WW2 and admit their own feelings of shame at their government's actions in China during the same period.

If, however, you try to dodge the issue or defend it... well, as an educator what sort of example are you setting? How reasonable is it to avoid criticism of your country's actions and then expect your students and fellow educators to engage in any sort of discussion of Japan's actions during that period?

WORD.

I just feel that most people would not be comfortable having that conversation, and it might be inappropriate for an ALT to have in a junior high school English class.

A lot of students [Japanese people] aren't comfortable talking to a foreigner about ANYTHING. It might be inappropriate, but worse than that, it might be incredibly intimidating and disheartening for the students. I have English-fluent eikaiwa students who struggle to express opinions about politics and history; for all but the most advanced JHS students, it's probably nearly impossible. My students' journals tend to say things like "I don't like atomic bomb." It's something that you should handle with sensibility and understanding, should you decide to get into it... not in regards to their feelings about WWII and such, but in regards to their ability to accurately communicate their true feelings.

That said, I've had some truly fascinating conversations with some of my students, the best conversations being with advanced 3rd-year students who've learned enough English that they can really work on expressing themselves. Other times, I can carry on a conversation in my limited Japanese/with the JTE's help (we're not here to ONLY teach English, after all), if it's appropriate.

[isitatomic]

Regardless of whether or not the authors intended the story to be some kind of unfairly characterized victimization parable, I don't think I'd raise a stink over this particular example. And to be honest, I actually kind of like how the situation is presented in a far less abstract way, which can often happen in recapitulations of WWII events here. In our textbook's "bomb lesson", also 3rd Grade, the US isn't mentioned once. There are just vague sentences like:

"The building was destroyed in 1945" -- "The bomb destroyed the city" etc

I'd be more concerned with things like the photo of the happy smiling kid in red face in our previous textbook than the situation you seem to be describing. Pick your battles wisely!

[OsakaAmerican]

Just my two cents here...

This is actually a fairly common story in Japan. I remember when I was studying Japanese in college, my teacher had me read a nearly identical story in Japanese ( I think it might have been from a children's book, if I remember correctly!)

THIS.

I remembering reading a picture book of this when I was very young. I don't even remember what it was called, or whether it was in Japanese or English (I may have read it in both?) but I do clearly remember the story and that it was a book aimed at children.

I can see why it might be potentially offensive, but so are a lot of things when you're dealing with war. Reading the story as a young Japanese girl in the U.S., it certainly didn't make me hate my host country for it. It just made me sad for the animals who had absolutely nothing to do with this human conflict.

[AVN]

It just made me sad for the animals who had absolutely nothing to do with this human conflict.

Pretty much exactly my thoughts when I read it too.
I actually am worried about having to present that reading to my students because I'm a sap.

[glibberish]

As a U.S. ALT I'd imagine you're feeling similar shame. Before the U.S. became involved in WW2 Roosevelt spoke out strongly against the bombing of civilians, and I believe he criticised it as inhumane and barbaric. The Japanese did it in China. The Germans did it across most of Europe. The British did it in Germany. ... and finally when the U.S. entered WW2 they too did it in Europe and Japan. In fact, lacking concrete intelligence, General LeMay of the U.S. Air Force simply picked the cities with the highest populations and deliberately used fire bombs in order to cause the most damage. U.S. historians have tended to point out that the bombing sights were inaccurate and that "pinpoint" bombing meant that most of the bombs landed within a 1000 foot/300 meter radius of the target, however this is far from the truth, and LeMay's strategy was to deliberately target civilian areas.

The U.S. has continued to bomb civilian targets, from WW2 through the Vietnam War, during Desert Storm (parts 1 and 2), and up to the present day in Afghanistan.

... so in conclusion, if this topic makes you feel uncomfortable and ashamed then congratulations, you have a fine conscience and are a fully signed up member of the human race. My advice, for what it's worth is to just be honest about how you feel, how what your government did, and is still doing, makes you ashamed and not try to dodge the issue. Setting an honest and forthright example, as opposed to trying to defend the action or play it down, might be the example that is needed for the Japanese students and teachers to take a long, hard, look at what their own government did during WW2 and admit their own feelings of shame at their government's actions in China during the same period.

If, however, you try to dodge the issue or defend it... well, as an educator what sort of example are you setting? How reasonable is it to avoid criticism of your country's actions and then expect your students and fellow educators to engage in any sort of discussion of Japan's actions during that period?

Every country has a way of whitewashing their own histories; if you look around at Japanese websites, you'll find opinions ranging from "we're sorry for all the people who were killed in East Asia during the war" to "Japan was forced into WWII by the American government, who mistakenly believed that the Japanese campaign for peace in East Asia was an attack against other countries." I do wonder whether my students know what happened in Nanking, or that many Okinawans were as opposed to Japanese occupation/rule as Japanese people were opposed to American occupation. There is definitely as much of a victim complex about WWII in Japan as there is a "righteous war" complex in the U.S., which some might say is inevitable considering the outcome (not to mentioned that feeling martyred is an something people of any nationality love to do).

In any case, an apology always makes things go down smoother in Japan, and every country involved in WWII has something to apologize for. If you want to raise the issue with your students, start with "Many people in the U.S. opposed the government's brutal actions," or "I still feel deeply sorry for the pain that many people in Japan suffered at the hands of the U.S. military." The fact that the Japanese military killed quite a few people in China, Russia, Vietnam and elsewhere doesn't negate the fact that plenty of civilians died in Japan as well. If we can all be humble and recognize our countries' culpability maybe our students will do the same.