Hello. If you happened to see me on the streets of Japan, you probably would think not much of me. Although I spent many years at overseas, I am just a middle aged ordinary business man, with a wife and three children, two of whom are teenage boys.

Like many other rational citizens of Japan, I have great concern about how our children are taught in "post war" Japanese public educational system. A growing number of people are also concerned about the fact that unionized public teachers are completely "out of touch" with the world of reality. You may not hear about this as often as it has been discussed among ourselves, partially because of the "politeness" of our citizens, which is acting as a shield against sharing true feelings ( Honne ) towards foreign citizens, since the argument is inevitably touched with the negative perception of truth related to some of the foreign countries, one of which may be the country you are from.

Why do I want to share this with you ? Many of you are truly welcome guests of our nation, as you may find yourself a tourist, a student, a worker, an investor, or a permanent resident, who legally reside in Japan at will. You may also be a citizen of a friendly nation living overseas. On the other hand, quite a few are here in Japan as illegal aliens including those who are often involved in serious crime activities. Some readers may be citizens of unfriendly nations. Whether you are a friend or a foe, I believe many of you are also misled by so- called "Post WWII Political Correctness".

This is How We will Educate Our Children; Appreciation of Japan's History and Success

As many of you already know, the Japan's Gross Domestic Product is over $4 trillion, nearly 15% of the world. Japan's GDP is almost 8 times larger than that of South Korea, and 3 times that of Communist China. The figure is only second to the United States, whose melting-pot-population is producing $10 trillion in the natural-resource-rich land. Japan, on the other hand, practically has no natural resources, and our nearly homogeneous citizens make up only 2% of the world population. Our Maritime Self-Defense Force is Asia's most powerful Navy, protecting Japan's vital sea lanes. How did we get here ? Only after the World War II ? Absolutely not. Those of you who studied the post industrial-revolution of our nation, Japan has been the member of super nations since the victory of war with the Russian Empire in 1905.

We are the first Asian nation to defeat an European power in the history of modern war fare. Long before the WWII, Japan had its own form of internationally recognized modern economy, democracy, constitution, two- house diet ; separate executive, legislative and judicial branches comparable with any industrialized nations of the same era. The success of Japan had contributed to the independence and further development of many, long colonized South-East Asian countries.

We would like to constantly remind our children of their "luck" to be born as Japanese nationals, whose potential success in the world is virtually unlimited, compared to children of less fortunate, or misguided nations. Needless to say, a child in North Korea, for an example, has much less opportunity to succeed in the world than a child in Japan. My question is "Do our children have educational guidance to appreciate our success, deep- rooted in rich history and ancestor's effort to make this country better?" I believe such opportunity has been taken away by politically motivated public teachers, and some of the mass media, under the name of post- WWII political correctness. Traditional Japanese value were intentionally omitted in the class room, simply as "pre-WWII".

Hidden Secret Under Post-WWII Political Correctness; Sealed Ethics of Traditional Japanese Value

So, what is the post-WWII political correctness? Before I start, let me invite you to read a paragraph, which I enjoy reading and sharing with my own teen age children. Here is my translation for you. It states:

Japanese nationals shall live in the following code of ethics; Children will respect parents, brothers and sisters will get along and help each other, husband and wife will mutually support each other, friends are to be trusted. A national shall also be careful in choosing words, love your neighbors, be loyal to your profession, deepen knowledge, brush up your character, and contribute to society ; not only respect law and order, but also have a loyal sense of responsibility to contribute to your nation's peace, and public safety, in case of national emergency.

Sounds good ? Is this the Christian or Buddhist teaching of some kind ? No, but you may be surprised to hear that teaching this phrase is practically banned by the current Japanese school system, by radical unionized teachers in particular. This code of ethics was provided by the Meiji Emperor to the children of Japan as the Code of Education, when Japan had just awoken from feudal society in the late 19th century, and just about to take off as a new, industrialized nation.

I am not here to promote religions of any kind, but most of you must admit each culture's code of ethics is deeply rooted in its traditional religion. Needless to say, most of European ethics is deeply rooted in Christianity and that of most of Indians comes from Hinduism. After all, they all seek "goodness" of their own kind ; even though the particular style may be different from another, such as not eating certain foods on certain days, etc. But we shall all agree that "stealing" is not an acceptable code in any established religion. In case of Japan, such values come from the combination of Shinto, Buddhism, Confucianism, Zen and Bushido, and others.

My point is Meiji Emperor's Code of Education was born as the product of rich Japanese culture and traditional values, coupled with his late majesty's love toward all Japanese citizens. Unfortunately, it is an example of " pre-WWII " school of thought, banned initially by the American occupational force (This attitude was changed after the beginning of the cold war), and by left-wing teachers who took advantage of the initial occupational policy of creating a "weak Japan".

As much as I hate to do this, let me reverse the contents of the Code of Education for argument's sake.

Children shall not have to listen to parents ; brothers and sisters will not support each other, a husband and a wife shall seek separate directions. Anybody has a right to be loud in public, forget about your neighbors, do little work, knowledge is not significant, be self-loving, always seek individual interests. Citizens do not have to respect law and order, seek your own safety first and runaway as soon as possible in case of national emergency.

Nowadays, you can easily spot some of these people or kids on the streets. Just to name a few examples, you may read about a pervert in the morning train, a teacher busy with his own political ideologies, a policeman who steals, a banker who cheats, a store owner who hires illegal aliens, and a minority leader who criticizes his own government at an overseas conference with unfriendly nations.

I strongly believe these creatures are a byproduct of extreme post WWII education. Come to think of it, WWII was just a small portion of rich Japanese history, our children should be reintroduced to Japan's traditional values and true history of our nation, not one-sided,self-criticizing interpretations.

Such intentionally omitted values also include the spirit of Bushido ( way of Samurai), the book of which was published in English by Inazo Nitobe in 1900 for the purpose of introducing the backbone of Japanese values, widely read throughout the world after the defeat of Russia in 1905. Theodore Roosevelt was known to be a great admirer of the book, I strongly recommend the book to our children and to you as well for a better understanding of our traditional values. I also tell our children to get a feeling of Bushido by visiting local marshal arts Dojos such as Kendo (fencing), Judo, Karate do,Juken- do ( bayonet fighting), Kyudo (Archery), so they could sense true gentleness through the training of the mind as well as the skills. Believe it or not, the Bushido influence is still alive in the Japanese corporate cultures. I am involved in international financial business, and I have met many Japanese businessmen, whom I can call "today's samurai" in the spiritual sense, and their way of life is also well respected in the international community.

Why the Teachers are Left-Wing

Why have we so many left-wing teachers and media?

Japanese teachers who repeatedly speak of "world peace" like the contestants in the miss world pageant, are often very politically motivated people. They belong to the teachers union, which is supported by parties of socialist or communist motives. Let me explain the background. It is deep rooted in the aftermath of WWII, Japan's only defeat in its history.

Japanese people have the longest life expectancy in the world. If you meet a 70-year old man, he had to be about 10 years old in 1945. You may also meet a 100 year old man, who was born at the end of victorious war with the Russian Empire in 1905. They could well be father and son, but the environments in which they grew up were totally different. The 100-year-old man grew up as a child, when Japan was taking off as the first Asian world power, the age of prosperity. Especially between 1905 and the great depression in the 1930's, there was a time Japan as a nation prospered as the worlds' industrialized power, democratic and peaceful. The forgotten Taisho period (1912-1926) was economically prosperous, democratic, and a culturally rich time for Japan. In the public school classrooms, such pre-WWII democracy is simply ignored, or intentionally omitted by radical school teachers.

The 70-year-old man, on the other hand,grew up as a child running away from enemy bombing, became homeless and was starving. Even after the last war, he used to chase American GI's asking for few pieces of chocolate. The lack of basic materials continued for a while. If you ask this man about his childhood, I am sure he would start talking about the "dark age". This type of experience was only a brief moment in the long Japanese history, but definitely a traumatic experience for the Japanese. This part is conveniently focused on, and engraved into children's minds by those teachers.

At the time of surrender, Japan still had 3 million fresh army, 10,000 planes including jet fighters, world's largest submarine which could launch aircrafts, all prepared for the final invasion by the enemy. It was estimated by the Americans, if the final invasion, "Operation Coronet " had taken place, Americans themselves would have suffered with more than one million casualities. Most Americans believe that the atomic bomb had played the most important role in Japan's surrender, but in reality, Japan was more concerned with the new entry by the Soviets, with whom Japan had a neutral treaty at the time. Between the Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Soviets broke the treaty and entered into the war. If Japan had continued the war, then it was obvious that the nation will be divided between the Americans and the Soviets. Soviets' entry to the war was the primary reason for the surrender.

As a result of early surrender by Japan, for the first time in our history, the country was occupied by foreign forces. The Americans too had suffered terribly in the islands of the Pacific, and initial American occupational policy after the war was to create a nation which would never be an enemy of the United States again. The Code of Education was banned, so was the practice of martial arts, school text- books were censored. It was a military occupational ruling, much like the present Iraq occupation. A notable difference was that the surrender was announced by the commander- in- chief, his late Majesty, Showa Emperor himself, so that all 3 million army laid down their weapons without a single shot fired. In today's standard, it was done quite honorably.

Policies of the initial military occupation, lead by the General Head Quarter ( GHQ) was aimed at creating a "weak Japan", both economically and spiritually. Nearly every system existed prior to the occupation was to be destroyed or to be forgotten. One of the GHQ's idea was to bring Japan back to an agriculturally- based nation. Before Japan had regained " independence" in 1952, the current constitution which contained the world unprecedented "peace clause", the famous article 9, which denied the nation its own defense; was forced by the GHQ in 1947. Many concerned patriots wanted to modify the old constitution, but the requests were denied by the GHQ, many of whom were leftwing in today's American standard. The radical constitution which contained the "peace clause" was born.

This "weak Japan" policy by the Americans, however, was quickly reversed as the threat of cold war had emerged. Like other small nations, cold war was fought inside Japan as well, and threat of Japan becoming an ever strong Communist country was growing. The United States policy quickly changed to "rebuilding Industrial Japan" as the shield against growing communists threat. Some people at the time, who were denied of traditional values became politically confused, and divided into pro-Soviets and pro- Americans. For those who were pro- Soviets, school teachers for example, initial American policy of "weak Japan" policy was quite attractive. Since Japan was still strongly "defended" by the Americans, the only way to achieve their objective of "liberation" or " revolution" was to allow invasion by the communist giants. As a result, the peace clause, contained in the new constitution of Japan, became an irreversible religion for them, and used widely as the propaganda campaign by the Pro-communist teachers and left wing mass media. The trend still continues today.

Teachers and supporting left wing parties, today still uses phrases such as "peace", "no war", "no Rising Sun", "preservation of constitution", and "US out of Japan" to promote "weak Japan". Naturally, nearby unfriendly nations of Japan is taking advantage of it. The word " Peace" taught in Japanese schools is simply " praying for it " or " talk it over with the aggressors". Peace achieved by defending your rights and property, or peace which comes after fighting off your enemy; is conveniently ignored in the discussion. The word "peace" had become a sort of religious prayer in Japan. Children are taught to have a discussion with a burglar invading his own house, and any preventive or defensive measure will "offend" the burglar, thus should not be taken. Naturally, I would tell our young children that freedom and peace in the normal sense, is something you would earn by defending their rights with strong force and will, not by "praying" for it.

The fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, however ; had been a traumatic defeat for the unionized teachers. They were forced to turn their face to North Korea,living fossil of the world communism; or to China acting as a growing Capitalism but hopelessly hanging the communist store sign of the past. These teachers' obsession had shifted to these unfriendly nations, as their last resort. "Apologies to Asia" was then added to the slogan.

While teachers are still talking of their "peace" slogans, North Korean missiles went over our head, our citizens were kidnapped, armed North Korean vessels shot at Japan Coast Guard ships, and a Chinese nuclear submarine had invaded our water territory. Japanese citizens are slapped in the face with the reality, and finally waking up to see who are the hypothetical enemies.

It is ironic that the some of people who had been mislead by post-war education, still worship the constitution which was originally created to make their own country "weak". It is also ironic that the United States which needs strong Japan as one of the powerful allies, is still suffering from its own misjudgment. As Japan and the United States make up almost 40% of the world gross domestic products, both nations mutually benefit by their powerful alliance. We, the concerned citizens, will teach our children, that "Strong Japan" is the key to the world "peace".

Constitutions of other nations have been re-written, amended or re-interpreted many times to match the ever- changing realities and needs of the population. The United Kingdom does not even have a written form of constitution, substituted by the set of various common laws.

Japan's current constitution is said to be the world's oldest "unmodified" constitution which retains its original form. Naturally, today's Japan is re-interpreting the peace clause to welcome its self defense force as a world peace keeper.

Bringing Back the YAMATO SRIRIT : Hidden History of Modern Japan

Weather you are a friend or a foe of Japan, I just want to make it clear that we the Japanese do not have to share the common interpretation of our own history with people of any other country. As the birth of the mighty United States was the beginning of the holocaust for American natives, or the former great British Empire is responsible for many of today's territorial wars and extinction of animals, there are multiple sides and interpretations to all historical events, as one's achievement is another person's misery. Certainly our children do not owe apologies to any nation, regarding our historical achievements. Here is my summary of Japan's historical success since the late 19th century, and this is what I will tell my own children. In Japanese public schools many hours are spent on the ancient or early part of our history, but the Japanese achievements in the post industrial revolution is barely touched.

About 130 years ago, Japan was suddenly awoken from the isolated but peaceful EDO period. When she looked around her neighbors, Vietnam was colonized by the French, Indonesia by the Dutch, India and Burma by the British and the Philippines by Spain. Luckily, in Japan, we had plenty of highly- trained warrior Samurai class, and enough fire arms.

Since1543, when a Portuguese ship which was carrying rifles had accidentally landed in Tanegashima island, Japan had been producing and improving plenty of world class firearms domestically. The production technology of making Japanese Katana, the Japanese sword, which was the world's hardest steel of the time, had contributed significantly to new rife barrels productions. Although the immediate danger of being colonized was not present, the Western nations had already entered the age of industrialization and colonization, inevitably the wind of which was also was blowing on Japan. The Meiji era was the aftermath of Japan's version of industrial revolution and civil war. The new industrialized Japan was born at the prime age of European imperialism and colonization, weak countries were traded between the world powers as "pieces of real estate".

There was one thing in Japan, which had contributed to the amazing acceleration in its development. It was our feudal public education system called " Terakoya". Nearby temples were converted into the public schools for both rich and poor, and volunteers taught them language and Mathematics. At the beginning of the Meiji era, Japan's literacy level was one of the highest in the world. This has given the Japanese tremendous advantage. As long as new ideas or technology was translated, most Japanese people could read and understand the content. The speed of learning had surprised many foreigners and the Japanese themselves. And, within just 30 years, the new Japanese Imperial Navy, equipped with the latest and finest battleships at the time had defeated Russia's Baltic Fleet at the Tsushima Straight, and finally won the territorial conflict over Korean peninsula in 1905. This was truly the world's shocking event. It was the first time in history that a non-Christian Asian nation, born out of feudalism just 30 years ago, had defeated an elite Western nation in modern warfare. In the naval academies of many nations today, Admiral Heihachiro Togo, who had commanded the Japanese Imperial Navy, is studied as the one of the most brilliant Naval commanders. Chester William Nimitz, who later became the Admiral who commanded the US fleet against Japan in WWII, was also known to be a great Admire of Heihachiro Togo.

Harmonization of Samurai spirit and topnotch technology, Meiji people called it "Wakon- Yosai". Japan found itself then, as a member of the world Super Powers.

About Korea

Remember this was the time of world colonialism. Korea was a corrupted nation ruled by bureaucrats, still had not been industrialized. It was bound to be colonized either by China, Russia or Japan. If the peninsula was taken by Russia or China, it would had been a serious national security threat for Japan. After the Russo-Japanese war, the United States and Japan reached a "Gentlemen's agreement" that while Japanese will permit the United States' military ruling of Philippines, Americans will respect the rights of Japanese on Korean peninsula. The real estate deal was conducted. Japan and Korea had signed the internationally valid and recognized treaty of "Merging", and Korea was officially "merged" with Japan in 1910.

As much as Koreans do not want to admit it, Japan had never invaded,or had a war with Koreans. It took a form of M&A (Merger and Acquisition) fully recognized by international laws. At the time of world colonialism, the Korean peninsula was just another piece of real estate. Dutch had still ruled Indonesia and the French still had French Indochina, and British still had India, and now, Americans in Philippines. Korea was part of Japan until 1945, Japan had invested much in their infrastructure, built rail systems, power plants, created equally available public education, and a National University, the graduates of which were to be promoted as Japanese bureaucrats.

Today's Seoul National University was born out of former Imperial University of Keijo. Graduates of Japanese military academy was promoted without discrimination as the officer of Imperial Forces. Some had reached the ranks of Generals. As far as education is concerned, I do not recall any more generous treatment of colonial citizens in Western- ruled Asian countries. I strongly believe early take- off of Korea and Taiwan, as the newly emerging economy after the WWII, owes much to Japanese build up of infrastructures and education during the colonial times. As much as Koreans would like to criticize Japan for its 35 years of ruling, it is barely comparable to discriminatory Dutch ruling of Indonesia, or British ruling of India over 300 years. It is understandable that Koreans have their own interpretations of colonial times but the Japanese children do not have to not share the common interpretation of such historical view points.

Greater East Asian War

After victory over the war with Russians, on both sides of Pacific, navies of both Japan and the United States started to look at each other as hypothetical enemies.Both sides had expansionary motives in China including rail road interests. About 35 years after the war with Russians, both interests collided, and the rest is in the history. Even though Japan was defeated for the first time, the pain suffered by mother Japan had positive impact on post WW II Asia. Many of South East Asian post WWII independence owes much to weakened European power by the Japanese, the military training of local populations, and left-over Japanese equipment. Willingness to fight off nearly 300 years of European colonialism, was greatly motivated by the Japanese fighting spirit. It is important to note that China had never defeated Japan, they were simply on the same boat with the winner, the United States.

I am recommending my children to read about Chandra Netaji Bose of Indian National Army, who was initially trained in Germany,and had organized resistance force to fight off the British in India, during WWII with the help of Japan. Mr. Bose, another Indian independence hero, is buried in one of Temples in Tokyo.

Our children shall be free to read about those South East Asian nations which had fought independence war against Europeans who came back after Japanese defeat to reclaim colonial properties, and about those Japanese soldiers who had remained there to fight for the foreign independence war.

Current Japanese history teaching in public schools is full of distortion, characterized by one sided self-criticizing view, controlled by union teaches in closed classrooms. Our new hypothetical enemies, China and North Korea in particular are taking advantage of it. These countries are using distorted history in order to blackmail Japan for free financial assistance or to shift the anger of their own dissatisfied citizens from their own corrupt governments. I would like to emphasize that our children owe absolutely nothing to these countries and should be taught our own traditional values and truth.

Last by not least, I thank you for taking your time for reading this material. As I tell my children, May the rising sun shine on your heart, also.