Japan's lower house of parliament yesterday approved a legal reform bill that would require schools to instill "a love of one's country" in children.
With the ruling bloc dominating the upper and lower chambers, yesterday's lower house passage makes the bill's enactment almost certain.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, the New Komeito, want to revise Japan's post-World War II education law to boost patriotism among the young.
Teaching patriotism, an idea used to fan militarism under the World War II-era government, has long been taboo in Japan.
The revision, a centerpiece of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's conservative agenda, is strongly opposed by opposition lawmakers, who boycotted yesterday's lower house vote.
The bill is also designed to strengthen coordination among schools, families and communities, while stressing the importance of parental guidance and introducing lifelong learning opportunities.
It was endorsed on Wednesday by a lower house committee, which opposition members also boycotted.
The bill, which must be approved by a majority of both parliamentary houses before it can take effect, will now be sent to the weaker upper house for a separate vote, expected next month.
Because of the bill's emphasis on morality, ethics and patriotism, some opponents compare it to the 1890 Imperial Rescript of Education, which the wartime leaders forced all schoolchildren to memorize and recite before the portrait of the emperor.
The Rescript, which demanded loyalty to parents, respect for the laws and self-sacrifice for the emperor, was banned by US forces after Japan's war defeat.
Opposition leaders yesterday demanded more debate, threatening to boycott the rest of the parliamentary session.
Ukraine’s military intelligence agency and the Pentagon on Monday said that some North Korean troops have been killed during combat against Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk border region. Those are the first reported casualties since the US and Ukraine announced that North Korea had sent 10,000 to 12,000 troops to Russia to help it in the almost three-year war. Ukraine’s military intelligence agency said that about 30 North Korean troops were killed or wounded during a battle with the Ukrainian army at the weekend. The casualties occurred around three villages in Kursk, where Russia has for four months been trying to quash a
FREEDOM NO MORE: Today, protests in Macau are just a memory after Beijing launched measures over the past few years that chilled free speech A decade ago, the elegant cobblestone streets of Macau’s Tap Seac Square were jam-packed with people clamouring for change and government accountability — the high-water mark for the former Portuguese colony’s political awakening. Now as Macau prepares to mark the 25th anniversary of its handover to China tomorrow, the territory’s democracy movement is all but over and the protests of 2014 no more than a memory. “Macau’s civil society is relatively docile and obedient, that’s the truth,” said Au Kam-san (歐錦新), 67, a schoolteacher who became one of Macau’s longest-serving pro-democracy legislators. “But if that were totally true, we wouldn’t
ROYAL TARGET: After Prince Andrew lost much of his income due to his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, he became vulnerable to foreign agents, an author said British lawmakers failed to act on advice to tighten security laws that could have prevented an alleged Chinese spy from targeting Britain’s Prince Andrew, a former attorney general has said. Dominic Grieve, a former lawmaker who chaired the British Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) until 2019, said ministers were advised five years ago to introduce laws to criminalize foreign agents, but failed to do so. Similar laws exist in the US and Australia. “We remain without an important weapon in our armory,” Grieve said. “We asked for [this law] in the context of the Russia inquiry report” — which accused the government
TRUDEAU IN TROUBLE: US president-elect Donald Trump reacted to Chrystia Freeland’s departure, saying: ‘Her behavior was totally toxic, and not at all conducive to making deals Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland on Monday quit in a surprise move after disagreeing with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over US president-elect Donald Trump’s tariff threats. The resignation of Freeland, 56, who also stepped down as finance minister, marked the first open dissent against Trudeau from within his Cabinet, and could threaten his hold on power. Liberal leader Trudeau lags 20 points in polls behind his main rival, Conservative Pierre Poilievre, who has tried three times since September to topple the government and force a snap election. “It’s not been an easy day,” Trudeau said at a fundraiser Monday evening, but
RSS