Andrej Bekeš
Revelation through 
omission:
Treatment of National Language 
in Japanese History Textbooks and 
General Works
ABSTRACT
In spite of the great diversity w ithin the dialect continuum stretching from 
Kagoshima to Aomori, consistent state-endorsed language policies since the 
later Meiji period were highly successful in the first half of the 20th century in 
achieving a high degree of hom ogeneity regarding ethnic and linguistic identity. 
The successful im plem entation of a standard language was one of the key factors 
in the process of the building of Japan as a m odern nation-state. The present 
study deals with the conspicuous absence of an appropriate treatm ent of the role 
these policies played, in the high school history textbooks and general readership 
m onographs and with its possible intellectual background regarding the scant 
attention paid by researchers and textbook writers to the establishment of the 
Japanese national language and pre-W W II language policies in Japan.

The central hypothesis of the study is that this conspicuous absence stems from 
the projection of the m odern nation-state on the past, resulting in a perception 
of Japanese polity as a basically homogeneous and unchanged continuum in time 
and space. In particular, the analysis of texts for the general public by prom inent 
Japanese scholars of the national language has revealed im portant differences 
in perception. One group, mainly those preoccupied with the didactics of the 
national language, tends to view the past in the light of a “hom ogenized” present. 
On the other hand, those scholars researching Japanese in the wider context of 
general linguistics seem to treat national language related issues in a m uch more 
critical and theoretically inform ed way.
1. INTRODUCTION
Occupying about 380,000 sq. km and stretching over about 1,400 km as the 
crow flies, from Satsuma, Kyushu, in the Southeast to Shimokita, Honshu, in the 
Northeast, the manifold Japanese dialects that historically populated this area are 
now dialects in a single polity: Japan, including also Ryukyus and Hokkaido, with 
a single Japanese national language’- kokugo.
Com pared with the South Slavic linguistic continuum , covering an area 
similar in size and at present split into seven polities, even if we do not take 
into account Japans fragm ented ‘ Medieval’ history with its wars and changing 
allegiances, etc., for the Meiji regime, unification of the widely stretched area 
under one rule and the creation of a m odern nation state with a single national 
language which nowadays permeates every pore of society, was no m ean feat. In 
the words of Gottlieb:1
Consistent, state-endorsed, and often state-enforced language policies 
from the second half of the Meiji period onwards, which were aimed 
at the dissem ination of the national language (kokugo), though finally 
failing in colonial territories, achieved their goal in the “inner provinces” 
(naichi) as well as in Hokkaido and Okinawa, contributing in the first half 
of the 20th century to a high degree of homogeneity regarding linguistic 
and ethnic identity in Japan...
The processes that led to this accomplishment and their historical, ideological 
and cultural contexts have only begun receiving closer and systematic attention 
during the past twenty or so years.2
1 Nanette Gottlieb, “Japan” , in Andrew Simpson (ed.), Language and National Identity in Asia. Oxford: 
Oxford University Press, 2007, pp. 186-199.
2 cf. Lee Yeonsuk, Kokugo toiu shiso: kindai Nihon no gengo ninshiki [The Ideology o f National Language: 
An Understanding o f Language in Modern Japan], Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten Publishers, 1996; Shizue

Based on the im portance of kokugo and the central role it played in the 
consolidation of the national identity and national unity in Japan during and after 
the Meiji period, its treatm ent in the high school history textbooks and in texts 
for general audiences, such as “serious” general works on kokugo and linguistic 
encyclopedias, seems a topic worthy of examination. This study is an attempt 
to delve into the issue, and being one of the first, is necessarily incomplete and 
preliminary.
2. THE PRE-MODERN AND MODERN LINGUISTIC SITUATION 
IN JAPAN: A BRIEF SKETCH
It is im portant to stress also, that the Meiji period kokugo reform did n ot happ­
en in a vacuum. There were historical developments that contributed towards the 
successful spread of a standardized national language over the whole of Japan.
2.1 The Pre-Modern Linguistic Situation
The pre-m odern linguistic situation in Japan, prevalent until the end of 
the Tokugawa period and extending into the early part of the Meiji period is 
characterized by the following factors:
D ig lo ssia in the W ritten Lan gu age3
Roughly speaking, this pertains to the written literary Chinese (kanbun 
[kundoku]) and w ritten literary vernacular (bungo). W hile literacy in these two 
styles was lim ited to the elites, since the Kamakura (1185-1333) and M uromachi 
(1336-1573) periods, literacy in the spoken vernacular had emerged among 
commoners as well.4
C o n so lid a tio n o f P o litic a l Power U nder the Tokugawa Shogunate.
Relative peace and an accompanying economic prosperity during the first half 
of the period resulted in a vibrant literacy not only among the city dwellers, but 
also in the countryside, in the spread of printed m edia and the development of 
a new schooling system (hankö, terakoya) (1603-1868). W ith the political center 
moving east to Edo, a new contact dialect with elements of both eastern and
Osa, Kindai Nihon to kokka nashonarizumu [Modern Japan and State Nationalism]. Tokyo: Yoshikawa 
kobunkan, 1998; Toshiaki Yasuda, ’ Gengo’no kochiku: Ogura Shinpei to shokuminchi chosen [Constructing 
a Language: Ogure Shinpei and Korea Under Colonial Rule], Tokyo: Sangensha, 1999; Yoichi Komori, 
Nihongo no kindai [Japanese in the Modern Era}. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten Publishers, 2000.
3 cf. Takashi Kamei et al. (eds.), Nihongo no rekishi 6: atarashii kokugo e no ayumi [The History of the 
Japanese Language 6: Towards a New National Language], Tokyo: Heibonsha, 1965.
4 cf. Yoshihiko Amino, Nihonron no shiza: rettö no shakai to kokka [Aspects of ‘Theories of Japan 
(Nihonron): The Societies and the State in the Archipelago]. Tokyo: Shogakukan, 1990.

western Japanese dialects formed there and consequently grew in im portance, 
while Kyoto speech retained its prestige.5
N o Attem pt at Lan guage Stand ard izatio n .
The bakuhan political system of the Tokugawa period which split Japan into 
isolated han “feudal” domains and discouraged direct contact among them led to 
a dialectal fragm entation of the country as described by Gottlieb:6
The political structure in place during the Tokugawa Period (1603-1868) 
contributed substantially to the need for placing a standard language high 
on the linguistic agenda during the following period. In the pre-m odern 
period, Japan was segmented into a large num ber of local domains, each 
ruled by a local daimyo who reported to the shogun in Edo (todays 
Tokyo). Since the domains were relatively tightly sealed off from each 
other in the interests of the ‘ divide and rule principle, and since travel 
was with very few exceptions forbidden to residents of each, local dialects 
flourished and little in the way of language (or dialect) contact took place. 
The de facto standard used throughout Japan by those who travelled 
during this period was based on the speech of Edo ...
The above situation in the second half of the Edo and early Meiji periods is a 
typical pre-m odern situation, in line with the situation in pre-unification Italy, in 
the Habsburg and O ttom an Empires, in Russia etc., during m ore or less the same 
period. W hat makes it different is a relatively high degree of literacy as com pared 
to Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe in the same period.7
2.2 The Linguistic Situation during the Meiji Period and Afterwards
In spite of m any similarities, there are significant differences between mid- 
19th century Japan and Central Europe. In contrast with Central Europe, Japan 
was politically unified. Presumably because of this, language standardization was 
not perceived as an urgent task in the agenda of m odernizing Japan.
M odernizing projects taken up by the Meiji regime were the abolition of the 
caste system, the abolition of the han system, the introduction of a centralized 
adm inistration, the establishment of com pulsory education (kokumin gakkö), the 
im plem entation of universal m ilitary service, the inception of a constitutional
5 Byarke Frellesvig, A History o f the Japanese Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010, 
chapter 13.
6 Gottlieb, Japan, pp. 188-9.
7 Hagen Shulze, Država in nacija v evropski zgodovini. Ljubljana: Založba *cf., 2003 (Translation of Staat 
un Nation in der europaeischen Geschichte. Muenchen: C.H. Becksche Verlagbuchshandlung, 1994).

monarchy and the spread of m odern printed media, colonial expansion, and in 
the mid-1880s, steps towards the standardization of language.8
D uring this time, influential articles and lectures by Ueda Kazutoshi (1867- 
1937), a Tokyo Imperial University academic who was greatly influenced by 
several years spent studying linguistics in Germany, com pared the national 
language to the country’ s life blood and exhorted the government to ensure that it 
was treated with the degree of respect the language of a m odern state deserved.... 
In Ueda’ s view, this involved improving the language through standardization and 
m odernization, contrary to the views of purists who saw any form of artificially 
induced language change as an unw arranted attack on standards and tradition. 
Ueda and the group of students he trained in the m ethods of Western linguistics 
were instrum ental in lobbying for the establishment in 1902 of the first official 
body charged with working on language issues, the National Language Research 
Council. As a result of the work of this body, the dialect of the Yamanote area of 
Tokyo was announced as the standard language in 1916.9
The ruthless enforcement of standard language in public use (including 
m ethods such as the use of högen fu d a “dialect placards” as punishm ent in 
compulsory education1 0 ) was concom itant with a wish for m odernization in the 
provinces,1 1 strict government control of teaching contents, the spread of new 
media which accompanied the economic prosperity following W W I, and total 
mobilization under ultranationalist regimes preceding and during the years 
leading to the war in China, SE Asia and the Pacific.1 2
Language thus played a prom inent role in the ideological construction of the 
Japan for which the war was being fought, possibly second only to the Emperor 
as the symbol of ultranationalist values.1 3
The successful spread of kokugo had as a consequence the view that kokugo 
was a hom ogeneous entity extending territorially over the politically consolidated 
territory, as well as extending tem porally into the past (i.e., the projection of 
kokugo and the m odern nation-state backwards in time). Dialects as its obvious 
varieties were considered to be enriching kokugo itself. Therefore it is no wonder
8 cf. Erica Benner, “Japanese national doctrines in international perspective” , in Naoko Shimazu (ed.), 
Nationalisms in Japan. Abingdon: Routledge, 2006.
9 Gottlieb, Japan, p. 189.
10 Dialect placards were based on a m ethod imported from the m ore ‘ advanced’ France, itself in the 19th 
century in the process of extensively assimilating non-French speaking minorities, (cf. Pontecouteau 
2002).
11 cf. Yufuko Ichimiya, “The Relation Between the View on the Language and Educational Ideology in 
the Early Meiji Period in Japan Through the Discourse of Regionalism” , Acta Linguistica Asiatica, Vol. 
1,2011, No. 1, pp. 9-22 (http://revije.fF.uni-lj.si/ala/index).
12 Frellesvig, A History o f the Japanese Language; Gottlieb, Japan; Komori, Nihongo no kindai.
13 Gottlieb, Japan, p. 192. See also: Nanette Gottlieb, Kanji Politics: Language Policy and Japanese Script. 
London: Kegan Paul International, 1995.

that the great works of classical literature from Manyöshu to Ugetsu monogatari 
were all seen as written in kokugo,H
Parallel with this development, a deep penetration of the Japanese language 
in the colonies, i.e., Taiwan, Korea, and to a lesser extent M anchukuo, was taking 
place as well.1 5
3. ANALYSIS
3.1 Textbooks
In the period after W W II, high school textbooks, just as all the other prim ary 
and secondary level textbooks, are subject to government examination, carried 
out by the MEXT (short for Japanese M inistry of Education, Culture, Sports, 
Science and Technology).1 6 Approved textbooks, chosen by ‘local self-governing 
bodies’ (jichitai) are distributed am ong the pupils free of charge. Textbooks 
examined for this study are also in compliance with this scheme.
3.1.1 High School History Textbooks
High school history textbooks are divided into two categories: Nihonshi 
B (Japanese History B) with a comprehensive approach to history from the 
beginnings to m odern times; and Nihonshi A (Japanese History A) dealing with 
Japan from the Meiji Restoration onward. The m ost widely used are the Nihonshi 
B type textbooks.
As a prelim inary step, several Nihonshi B (Japanese History B) textbooks, put 
out by prom inent publishers such as Sanseido and Yamakawa, were examined.
First, keywords such as kokugo (national language), nihongo (Japanese), 
genbun itchi (a written language style based on the m odern spoken language 
or the eponymous m ovem ent for the affirmation of this style) and so on, were 
examined in the indexes of the respective textbooks. O ther than the exception 
of genbun itchi, no textbook contained any of the above keywords in the index.
14 Toshiaki Yasuda, Kokugo to högen no aida: gengo köchiku no seijigaku [Between the ‘ National 
Language and ‘ Dialect’ : The Political Science o f Language Construction], Kyoto: Jinbun Shoin, 1999. 
For a typical case of a similar projection common in Slovene patriotic’ history and language circles, 
Janko Prunk (A Brief History o f Slovenia. Ljubljana: Založba Grad. 1996) is a good example. Also 
see Shulze (Država in nacija v evropski zgodovini) for Germany’ s projection onto the Holy Roman 
Empire (i.e., the 1st Reich).
15 Toshiaki Yasuda, Shokuminchi no nakano ‘ kokugogaku: Tokieda Motoki to Keijo Teikokudaigaku 
o megutte [‘National Language Studies’ in the Colony: Tokieda Motoki and the Seoul Imperial 
University], Tokyo: Sangensha, 1997; Osa, Kindai Nihon to kokka nashonarizumu.
16 http://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/area/taisen/kentei.html (retreived Aug. 25, 2010); http://www.mext. 
go.jp/a_menu/shotou/kyoukasho/gaiyou/04060901.htm (retreived Aug. 25, 2010).

In the text itself, Nihonshi B, published by Sanseido, seems to have by far the 
most references related to national language in the various historical and social 
contexts from am ong all the textbooks that were examined. Nonetheless, even in 
this textbook, the references were brief and often included other inform ation not 
directly relevant to the issues of language in the same sentence.
3.1.2 The High School Kokugo (National Language) Textbooks
In addition to the history textbooks, high school textbooks dealing with 
kokugo, i.e. readers, compilations of literary texts, essays, etc. with commentaries, 
such as “Kokugo sögö” (general Japanese), and “Gendai bun” (m odern writing), 
put out by publishers such as Chikum a Shobo, Tokyo Shoseki, etc., were examined. 
The concept of these textbooks is to convey to learners the potential richness 
of variation of expression that is inherent in the Japanese language, presented 
as kokugo. In the case of gendai bun textbooks, the topics treated are lim ited to 
m odern texts. In the case of kokugo sögö textbooks, the whole span from m odern 
to classical texts, including kanbun classical Chinese texts read on-the-fly in a 
Japanese way (i.e. the so called kanbun kundoku), is covered. These textbooks 
are intellectually and aesthetically appealing and typographically well executed. 
The basic orientation of these textbooks also has the potential to include relevant 
inform ation on the historical, social and political context of the development 
and role of the unified (and unifying) national language from the Meiji period 
on. In spite of this potential, no such attempt was observed in any of the books 
examined.
Since the general supervisor of the edition for one of the textbooks was Kato 
Shuichi, one of the m ost prom inent liberal thinking Japanese intellectuals of the 
post-war period, it can also be surm ised that such omissions were not directly 
related to authors’ and compilers’ ideological biases such as conservative vs. 
progressive, traditionalist vs. m odern, etc., neither were they influenced by the 
aforementioned process of textbook approval.
3.2 Analysis of the Sanseido’s Nihonshi B Textbook
In this section, the textbook that relates m ost extensively to the national 
language issue, Nihonshi B (Japanese History B) by Aoki Michio et al.1 7 published 
by Sanseido, will be examined in more detail.
The Contents at the beginning of the textbook (pp. iv, v) display chapters 
such as Chapter 15 ‘The Meiji Restoration and the M odern State’ (Meiji ishin 
to kindai kokka), prim e candidates for the description of the so called ‘ national
17 Michio Aoki et al., “ Nihon shi B kaiteiban” Japanese History, revised edition]. Tokyo: Sanseido, 2009.

language issue’ (kokugo mondai) in Japan. Yet section titles and subheadings do 
not hint at anything related to language policies at the time. A similar situation 
can be seen in the index at the end of the textbook. The only explicit reference 
is to genbun itchi (a w ritten style based on the contem porary spoken language). 
There are no direct references to kokugo (the national language) or to nihongo 
(Japanese).
In the main text though, there are several references to the national language 
and various language policies. I will examine these in the rest o f this section.
At the end of Chapter 15, in Section 5, ‘Equality of the Four Classes of People 
and O pening towards Civilization1 8 ’ (Shimin byödö to bunmei kaika), there is, 
under the subheading ‘The Spread of Enlightened Thought and Development in 
the Sphere of Religion (Keimo shisö nofukyü to shükyö no ugoki) a short m ention 
of nihongo (Japanese) in the context of the publication of newspapers while still 
under bakufu rule:1 9
After the opening of the ports, newspapers were published in the residence 
areas perm itted for foreigners [such as ]Yokohama, Kobe (Hyogo) etc, 
and after 1851 (Kaei 4) when M otoki Shözö succeeded in casting lead 
printing type, newspapers as well as journals and books in Tapanese 
(=nihongo),m printed in moving type, began to be published. (Translated 
and underlined by A.B.)
The text says that in addition to the foreign newspapers that were beginning to 
be published in the late Edo period, newspapers in Japanese were also published 
after the moving type for Japanese characters had been invented.
The next mention of nihongo is in Chapter 16. ‘Formation of the Constitutional 
System of Meiji’ (Meiji kenpö taisei no seiritsu), in Section 5. ‘Promulgation of the 
Imperial Constitution’ (Dainippon teikoku kenpö no seitei) under the heading 
‘ Establishing Regional Self-Rule’ (chihöjichi seido no seibi) in the context of policies 
in the newly officially incorporated territories of Hokkaido and the Ryukyus:2 1
In Hokkaido the [Hokkaido] Development Agency kaitakushi was 
abolished and in 1886, the Hokkaido A dm inistration (Hokkaido cho) was 
established. Vast am ounts of land and state-owned factories etc. were sold 
to the nobility (kazoku) and ‘ businesses with close links to the governm ent’ 
(seishö), with prisoners being mobilized for the construction of roads and 
opening of mines. In addition there was development of virgin lands by 
colonists, and the Ainu, being robbed of a place where they could live,
18 ‘Civilization’ was synonymous with westernization.
19 Aoki et al„ “ Nihon shi B kaiteiban, p. 244.
20 It is interesting to note that in the kokugo type of textbooks, reference to the language in such cases 
would probably be the much more ideologically loaded kokugo (actually Japanese viewed as the 
national language) and not the more neutral nihongo (Japanese) as here.
21 Aoki et al., “Nihon shi B kaiteiban, p. 259.

were, under the Hokkaido Form er Aboriginal People Protection Law 
(Hokkaido kyü doiin hö) which was prom ulgated in 1899 ostensibly to 
protect them and encourage them to work in agriculture, expulsed to 
‘ protected areas’ (hogo chi) where they were subject to assimilation policies 
such as being compelled to learn lapanese and forced to change their 
names to lapanese ones (nihonshiki no namae)<4>. In Okinawa there was 
persistent resentm ent against the Ryukyu solution (Ryukyu shobun). The 
Prefectural Office, trying to proceed sm oothly with prefectural politics, 
appeased [the powers to be] by choosing the policy of preservation of 
the original landowning system. But on the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands 
there was resistance against the uniform head tax introduced since they 
were under rule by the Satsuma han and against the government s selling 
off com m unal land and fishing grounds (iriaichi) cheaply to powerful 
noblem en and m erchants ... (Translated and underlined by A.B.)
In the passage above, in one long sentence, colonial policy in Hokkaido 
towards the indigenous Ainu people, including the prom ulgation of the 
Hokkaido Form er Aboriginal People Protection Law and as one of its prom inent 
consequences, the forced removal of the Ainu to ‘ protected territories’ and the 
forced im position on them of the Japanese language (nihongo) and of Japanese 
names (nihonshiki no namae), are m entioned. The text continues w ith related 
policies in Okinawa but it does not m ention the issue of the language at all, even 
though it was Ryukyuan, a language related to Japanese but differing to the extent 
that they were m utually unintelligible, which was the language of the Ryukyu 
kingdom before the incorporation of Ryukyu into Japan as Okinawa.
From this difference in the treatm ent of Hokkaido and Okinawa it can be 
surmised that, to the authors, language policies towards the newly acquired 
minorities were just a m arginal issue in the historical context.
The next mention of nihongo occurs in Chapter 17, ‘The Industrial Revolution 
and the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese Wars’ (Sangyö kakumei to Nisshin- 
Nichiro sensö). In Section 1. ‘The Sino-Japanese War’ (Nisshin sensö) under the hea­
ding ‘Taiwan and Korea After the Sino-Japanese War’ (Nisshin sensö go no Taiwan 
to Chösen) as cited below, the Japanese language is mentioned in the context of 
Japanese policies in Taiwan which was ceded to Japan after the Sino-Japanese War:2 2 
In 1895 in Taiwan, which had become a Japanese territory, there was a 
strong resistance movem ent spearheaded by the islanders. Japan sent the 
army to suppress it. Furtherm ore, the Taiwan G overnors Office (Taiwan 
sötokufu) was established with a former m arine soldier being sent in as 
the first governor. The Taiwan islanders were forced to become subjects 
of Imperial Tapan through assimilatorv policies such as being forced to
22 Ibid., p. 263.

learn Japanese. In addition, a land ownership registry as well as a tax 
system were set up, and the construction of roads, railways and ports was 
undertaken. In 1897, the Bank of Taiwan ( Taiwan ginkö) was established 
and the ground was laid for Japanese companies to advance into Taiwan. 
(Translated and underlined by A.B.)
Here, even though it is short, we have a straightforward description of Japans 
language policy orientation in Taiwan. It is interesting to note that later on, too, in 
the context of the colonial rule of Korea, policies such as the forced introduction 
of Japanese as the only language in public and education or forced nam e changes 
(söshi kaimei) are also mentioned.
The longest passage related to kokugo, language policies and education is also 
in Chapter 17, Section 5. ‘ Culture in the Meiji Period’ (Meiji no bunka):2 3
Since 1886, elementary school textbooks were subject to government 
approval (kenteisei) and from 1903 onwards they became government- 
designated (kokuteisei). As for the subjects taught lapanese grammar was 
being developed, the national language (kokugo) was established and the 
teaching of standard language (hyöiungo) began both in Tapan proper and 
in Taiwan, which had become a lapanese colony and also [songs such as ] 
Chocho (Butterfly) and Hotaru no hikari (‘The Light of Fireflies’ , actually a 
remake of Auld Lang Syne), based on Western musical scales, were sung in 
chorus. In 1907 compulsory education was extended from four to six years 
and the rate of elementary school attendance, which was 50% in the middle 
of the Meiji period, increased to 95%. (Translated and underlined by A.B.)
In this passage, im portant developments such as progress on the codification 
of Japanese grammar, the introduction of kokugo as a subject in school textbooks 
and the teaching of standard Japanese (hyöjungo) within Japan proper (which 
seems to include, according to the authors, the so called gaichi external territories 
such as Okinawa and Hokkaido) as well as in Taiwan, the only colony at that 
time, are mentioned. W hile this is the m ost exhaustive m ention in any of the 
textbooks that were examined, even here it seems that the intent was not so m uch 
to explain the far-reaching developments in language-related issues, as to stress 
the steps made towards modernization. This observation is underlined by the 
fact that the passage devoted to language policy developments is expressed in the 
same sentence as the reference to the introduction of Western musical scales and 
W estern singing into the curriculum.
Under the next heading ‘The Formation of M odern Literature’ (Kindai bungaku 
no seiritsu), immediately after, new developments on the literary scene based on the 
contemporary spoken language and the genbun itchi movement are introduced.2 4
23 Ibid, pp. 279-280.
24 Ibid., p. 280.

Even after Meiji, works by light fiction (gesaku) authors such as Kanagaki 
Robun (1829-1894), for example Aguranabe, were popular, and people 
continued to enjoy rom antic narratives (yom ihon) and decadent love 
stories (ninjöbon); fiction genres, translations of European literature such 
as ‘ A round the World in Eighty Days’ (Le tour du monde en quatre-vingts 
jours by Jules Verne), and translations of political novels by members of 
the civil rights movem ent (minken undöka) were also popular.
In 1885, Tsubouchi Shöyö criticized light fiction and political novels 
and in his work ‘The Essence of a Novel’ (Shösetsu shinzui) stressed the 
im portance for novels to be realistic, that is, to faithfully depict hum an 
psychology and mores. Subsequently in 1882, Futabatei Shimei criticized 
Tsubouchi, stressing that what was im portant was realism based in 
ideology and wrote the novel Ukigumo (Floating Clouds) written in a 
simple colloquial style, thus establishing the base of the m odern novel. 
Moreover, at about the same time, Yamada Bimvo began the genbun 
itchi (convergence of spoken and written language) movem ent to make 
the w ritten style closer to the colloquial language, and in 1885, together 
with Ozaki Kovo, he established Ken’ yüsha (The Com pany of Ink Stone 
Friends'), and in 1888 the first dilettanti literary magazine Garakuta bunko 
(Trash Library) was established. (Translated and underlined by A.B.)
In the cited segment, in the context of m ore traditional developments, efforts 
at m odernization in literature through the translation of representative works 
of Western literature (at the tim e Verne’ s A round the World in Eighty Days was 
considered as such) are introduced. The genbun itchi movement is introduced 
more as one of the articles on the list of im portant Meiji cultural events. Its relation 
to the pioneering work of Futabatei Shimei is not obvious at all in this context. 
Such treatm ent of language policy developments points to the conclusion that, 
in this context, the authors had no serious intent to show the im portance of the 
chosen language policies of Meiji Japan for the m odernization project p er se, but, 
on the other hand, used the facts as an illustration of the various m odernizing 
efforts undertaken at the time.
Colonial language policies in Korea are m entioned in Chapter 21. ‘The 
Pacific War’ (Taiheiyö sensö), Section 1. ‘The Beginning of Japanese-American 
Hostilities and the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Zone’ (Nichibei kaisen to 
Daitöa kyöeiken) under the heading ‘The Real Face of the Greater East Asia Co- 
Prosperity Zone’ (Daitöa kyöeiken no jitsuzö) we have:2 5
Korea, because of the war, was seen as the base for the provision of 
necessary materials, and the policies of turning people into Tapanese
25 Ibid., pp. 330.

imperial subjects (köminka seisaku). such as through forced praying at 
Shinto shrines and the forced use of lapanese at schools, were thoroughly 
implemented. In 1939 the change of [Koreanl names into lapanese-stvle 
names (söshi kaimei) was enforced and in 1944 the military draft was 
introduced, which in 1945 was applied to Taiwan as well. W omen were 
organized into female working groups (teishintai) to work in m ilitary 
industry factories or were sent to the front as com fort women’ (ianfu) 
together with young women from the Philippines and elsewhere. 
Japan repressed the people who resisted [such policies], and num erous 
Koreans and Chinese war prisoners were forced to work in coal mines 
and elsewhere. The policy of turning people into Japanese imperial 
subjects was also im plemented in M anchuria and [the people there] were 
mobilized for war purposes or for the exploitation of natural resources 
<5>. (Translated and underlined by A.B.)
Here again language assimilation policies are m entioned but there are no 
details as to what was actually happening in the area of language. The same is true 
of the forced changes of Korean surnames and forenames into Japanese names. 
All the events are listed as instances of a wider assimilatory policy. Furtherm ore, 
a few lines later a similar situation in SE Asia is m entioned:2 6
O n the other hand, in SE Asia, Tapan established puppet regimes under 
military rule, and as in Korea and Taiwan, enforced praying at Shinto 
shrines and the spread of the lapanese language. Thus, the Japanese army, 
while taking possession of oil, iron ore, rubber, w ood and other strategic 
materials by force, continued to mobilize the people and forced them to 
produce rice or other goods. (Translated and underlined by A.B.)
Here again we have a description of the contem porary situation as a list of 
policy steps: besides plundering natural and hum an resources, there is also the 
forced use of the Japanese language and forced obedience to religious rites such 
as praying at Shinto shrines.
3.3 “Serious” Works for the General Audience
The Nihonshi B textbook published by Sanseido is the one that m ost amply 
covers the language issue am ong all the examined textbooks. The passages cited 
above exhaust the topics covered by all the textbooks analyzed for this study. 
Examination of the m aterial in Section 3.2 shows that there was some concern with 
language policy issues during the Meiji period and pre-war Japan. Nonetheless, 
in spite of the im portance of the issue, in the textbooks, this concern does not go
26 Ibid., pp. 331.

beyond introducing such examples as merely illustrations or instances of wider 
trends.
In order to put the textbook analysis into proper perspective, I further 
examined two m onographs and two encyclopedias. O ne of the m onographs is 
one of the 7 tomes in a series of m onographs on the Japanese language.2 7 The 
other is a m onograph on the cultural history of language, focusing on Japanese in 
its cultural and historical context by Sugimoto.2 8 One of the two encyclopedias is 
devoted to linguistics in general.2 9 The other is an encyclopedia explicitly covering 
various facts pertaining to the Japanese language.3 0
3.4 Analysis of Works for the General Audience
For the sake of expediency, the following shorthand will be used for the 
sources analyzed:
Kamei Takashi et al. (Eds.), (1965, /20071) Nihongo no rekishi 6 (The History 
of Japanese 6) -> (1);
Sugimoto Tsutomu (1982) Kotoba no bunkashi (The Cultural H istory of 
Language) (2);
Kamei Takashi et al. (Eds.), (1996) Gengogaku daijiten (The Great [Ency­
clopedic] Dictionary of Linguistics) -> (3)
Kindaichi Haruhiko et al. (1990) Nihongo hyakka daijiten (The Great 
Encyclopedia of the Japanese Language) -> (4).
Three issues pertaining to the Japanese language were examined: the nature 
of the Japanese language and kokugo, the treatm ent of autochthonous minorities 
in Ryukyu/Okinawa and in Hokkaido, and language policies in Japan’ s colonies.
3.4.1 The Nature of the Japanese Language and Kokugo
Kamei et al. eds. (1965/2007) and Kamei et al. eds. 1996, i.e., sources (1) 
and (3) present a rather detailed discussion of what constitutes kokugo, and 
make explicit its tem poral and spatial characteristics. A characteristic aspect 
of this discussion is the systematic use of minzokugo (ethnic language) instead 
of kokugo (national language) in contexts where it is technically impossible to
27 Takashi Kamei, Toshio Yamada & Tokihiko Otö (eds.), Nihongo no rekishi 6: atarashii kokugo e no 
ayumi [History o f the Japanese Language vol. 6: Steps Toward the New National Language]. Tokyo: 
Heibonsha, 1965/2007.
28 Tsutomu Sugimoto, Kotoba no bunkashi: Nihongo no kigen kara gendaigo made [The Cultural history 
o f Language: From the Origins to Modern Japanese]. Tokyo: Öfusha, 1982.
29 Kamei Takashi, Rokuro Kôno & Eiichi Chino (eds.), Gengogaku daijiten 2: Sekai gengo hen [The 
Great Dictionary o f Linguistics vol. 2: Languages o f the World], Tokyo: Sanseido, 1996.
30 Haruhiko Kindaichi, Takeshi Shibata & Hayashi Oki (eds.), Nihongo hyakka daijiten [The Great 
Encyclopedia of the Japanese Language]. Tokyo: Taishukan, 1990.

use the latter. W hat is interesting, is the view that the idea of kokugo was in a 
latent form already present in the thought of kokugakusha (national scholars) 
of the Tokugawa period, in the notion of mikuni kotoba (the language of the 
noble land) referring to the language of Japan as opposed to Chinese. At the 
same time (1) distinguishes a clear cut difference between kokugakusha s mikuni 
kotoba and the notion of kokugo, introduced during the Meiji period. The former 
has the nuance of preservation of the existing vernacular cultural heritage, as 
opposed to the perceived encroachm ent of classical Chinese, while the latter is 
connected with the m odernizing project of developing latent linguistic potentials 
as a com m unication m edium . Kamei et al. in source (1) also make explicit the 
difference between kokugo (the national language [of Japan]) and nihongo (the 
Japanese language) as two different notions, pointing out the polysemy in the use 
of kokugo: (i) language recognized as one nation’ s own language; (ii) in particular
- Japanese; (iii) Japanese linguistic elements remaining after the removal of 
Sino-Japanese lexical elements, i.e., proper Japanese elements; (iv) not just as an 
object of scholarly study, but Japanese as a subject in the school curriculum in 
the existing educational system. Thus, kokugo is inappropriate as a term for the 
object of scientific linguistic study, which can only be nihongo - Japanese. From 
the point of view of kokugogaku (kokugo studies), the scientific study of Japanese 
is relevant only as a means for the advancement of kokugogaku, and not as an 
inherent goal of scientific study in itself.3 1
The description in source (3), it being an encyclopedic dictionary of 
linguistics, is less explicit because of the lim ited am ount of space, but the relevant 
text is by the same author, Kamei, following the same lines as (l).3 2 The overall 
impression both sources give is that of an impartial, objective approach to the 
realities concerning the development of the Japanese language.
Source (2), i.e., Sugimoto, being a m onograph on the cultural history 
of language, illustrated w ith the developments in Japanese, is less extensive 
in coverage than (1). Here, kokugo as a notion is given no explicit treatment, 
though political implications of kokugo education are m entioned from a critical 
standpoint in several places. Thus there is a critical assessment of kanji policies, 
a critique of the goals the Meiji government had with kokugo kyöiku (national 
language education) at the expense of regional varieties of Japanese, and finally, a 
critical assessment of the results of Meiji style kokugo kyöiku, i.e., the long lasting 
split between the elite’ center and the coarse’ countryside.
The language policies in Meiji are explained in the context of Meiji state 
policies and goals for the m odernization and militarization of Japan.
31 Kamei et al., Nihongo no rekishi 6, pp. 197-202.
32 Kamei et al., Gengogaku daijiten 2, pp. 1629-32.

Source (4)3 3 treats kokugo as a given fact. There is no discussion of its historical 
and ideological properties.3 4 The Japanese state and its language are presented as 
an unchanging and unproblem atic tem poral continuum at least since the first half 
of the 1st m illennium CE.3 5 Such a view is in clear contradiction with established 
historical facts and is a clear case of projection of the present state of affairs onto 
the past. In this context the use of the emotionally and politically loaded term 
wagakuni (our country), not found in the other three sources, is emblematic.3 6
In our country (wagakuni) there was no indigenous system of letters to 
write the language of one s own country. From the 4th to the 5th century CE, 
through contact with Chinese characters which were introduced together 
with cultural artefacts from China, writing became known. Since then, 
using various devices, Chinese characters, i.e., the characters for writing 
Chinese, came to be used for writing Japanese. (Translated by A. B.)
3.4.2 Autochthonous Minorities - Ryukyu/Okinawa and Ainu
Sources (1) and (3). In source (1) the harsh treatm ent of Okinawa, including 
the use of högen fu d a “dialect placards” in relation to teaching the standard 
language, is m entioned in detail.3 7 O n the other hand, the same source does not 
m ention the cultural and linguistic assimilation of the Ainu.
In source (3) autochthonous m inorities are treated under extensive entries 
devoted to the Ryukuyu/Okinawan language and the Ainu language while under 
the entry covering the history of the Japanese language, they are not mentioned.
Source (2). The Ainu people and language are m entioned only in the context 
of the origins and genetic affiliation of Japanese. Ryukyu/Okinawan receives no 
m ention.3 8
Source (4). The highhanded treatm ent of the Ainu and Ryukyu/Okinawa 
people as m ere minorities is conspicuous. The issue of preserving m inorities’ 
linguistic and cultural identities is presented as too petty for the Japanese state to 
occupy itself with. In addition, Ryukyu/Okinawan is m entioned as a dialect, even 
though it is totally unintelligible for people from the Japanese m ainland islands 
and although it had an independent written tradition as a separate literary and 
colloquial language before the annexation to Japan. The repression of dialects 
(högen bokumetsu) is m entioned (without specifics) as an accidental fact which, in
33 Kindaichi et al„ Nihongo hyakka daijiten, pp. 1227-1242.
34 Ibid., p. 1227.
35 Ibid., p. 1229.
36 Ibid., p. 1229. The emotional load of wagakuni can be observed, among others, on blogs, such as 
Internet source: http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/success0965/11335415.html (retreived April 16, 2011).
37 Kamei et al., Nihongo no rekishi 6, pp. 367-8.
38 Sugimoto, Kotoba no bunkashi, pp. 282-298.

the less rigid atmosphere after W W II, was “unfortunately” perceived as coercion 
and the enforcement of hyöjungo “standard language” .3 9
3.4.3 Language Policies in the Colonies
W ith Korea being directly annexed and prepared for cultural and linguistic 
assimilation, and Taiwan also being under very close colonial rule, language 
policies in the pre-war Japanese colonies were closely connected with language 
policies in naichi (m ainland Japan). In the light of research done by Osa4 0 and 
Yasuda4 1 among others, on the intrinsic relationship between script reforms in 
the colonies and the m ainland, it is surprising that this issue receives no m ention 
in any of the examined materials.
4. DISCUSSION
Source (1), Kamei et al. (eds.), (1965 /2007) is a work m eant for both experts 
and for the wider public. Similarly, Source (2), Sugimoto is a work m ore oriented 
towards the general public and technically not very demanding. On the other 
hand, Source (3), Kamei et al. (eds.), (1996) being an encyclopedic dictionary of 
linguistics, is a technical work prim arily m eant as a reference for fellow linguists.
All three sources, despite some limitations, and regardless of w hether they are 
m eant for the general public or for experts, provide a rather objective treatm ent of 
relevant issues. They share a com m on focus: while presenting relevant linguistic 
facts concerning the development of Japanese, they also introduce a considerable 
am ount of social, cultural and historic contextual inform ation in a polemic mode.
Source (4), Kindaichi et al. (eds.), (1990), being an encyclopedic dictionary 
of the Japanese language, is basically also intended as a reference work for a 
more technically dem anding audience of experts working on various aspects 
of Japanese language (from teaching Japanese as the first language to teaching 
it as a second language and for linguistic and philological research). It presents 
technical facts while providing less context for their understanding. W hen the 
context is given at all, facts from the context tend to be presented in a mechanistic 
way, not revealing the causal relationship with the linguistic facts. Thus, the 
entries examined in (4) do not compare well with related parts of the other three 
works; they seem to be less scientifically rigorous and reflect a m ore utilitarian 
approach com m on in m ainstream kokugogaku. In (4), a priori identification with
39 Kindaichi et al., Nihongo hyakka daijiten, pp. 1228.
40 Osa, Kindai Nihon to kokka nashonarizumu.
41 Yasuda, Shokuminchi no nakano ‘ kokugogaku; Yasuda, Kokugo to högen no aida; Yasuda 'Gengo' no 
kochiku.

utilitarian goals of prom oting the national language may be seen in particular 
from the treatm ent of the nature of kokugo and the Japanese language. It seems 
that there is no distinction between the two. This is in stark contrast with the 
treatm ent in Kamei et al.,4 2 which gives a clear picture of the loose usage of the 
term kokugo. Also, in Kindaichi’ s treatm ent there seems to be an ideologically 
based temporal and spatial projection of the term backwards in time and to the 
territory of the m odern Japanese state. In addition, the coercive phase of the 
introduction of standard language (hyöjungo), involving deeply divisive issues 
such as the aforem entioned use of högen nfuda “dialect placards” , is presented so 
as to imply that such practices m ight have only been a remote possibility. Other 
authors (i.e., Kamei et al.) treat this issue in a m uch m ore critical way.
One thing com m on to all the materials is the omission of any treatm ent 
of language policies in the colonies. This omission may reveal an implicit 
understanding of priorities, i.e., that the Japanese language is indeed a kokugo 
(national language) whose relevant treatm ent is necessarily limited to the 
territory of the nation in question. One further fact supporting this view is also the 
systematic omission in all four materials of any m ention of the language problems 
of the rather num erous Japanese diaspora in the USA and South America.
5. CONCLUSION
Consistent, state-endorsed and often state-enforced language policies 
since from approximately the second half of the Meiji period onwards, which, 
although they finally failed in colonial territories were successful in the “inner 
provinces” (naichi) as well as in Hokkkaido and Okinawa, achieved a high degree 
of homogeneity regarding linguistic and ethnic identity in Japan by the first half 
of the twentieth century.
As m entioned earlier in Section 3.2, examination of the material taken from 
the Nihonshi B textbook published by Sanseido, shows some concern with language 
policy issues during Meiji and pre-war Japan. The passages cited above exhaust 
the topics covered by the textbooks analyzed for this study. Nonetheless, in spite 
of the importance of the issue, in the textbooks, this concern does not go beyond 
introducing such examples as merely illustrations or instances of wider trends.
O n the other hand, the four general works examined devoted to language 
issues go into m ore detail as com pared with the textbooks. Yet, in their view of 
the linguistic processes involving the Japanese language, they do display hints of 
biases based on the identification of language with the territorial nation-state.
42 Kamei et al., Nihongo no rekishi 6, pp. 201-202.

Kindaichi et al.4 3 clearly emerges as the odd m an out with its apparent lack of 
objective reflection and clearly discernible patriotic fervor seen in the projection 
of the m odern hom ogenized nation state and its national language image back 
into times when both the social and political organization as well as the linguistic 
situation were entirely different from those in a m odern nation state.
This “projectionist” view of national language may also be behind the 
paradoxical perception and omission of im portant Japanese language related 
issues in the textbooks.
Such a tendency may seem surprising at a time when the perception of past 
events, due to distance in tim e and advances in research, is expected to have 
become mature. Yet it seems this is not an isolated tendency. As also reflected in 
perceptions in Kindaichi et al., the research tradition of kokugo, i.e. projecting 
kokugo back into history to the linguistic practices of the pre-m odern inhabitants 
of Japan, succeeded, it seems, in transform ing kokugo into an entity existing 
beyond time, akin to the air people breathe, but never questioned in its essence.
Indeed, if we view the national language as basically being present since time 
im m em orial and being homogeneously spread all over the national territory, 
with the dialects, once safely subdued under the standardization being just a 
charm ing addition of the local colour, then the radical and profound language 
reforms being im plem ented during the later part of the Meiji period, do not 
appear as such at all. They are just reforms in a long string of language reforms, 
which after W W II also include periodical adjustments of the kanji to be learned 
or of the kana orthography Thus, these reforms, being just one episode in a long 
series of such changes, in the view of the history textbook authors indeed do not 
deserve the attention of high school children cram m ing for the entrance exams, 
and as such, can be happily omitted. W hich is exactly what seems to be the case.
Such a view is reflected not only in history and kokugo textbooks which offer 
no m ention of the genesis of M odern Japanese and its im portance for the State 
of Japan, but is also reflected in the parallel development in the sphere of kokugo 
research itself. The so called Kokugo shi, histories of kokugo, even those written 
by respected scholars,4 4 skip the socio-political and historical circumstances of 
the genesis of m odern language almost completely. And it is no coincidence, that 
it is only from the late 1980s or early 1990s onwards that the aforem entioned 
comparatively younger generation of critical kokugo scholars, sociologists, 
literature researchers and historians (Lee, Osa, Yasuda, Komori etc...) have started 
delving critically and systematically into the ideological, cultural, social, political 
and historical circumstances of the ‘birth and life’ of M odern Japanese.
43 Kindaichi et al., Nihongo hyakka daijiten.
44 Kamei et al. (eds.), Nihongo no rekishi 6; M inoru Watanabe, Nihongo shi yosetsu [ The Essential History 
o f Japanese}. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten Publishers, 1999.

The m arginal view of the 'kokugo mondai’ (national language issue) that we 
have seen in the analyzed textbook material, is thus a natural consequence of a 
certain view of society in general and history in particular, where language is 
perceived as a context and not as one of the essential factors contributing towards 
developments in society, and at the same tim e is shaped by those developments. 
It is hoped that this new perception of the role of language and the advances in 
the research of Japan’ s history and society based on this perception, will someday 
also trickle down to the high school textbook compilers.
This study is just the first step into an enquiry of the treatm ent of the national 
language and language policy in general in Japanese high school textbooks. The 
level of analysis is basically descriptive and no attempts have yet been m ade to 
put the findings into theoretical perspective. It is hoped that with a wider am ount 
of relevant m aterial examined it will also be possible to tackle the problem from 
a more theoretically based approach, ensuring that a more refined picture of the 
problem may emerge in the future.
NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The research presented in this paper was supported by JSPS and ARRS project 
funding. Earlier versions were presented on several occasions: A Comparative 
Analysis of Textbooks for H istory in Japan and Slovenia: Structures, Contents 
and Interpretations W orkshops (“Conspicuous Absence” , 1st Workshop, INZ, 
Ljubljana, 30-31 August 2010; “Images of Pre-W W II: National Language Policies 
as Reflected in the Field of ‘National Language Studies’ Itself” , 2nd Workshop, 
Tokyo, 17-18 December, 2010; “One Country, One People, One Language, Since 
Ever: A Com parison of Backward Projection of Language in The Case of the 
Ex-Yugoslavia Region and Japan” , 3rd Workshop, Ljubljana, 2 September, 2011; 
“One country, One People, One Language: the View of the Natural State of Affairs 
in Japan and Southeast Europe” , 4th Workshop, Tokyo, 16 December, 2011; ); 
“Conspicuous Absence: A Perception of Pre-W W II National Language Policies 
in Japan as Reflected in History Textbooks and ’ National Language Studies' 
Writings” , CRLAO / CNRS-EHESS, 24th Paris M eeting on East Asian Linguistics 
(30 Jun - 1 July, 2011); “ A Conspicuous Absence of Concern or One Country, 
One People, One Language, Since Ever” , University of Tsukuba Graduate School 
of Humanities and Social Sciences GNP W orkshop “State Power: Language and 
Identity” (Tokyo, 17 February, 2012); “One Country, One People, One Language, 
Since Ever” , The 2nd International Symposium of the D epartm ent of Asian 
and African Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, “Im provement In

Com m unication” (14-16 M arch 2012). Last but not least, my warm thanks to 
ARRS and JSPS for providing support for this project and to my collaborators for 
their stimulating com m ents and fruitful ferment.