The Yomiuri Shimbun
Given the devastation caused by last month's massive tsunami, schoolteachers are increasingly concerned about how to teach disaster-related subjects in class.
A textbook for fifth-grade primary school students includes a true story that vividly describes the terror of the tsunami triggered by the Ansei-Nankai Earthquake in 1854.
Based on documents, the story, titled "Protecting hometowns 100 years on," tells of a man in what is now Wakayama Prefecture who helped people evacuate from their villages. The aim of the story is to emphasize the importance of people working together whenever a natural disaster occurs.
However, teachers fear that if they use the text in class, students will become more traumatized. "It could deepen the psychological damage they have already experienced," they say.
In response to the teachers' concern, the publisher of the textbook, Tokyo-based Mitsumura Tosho Publishing Co., is considering replacing the material in question with something less stressful. The textbook is to be used in Japanese classes.
Prof. Yoshiaki Kawata of Kansai University, an expert on antidisaster measures who wrote the story in question, said he understood the reluctance shown by teachers to teach the material in class.
"I think schools and others concerned should teach the material, but perhaps at a later date," he said.
Stressing the importance of antidisaster education, Kawata said: "It's necessary for children to learn how to protect themselves from disaster. To this end, disaster education across the nation should not put on the back burner. I would like the material to be taught at schools at least in areas not affected by the March 11 disaster."
The story Kawata wrote gives a graphic description of the power of a tsunami: "Houses near the beach were destroyed by the first big wave. The second wave killed people, and wrecked houses and other property were swept away by the third wave. The voices of agony and sorrow filled the mountains and fields."
The publisher says the textbook has a 62 percent share of the market nationwide and has been adopted by many local governments in the devastated areas. The tsunami story is expected to be used in class around June.
In Yamadamachi, Iwate Prefecture, the textbook has been adopted by nine primary schools.
Yoshiyuki Kuwahara, 50, vice principal of Yamada-Minami Primary School, is concerned about how the school's 300 students will react to the story. About 30 percent of the students lost their homes in the tsunami triggered by the Great East Japan Earthquake.
"The text includes descriptions of events similar to those that occurred this time, meaning that it might bring back bad memories to those who read it," he said.
The school will consider when or whether to teach the story, while keeping a close eye on the mental condition of the students.
The head teacher of a primary school in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, where nearly 400 residents have been reported dead or missing, said the school plans to respond positively to a homeroom teacher's request to think more about the students.
Since April 21, Mitsumura Tosho Publishing has been interviewing board of education officials in Aomori, Iwate, Fukushima and Ibaraki prefectures, and is prepared to distribute replacement material to schools in pamphlet form.
"[The story in question] provides a good subject in relation to antidisaster education, but if there is a possibility it'll add to the psychological burden of students, we'll definitely have to do something," a senior official of the publisher said.
(Apr. 29, 2011)
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