HEADQUARTERS
37TH NATIONAL CONVENTION HELD IN TOKYO
On May 27 and 28, the above meeting was held, where they firstly summarized the past (41st term) activity and then discussed the coming program of movement in the 42nd term, which was followed by the election of officers for the coming term. At the end of the convention, they adopted a declaration that stipulates the action plan and three resolutions: “We claim no change of the present Fundamental Law of Education”, “We oppose enactment of a bill relating amendment procedure of the Constitution”, and “We oppose striking reinforcement of the Japan-US Security Treaty and claim removal of the US-military bases” for the coming scientific movement.
SYMPOSIUM “THE FUNDAMENTAL LAW OF EDUCATION” ORGANIZED IN TOKYO
The government intends to mal-revise the Fundamental Law of Education as well as the Constitution of Japan. Under such circumstance, it is quite necessary to review what the Fundamental Law of Education has played on developing Japanese education since the end of World War II. The Liaison Conference of studying peace and democracy organized the above symposium on May 13, where Prof. Nakashima (Emeritus Prof. of Waseda Univ.) gave a lecture on the title “Finish education and the Fundamental Law of Education in Japan”, and Prof. Mikami (Meiji Univ.) reviewed the bill submitted to the Diet, in which the government describes many parts to adversely revise the present Fundamental Law of Education, and he also touched upon the question why the government must now adversely revise the Law in connection with mal-revising the Constitution of Japan.
LOCAL ACTIVITIES IN APRIL AND MAY
1. MIYAGI BRANCH
The 5th branch lecture meeting was held on April 8 in Sendai City, where Dr. Makino (Miyagi branch) gave a seminar on the theme “Development of rice productivity” and Dr. Hayashino (Miyagi branch) lectured on the theme “a chaos structure at the early stage of the universe”.
2. HYOGO BRANCH
A study meeting “The Constitution of Japan - what we must learn” was organized on April 19 at Kobe University, where Prof. Wada (Kobe Univ.) gave a lecture on the theme, which was followed by many comments from the floor.
3. OSAKA BRANCH
1) The study group Energy problems held a meeting on April 22, where Prof. Hiroshige (Hannan Univ.) discussed environmental ethics and philosophy.
2) In a meeting of the study group Contemporary capitalism on April 26, Prof. Iwahashi (Hannan Univ.) reviewed the financial relaxation carried out by the Bank of Japan.
3) The study group Philosophy organized a meeting on April 27, where Prof. Shirai (Okayama Univ.) gave a lecture on biological evolution, especially on the relationship between ontogeny and phylogeny.
4) The study group Hegel’s ‘The Great Logic’ held a meeting on May 6, where Prof. Makino (Hannan Univ.) discussed a part of the last volume of “The Great Logic”.
5) The Kansai-area’s colloquium for scientific workers in private enterprises was organized on May 14, where Dr. Nakano (Osaka branch) gave a seminar on the unbroken line of Emperors on the basis of the book written by Dr. Okudaira.
6) The 33rd Osaka Symposium on Comprehensive Scientific Study was held on the theme “The goal of the market principle” on May 21. Prof. Nakamoto (Osaka City Univ.) made a keynote lecture on the US’s globalization and its economic policy change, which was followed by a panel discussion on the theme.
4. OKINAWA BRANCH
On April 27, a meeting “How to make a research – lessons from the senior” was organized at Ryukyu University, Prof. Kato (Emeritus Prof. Ryukyu Univ.) gave his carrier of research of geology – his incentive to research, which was followed by two invaluable presentations on the theme.
5. TOKYO BRANCH
1) The Chuo University chapter organized a lecture meeting entitle “Contemporary imperialism and the rise of nationalism” at Chuo University on May 1, where they discussed the subject on the basis of a special volume of the above theme appeared in a journal “Nihon-no-kagakusha (Japanese scientists)”. 2) A regular meeting “Machida science forum” was held on May 15 in Machida City, where they discussed the theory “carbon dioxide-caused global warming”.
6. HOKKAIDO BRANCH
The Hokkaido science symposium was held on May 13 under the theme “Review of energy and environmental problems and the future aspect”. Presented were four papers: (1) energy and environmental problems, and local development in terms of sustainable development, (2) energy problems and global warming, (3) natural energy resources, and (4) wood-based biomass and its future, which was followed by a synthetic discussion.
7. FUKUOKA BRANCH
The 36th annual convention was held at Kyushu University, where they reviewed the past activity and discussed the coming plan of activity. Afterwards, they held a branch research meeting, where they discussed higher education and energy question, which enjoyed the participants.
STOP ADVERSE REVISION OF THE FUNDAMENTAL LAW OF EDUCATION
On April 28, the government suddenly submitted a bill to revise the Fundamental Law of Education in the hope of having it enacted in the present Diet session. Enabling the state to interfere with education and force patriotism on children, the move aims at changing the principle of the education law that has served as the basis of post-war Japan’s democracy together with the pacifist Constitution. Since the law enacted in 1947, attempts have frequently been made to adversely revise it, but this is the first time that a bill for this purpose has actually been introduced in the Diet. The bill creates education for the sake of national policy, in other words for fostering human resources suitable for carrying out the policy of “people to fight war abroad” that advocates of Constitutional revision seek. Based on the Constitution of Japan, Article 10 of the Education Law provides that education shall not to subject to improper control. What the government seeks is to change this article and make a law to enable it to interfere with educational content. Also, problematic is the phrase “to love the nation” in a bill. Of course, our stance to education has consistently attached much importance to such education that provides democratic civil morals and called for education to cultivate true patriotism and the spirit of friendship with peoples, instead of encouraging the development of a hostile attitude towards other countries or a great contempt for the peoples. The concept of democratic civil morals is of course drawn from the present Constitution and the Fundamental Law of Education as a natural conclusion. It is therefore unacceptable that the government submitted such an important bill just short time before the end of the current Diet session with the aim of ramming the bill through the Diet. We have to set forth our argument in and outside the Diet to rapidly increase the movement against the adverse revision of the education law, since the Fundamental Law of Education was enacted in 1947 on the basis of the reflection about Japanese education’s militaristic and nationalistic past that drove the people to support the war of aggression all over the Asian countries. We must therefore criticize the ruling parties and their supporters for attempting to reject constitutional principles in order to educate children to work for a war-fighting country, since inclusion of the concept of “patriotism” in the education law means legitimatizing nationalistic education. (S. YUASA)