The Analysis of Contents of High School History Textbooks in Japan between 1881-1894 : The Different Educational Functions of Japanese and Foreign History Studies

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the contents of high school history textbooks in Japan between 1881-1894. The conclusion is summarized as follows: The history textbooks analyzed in this paper are those which first differentiated between the educational functions of Japanese and foreign history. Those educational functions are based on two views of history, and it was based on these educational functions that the content of the textbooks was determined, and later revised, up until World War Two.