World War II Suicide Lesson In Textbooks Protested

Protesters in Japan want new history textbooks rewritten to tone down an incident that happened in WWII. The incident in question involved the invasion of Okinawa by the United States.

More than 200,000 Japanese died during the invasion. Hundreds of those were by suicide. The Japanese army handed out grenades to civilians for the purpose of mass suicides instead of the country being taken over by the United States. Some of the survivors have stated that the Army instructed them to commit suicide as a means of honour. It was considered shameful to be captured in the war. The governor of Okinawa, Hirokazu Nakaima, told crowds the episode should not be forgotten.

"We cannot bury the fact that the Japanese military was involved in the mass suicide, taking into account of the general background and testimonies that hand grenades were delivered," he said. More than 100,000 people though are rallying against the textbooks. They wish that the incident wasn't mentioned or at least toned down. The textbooks are slated to be used for high school students next year.