The Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform describes their goal as combatting what it sees as masochistic depictions of Japanese history.[3] They argue that textbooks focus too heavily on dark aspects of Japanese history, so as to make Japan solely bear responsibility for the devastation of war. The group also claims that post-war American occupation attempted to mold Japanese perceptions of history so as to prevent the country from becoming a threat to international security again.[4]
In 1999 the group set up advertising organizations for their new textbook in each prefecture of Japan and in 2000, along with other nationalist NGOs in Japan, they began lobbying boards of education to adopt the new textbook. Additionally, members of the Liberal Democratic Party set up associations to support the Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform. The textbook was ultimately approved, but received domestic and international criticism. Due to criticism, the textbook was adopted by only 0.05 percent of junior high schools in Japan.[5]
Their history textbook Atarashii rekishi kyōkasho (新しい歴史教科書, New History Textbook) , published from Fusosha (扶桑社), was heavily criticised for not including full accounts of or downplaying Imperial Japanese war crimes during World War II, such as the Nanjing Massacre, the Kantō Massacre, and the policy of utilizing comfort women.
The textbook also highlights Japan's claim to the Liancourt Rocks, which Japan calls Takeshima and which South Korea calls Dokdo; as well as the Senkaku Islands, called Diaoyu in Chinese, which are administered by Japan and claimed by both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China (Taiwan).