East Asian Community : Facing up to History (Reconciliation)

神奈川県茅ヶ崎市 Recently the movement seeking to establish an economic political community in East Asia has become increasing active. The movement originally emerged in 1997 when East Asian countries responded to the Asian financial crisis by holding the summit talks of ASEAN+3 (Japan, China and South Korea). Since then ASEAN+3 summit talks have been held annually, and in 2005 India, Australia, and New Zealand also began to participate. Therefore it is possible to say that, following the example of the European Community/Union, a route to the unification of the region has now been established. In this situation it is not wise to have political disputes among East Asian states. Actually, the first step to regional integration is to build trust among the respective countries of the region. To build trust a concrete policy is required. Therefore the main aim of this essay is to highlight an attempt to publish single history teaching material in three East Asian countries as an example of developing regional trust. Firstly, in this article, we shall trace the development of an East Asian Community. Secondly, we shall introduce the issue of school history textbooks in Japan, which has the potential to lead to political disputes. Finally, we shall consider the example of single history teaching material as a way for building harmonious relationships among East Asian countries