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Japan`s prime minister, allies at odds over religion in school
Already unpopular with the voters for his repeated slips of the tongue, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori`s grip on power is now facing a new threat - over his campaign to put more emphasis on religion in schools.
Already unpopular with the voters for his repeated slips of the tongue, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's grip on power is now facing a new threat - over his campaign to put more emphasis on religion in schools.
A growing rift within Mori's ruling coalition became public this week, after the head of a Buddhist group that is the backbone of Komeito, one of three coalition partners, denounced the campaign as a dangerous throwback to the days before World War II when Shinto was Japan's state religion.
"We absolutely must not repeat the mistakes of pre-war Japan, when the freedoms of thought and religion were trampled by compulsory religious education, Daisaku Ikeda, honorary Chairman of the Soka Gakkai, wrote in the organisation's newspaper.
Ikeda's criticisms were quickly picked up by Japan's main stream media as an indication that Mori, who just barely survived a recent no-confidence vote, could be in for more storms ahead.
Mori's government wants to update the national curriculum guidelines for the first time since 1947 to reflect contemporary social issues and encourage community service. That reform, he recently told a national television audience, should include perspective on religion in public schools.
A panel of academics advising him on educational reform cautiously endorsed his ideas last month, recommending a discussion of ways that religious sentiment could be used in lessons on morality. The issue is expected to be a major topic when parliament reopens later this month.
Bureau Report
A growing rift within Mori's ruling coalition became public this week, after the head of a Buddhist group that is the backbone of Komeito, one of three coalition partners, denounced the campaign as a dangerous throwback to the days before World War II when Shinto was Japan's state religion.
"We absolutely must not repeat the mistakes of pre-war Japan, when the freedoms of thought and religion were trampled by compulsory religious education, Daisaku Ikeda, honorary Chairman of the Soka Gakkai, wrote in the organisation's newspaper.
Ikeda's criticisms were quickly picked up by Japan's main stream media as an indication that Mori, who just barely survived a recent no-confidence vote, could be in for more storms ahead.
Mori's government wants to update the national curriculum guidelines for the first time since 1947 to reflect contemporary social issues and encourage community service. That reform, he recently told a national television audience, should include perspective on religion in public schools.
A panel of academics advising him on educational reform cautiously endorsed his ideas last month, recommending a discussion of ways that religious sentiment could be used in lessons on morality. The issue is expected to be a major topic when parliament reopens later this month.
Bureau Report