Japan Press Weekly

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2026 April 29 - May 12 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Teachers’ union protests against Defense Ministry’s interference in school curriculum

The All Japan Teachers and Staffs Union (Zenkyo) on May 7 held a press conference in Tokyo to protest against the Defense Ministry’s implicit pressure on elementary schools to introduce its “white paper on defense” to children.

The Ministry of Defense distributed 6,100 copies of the 2024 edition of the “Defense White Paper” for children to 2,400 elementary schools. Several schools are already using the booklet as a supplementary teaching material. The ministry included a questionnaire in each booklet asking about how the material was used.

Zenkyo Secretary General Kanai Yuko said, “If asked how the booklet was used, or even whether it was used, most schools will naturally assume it is intended for use in class.”

Kanai criticized the ministry’s implicit suggestion to use the booklet in class as “political interference” in the school curriculum.

A new edition of the booklet has been produced to serve as an introductory guide to the country’s defense policy. Zenkyo is demanding that the ministry refrain from distributing it to schools.