근세 한일관계

Abstract

This study compares the features of the contents on Korea-Japan relations in the early modern period in the six Japanese history textbooks approved for use by high school students by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) in 2007 with those of previously published government-approved textbooks. The results of the study are as follows. All of the textbooks feature contents on bilateral relations in the Edo Period, including Chosŏn’s dispatch of T’ongsinsa (Korean embassies to Japan), mostly in the early Edo Period, as required by their format (that is, the textbooks are composed of units). These contents are stated in small units under the following titles: “The restoration of diplomatic relations with neighboring countries,” “Diplomatic relations between Korea and Ryukyu and Ezochi (the land of the Ezo or Ainu),” and “The completion of the policy of closing the country’s doors and the four channels of contact with the outside world.” It appears that the contents on Korea-Japan relations in the early modern period in the textbooks approved by MEXT in 2007 are little different from those in textbooks used in the 1990s, although the coverage of the relevant contents has been conspicuously reduced. Compared to those used in the 1990s, which contained relevant statements on various matters, such as diplomacy, trade, cultural exchanges, mutual recognition,and international perspectives, the newly published textbooks make such statements only on two matters, diplomacy and trade. Concerning the contents on Korea (Chosŏn) during the Edo Period, the new textbooks place them equally with those on Ryukyu and Ezo, with some containing many more statements on Ryukyu and Ezochi than earlier textbooks. Such a change is the result of the textbook compilers’ compliance with the MEXT’s Guidelines for Teaching High School Students (concerning geography and history, 1999), which instructed them to make statements on the country’s foreign relations in the Edo Period with the focus on the practice of designating four areas as the channels of contact with the outside world under the closed door policy.