Japan’s new education guidelines condemned for adding wartime military training item

(Xinhua) Japan’s education ministry has approved recently a new version of education guidelines, which includes for the first time jukendo, or “way of the bayonet” in the physical education curriculum for middle school students, sparking condemnation from the public.

Critics, however, point out that it is inappropriate to teach students jukendo in schools, as jukendo is in essence “a killing art,” with practitioners thrusting blunted wooden bayonets to their opponents, targeting often vital parts of the human body such as chest and throat.

There have also been concerns that as bayonet fight was a training item for the Japanese Imperial Army before and during WWII, bringing it to schools could revive nostalgia for militarism in Japan.

Source: XinhuaNet.com (April 3, 2017)

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