Japan law would put patriotism on school curricula for first time since World War II
Japan's lower house of parliament has approved a new bill requiring schools to teach patriotism.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, right, accompanied by Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma, bows after Japan's lower house approved legislation on May 18, requiring schools to teach patriotism.
AP/Itsuo Inouye
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling coalition voted for the bill, which would cite "loving our country" as a goal of Japanese education, despite the opposition's warning that it could spread nationalism.
The new legislation will be sent to the upper house for further debate. It is expected to become law next month.
If passed, it will be the first time since World War II that Japan has included patriotism as part of the national curriculum for all elementary and junior high school students.
Approval is likely to trigger concerns from neighboring China and South Korea, which suffered under Japan's aggression in the last century.
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South Korea has voiced concerns about another pending bill in Japan that would set referenda procedures for constitutional amendments, establishing the first legal framework to rewrite the country's post-World War II pacifist Constitution.
South Korea has accused of Japan of seeking to exercise the right to collective self-defense in order to play a larger military role outside its territory, calling to mind Japan's imperialistic expansionism and harsh military occupation of the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945.
