Elementary school textbook publisher prints alternate, tsunami story-free material (JAPAN)

[AsahinaKimi]

The fifth-grade Japanese textbook pictured here includes a portrayal of a massive tsunami, prompting the publisher to issue alternative materials for teachers who deem it too soon after the March 11 disaster for their students to handle. (Mainichi)

The publisher of a textbook that includes a story about a man who saved people from tsunami over 150 years ago has issued alternate materials in case teachers judge it is too immediate for their students to stomach after the March 11 quake and tsunami.

The story is based on a biography called "Hyakunen-go no furusato o mamoru" (Protecting our hometown 100 years from now) about Gihei Hamaguchi (1820-85) -- the then proprietor of what has become a major soy sauce manufacturer -- and how he saved the residents of what is now the Wakayama Prefecture town of Hirogawa after the 1854 Ansei-Nankai Earthquake. The story "Inamura no hi" (Burning rice fields) is used in fifth grade Japanese language textbooks currently distributed by Mitsumura Tosho Publishing Co. as an introduction to "Hyakunen-go." Its appearance in this school year's text line-up marks its first in 64 years.

The tale includes various episodes from Gihei's life, including how he lit stacked bales of hay on fire to guide residents who'd lost their way in the darkness of the night toward higher ground, and helped build levees by offering to cover the costs with his personal fortune.

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