Putting the fox in charge of guarding the hen coop is asking for trouble. In relying on Japan's Ministry of Education to implement education reforms during the Occupation (1945-52), U.S. authorities ensured that their good intentions would come to naught.
Despite efforts at decentralization and devolution of authority over textbook content, by 1958 the central government bureaucrats reasserted control over what was taught in Japan's schools.
In a book brimming with interesting findings and stimulating analysis, one of the most striking observations concerns the relative stability of history textbook content in post-World War II Japan. Rather than converging on global trends as seen in the Germanys, history education in Japan from 1950-2005 remained relatively unchanged. According to Dierkes, bureaucrats managed to insulate textbook content from contemporary debates and discourse.