A July 27, 2020 record reproducing a Sankei Shō column that discussed a Weekly Asahi Geino report concerning an alleged “North Korean spy list” and a Ministry of Education textbook examiner.
The article raised questions about the integrity of textbook screening, the reappearance of the term “military comfort women” in history textbooks, and the rejection of a textbook submitted by the Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform.

This chapter reproduces a Sankei Shō column of July 27, 2020 that introduced an article published by Weekly Asahi Geino.
The National Diet Library’s Collaborative Reference Database confirms that the magazine article appeared in the July 30, 2020 issue of Weekly Asahi Geino on pages 152–154 under a headline concerning an alleged “North Korean spy list” and a MEXT textbook examiner.
However, on August 6, 2020, after the original publication, Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology formally protested to Sankei Shimbun and Tokuma Shoten.
MEXT stated that its investigation had been unable to confirm the claims in the weekly magazine article.
It further stated that the alleged connections between the examiner and North Korean operatives had not been confirmed either during the examiner’s selection process or in subsequent inquiries, and demanded that the magazine retract its article.
The following text is therefore preserved as a historical record of what the Sankei Shō column reported and argued on July 27, 2020.
2020-07-27
Moreover, this examiner is said to have been the very person responsible for restoring the term “military comfort women” to history textbooks and for rejecting the textbook submitted by the Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform.
If true, this would be an extremely serious matter.
The following is from today’s Sankei Shō.
Many people may be lamenting that the four-day holiday ended while they were simply idling away the time.
The columnist was one of those loyal residents of the capital who reluctantly obeyed the “Empress of the Imperial Capital” when she ordered people to refrain from nonessential and nonurgent outings.
At times like this, television rather than a smartphone comes into its own.
Unlike during the “stay home” month, professional baseball and sumo wrestling were being held, which was a relief.
Horse racing could also be watched free of charge from the first race onward, although the betting tickets were certainly not free.
As for television dramas, there was hardly anything I felt like watching other than “Fuyō Fukyū no Ginga,” written by Naoki Matayoshi and broadcast by NHK.
Of course, reading is a great ally during confinement under the coronavirus.
I managed to get through quite a few books that I had previously bought and then felt as though I had read merely by owning them.
That was still not enough, so I picked up the weekly magazine Asahi Geino, which I normally do not read very often — my apologies — in its issue released on the 21st, and frankly, I was astonished.
It carried a scoop headlined, “The Shocking Truth: A MEXT Examiner on a ‘North Korean Spy List.’”
According to the article, when South Korean intelligence authorities searched the premises of a North Korean defectors’ organization, they discovered what was described as a “North Korean spy list,” on which appeared the name of a Ministry of Education examiner involved in textbook screening.
Moreover, this examiner was said to have been the person responsible for restoring the term “military comfort women” to history textbooks and for rejecting the textbook submitted by the Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform.
If true, this would be an extremely serious matter.
The person concerned declined to be interviewed, but why had someone described in this way been appointed as an examiner with enormous influence over the fate of textbooks?
As symbolized by the former administrative vice minister who insisted that his visits to matchmaking bars were research into women’s poverty, the Ministry of Education is thoroughly rotten.
Education Minister Koichi Hagiuda must get a firm grip on the situation, or the hunter may end up becoming the hunted.