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<DIV><FONT size=2>Although a Japanese court ruled that Prime Minister Koizumi's
visit to the Yasukuni Shrine was "illegal", Tokyo Gov. Ishihara continues to
court the WWII generation. I'm not sure what the "gender-free education
policies" are but I don't think they are talking about abolishing skirted
uniforms for girls.</FONT></DIV>
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<TD class=newsTitle align=left width=346>Ishihara backs sexist
schooling</TD></TR>
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<P>Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara has slammed gender free education
policies, labeling them "ludicrous" and "grotesque" and accusing their
advocates of being "sorry people with weakened sensibilities."</P>
<P>Ishihara also used a Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education meeting to
laud Japan's World War II kamikaze suicide pilots.</P>
<P>He also spoke out strongly on behalf of respecting Japan's
controversial national flag and anthem, which many leftist educators
despise, saying they are symbols of the country's military aggression.</P>
<P>"Kimigayo," the national anthem, and the Hinomaru Rising Sun flag
"present us with a great opportunity to consider our ultimate
responsibilities in a human society where membership of a state or a race
is inevitable," the governor told the meeting held in Shibuya to discuss
education facilities in the capital. "We can change all of Japan from
Tokyo."</P>
<P>Ishihara also told the crowd of roughly 2,300, including many public
school principals, of his admiration for kamikaze pilots, while at the
same time taking a shot at current education policies that emphasize
sexual equality.</P>
<P>"(A kamikaze pilot) headed for battle would be given a quiet farewell
off away from others by a woman he loved, but whose hand he had never even
held. And he would go in the belief that he was sacrificing his own life
for the sake of someone of the same age but the opposite sex," Ishihara
told the throng. "We're implementing grotesque education policies that
don't even take into consideration such relations between a man and a
woman." (Mainichi Shimbun, April 10, 2004) </P>
<P><FONT size=2><A
href="http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/20040410p2a00m0dm011000c.html">http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/20040410p2a00m0dm011000c.html</A></FONT></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>