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On 12 July, South Korea's Culture and Tourism Ministry said it will retain current restrictions on Japanese cultural imports as a protest against Japan's refusal to rewrite some junior high school history textbooks.

There were many incidents that have difference of historical awareness between Japan and Korea. Kabukiza Theater presents 'Sanmon Gosan no Kiri' was written based on a real war that Toyotomi Hideyoshi attacked and invaded into Korea. It is one of them in 1778.

Tokugawa shogunate government forbade playing any performance based on a real incident with a real name. So at this drama, Toyotomi Hideyoshi is named Mashiba Hisayoshi. Please pay attention, when I write Hideyoshi, it is written about a real history. And when I write Hisayoshi, it is written about this drama.

Hideyoshi attacked to Korea twice from 1592 to 1598. At that time, the feudal system had almost be accomplished in Japan. If Hideyoshi wanted to give land to a feudal lord as a reward, he must have to give it from a piece of his own land. Of course it had a limit, and he needed a land more. For Hideyoshi, the invading war into Korea was a part of his subjugation of Japan.

Hideyoshi intended to subjugate the Ming dynasty, and it means that the invading war into Korea was just a method going toward the Ming. He simply didn't know about international situation at that time. His administration continued only 20years, but Hideyoshi had been invading into Korea eagerly until he died.

At the result, Korea was given a serious thrashing. The population reduced to under 20%, and the arable land reduced to 30% of before the war. Japanese army took 50 to 60thousands Korean to Japan by force. Some of them were great scholars. And Japanese army also took a lot of books away.

The most important stolen good was the printing type set. But that war was too terrible to think that it was caused in order to get the printing type set. Every war is a destruction action of course, but makes something, for example, economical effect at the same time. But there was nothing in that war.

HIdeyoshi had a plan to move Goyozey emperor to Beijing. And he intended to make the crown prince into the emperor of Japan. It shows just a delusion of a stupid man. I think that he had been a common foot soldier until he died. That plan might be an illusion of the subjugation world that he dreamed as a common foot soldier.

In this play, Sokei who was a general of the Ming dynasty came to Japan in order to overthrow Japan, and he intended to make his three children rule over it. But Sokei was cornered by Hisayoshi's soldiers, and he killed himself.

One of his children was Ishikawa Goemon who was a famous thief in Japan. Goemon had been grown up by Takechi Mtsuhide (Akechi Mitsuhide) who was killed by Mashiba Hisayoshi (Toyotomi Hideyoshi) before. After Hisayoshi finished his war at the Ming dynasty with victory, Goemon's real father Sokei was killed also by Hisayoshi.

Hisayoshi took the prince of the Ming dynasty to Japan, and he had been restricted. Goemon was going to kill Hisayoshi, but he couldn't. Although Goemon was going to help him, he helped other boy who was a substitution. At the ending of the drama, Goemon says that he would return with the reinforcements of the Ming dynasty to fight against Hisayoshi.

In this drama, everyone who came from the Ming dynasty is written as a wrong person against Japan. And Japanese army attacked and invaded into the Ming dynasty, not Korea. Korea was ignored in this drama. It was the one-sided view of Japanese, but it might have shown a real awareness of Japanese about that war at that time.

The invading war into Korea wasn't as easy as Japanese thought. Unfortunately, the awareness of most Japanese about it hasn't changed yet. So the textbook issue is a present issue. After I saw this play, I recalled a lot of incidents between Japan and Korea.

Hisayoshi thought that thieves live in the confused land. And he made up his mind to keep a peace in Japan after that. But it was too late. 'Better late than never' is not his word. In the real history, the invading war into Korea finished when Hideyoshi had died. Hideyoshi had never thought like that.

This drama looks to justify Japan. Although it is just a stage play for Japanese, no Korean will forget of the invading war into Korea by Hideyoshi. And no Korean will forget that Hideyoshi was a Japanese.

I hope that every problem between the two nations will be solved in the near future.(2001,7,22)