Japanese ultra-conservatives are accused of trying to whitewash history after a school district ordered public primary and middle schools restrict student access to “Hadashi no Gen” (Barefoot Gen), a famous manga that depicts the horrors of war and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

The Matsue Municipal Board of Education ruled that the manga’s graphic depictions of the Hiroshima bombing and its aftermath were not a problem.  However, it decided that some descriptions of actions involving Imperial Japanese Army soldiers in other Asian nations were extreme and inappropriate.

Right now, kids have to have permission from a teacher of parent to see it.  The board, whose head deemed the manga “graphically violent”, will meet again Monday.

“Barefoot Gen” has long been the bane of Japanese ultra-conservatives since its first publication in 1973.  They also claim that Japan’s post-war education system has taught a “masochistic” account of history that puts too much stress on atrocities such as the exploitation of “Comfort Women” and “Nanking Massacre”.

Noriyuki Masuda, an official of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, defended the comic.

“The atomic bombing was inhumane, and I think that this manga depicts the tragedy that occurred, which was a fact,” said Masuda, “I think it is useful for deepening understanding of that.”

Manga commentator Jun Ishiko was a friend of the late artist Keiji Nakazawa, who composed “Barefoot Gen” based on his own childhood experiences.  Ishiko says there might be “a will to cover up Japan’s war crimes.”

The governor of Tottori, just a couple of hours up the San’in Coast from Matsue, says the manga should not be banned, and the Tottori City Library moved it from the librarians’ office to the manga section.