Education

Directed by the Civil Information and Education Section (CI&E) of General Headquarters, SCAP and implemented by Japan's Ministry of Education, the reformation of Japan's educational system was intended to eliminate militarism and ultranationalism, to promote democracy, and to contribute to the construction of a peaceful nation of culture. These objectives were met, in large part, through textbook reform. Initially, students were instructed, with guidance from their teachers, to "blacken over" any passages that were considered militaristic, nationalistic or undemocratic in their current, pre-war textbooks. Eventually, new textbooks were written, not by the Ministry of Education, as had been the case, but by individuals. The textbooks were submitted to the Ministry of Education for certification.

The textbooks in the Prange Collection were subject to two rounds of censorship: first, by the CI&E and second, by the Civil Censorship Detachment.