Should the study of history be a higher priority in modern education?
I strongly assert that the study of history should be a higher priority because of the following two reasons; lessons from the past and useful record of the past.
First, reading the record of past incidents, we can learn a lot of things; for instance, the master of sword Musashi Miyamoto left “The book of five rings.”
In this writing, he wrote some ropes of mastering skills of Kendo, the spirit of being a Kengo, or a master of Kendo, and also, the strategy of fighting.
Yukio Mishima, a great Japanese writer, was much influenced with this book and learned a lot about Kendo and history of Japan.
The next important point is the useful record of the past.
Do you know when Mt. Fuji erupted last?
Almost 300 years ago, during Tokugawa shogunate, that mountain became active and ejected lava, ash and gases in a wide area.
Through reading these records, we can foresee what kind of damage we can expect in case of the eruption.
Maybe scientists study so much about supposition and historians read the record of past.
Why don’t we put them together?
Then we can learn a lot about these emergencies.
Maybe the tragedy of 2011 would not have been that much if we had read that record and prepared for the earthquake and tsunami.
History is important, not only to know our ancestors ideas but to learn much about the earthquakes, eruptions and other natural disasters.
