The latest best seller, oddly enough, is a junior high school history textbook. After going on sale on June 1, "Atarashii Rekishi Kyokasho" has been at or near the top of the best-seller list and the related social studies text "Atarashii Komin Kyokasho" in the top 10. Already 500,000 copies of the history text are in print and 150,000 of the social studies text.
Actually these two textbooks, the first efforts of the Tsukuru Kai (Atarashii Rekishi Kyokasho o Tsukuru Kai; Association To Write New History Textbooks), have been at the center of controversy since their approval for use in schools by the government in April.
By order of the Minister of Education, 137 places were corrected in the history text, but critics contend it still presents a nationalistic and militaristic view of Japanese history, and South Korea and China have complained about its glossing over of wartime atrocities.