The Tokyo metropolitan education board has tentatively decided to adopt a contentious history textbook penned by nationalist historians for use in public schools for disabled children beginning next April, sources close to the board said Tuesday.
The board's decision will make 24 junior high schools for physically and mentally disabled children the first public schools to use the textbook, although some privately run schools have already decided to use the text.
Critics of the textbook say the board's decision may have been influenced by Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, who has expressed support for the scholars who compiled the book.