The Ehime prefectural board of education has adopted a controversial history textbook written by a group of mainly nationalistic scholars for use at three public junior high schools opening next spring.
The six-member board unanimously approved the textbook, most of which was written by scholars belonging to the Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform, at a regular committee meeting Thursday despite sharp criticism from China and South Korea that the textbook glosses over Japan's wartime atrocities.
Kazuhiko Iseki, who chairs the board, told a news conference the textbook was chosen because it "has a lot of accounts on the origin of the Japanese language and unique Japanese cultural traditions."
"It is best suited to the teaching guidelines aimed to foster awareness as a citizen of the nation," he said. About the likelihood of criticism from South Korea over the selection, Iseki said, "It is a matter for Japan."
With the Ehime board's decision, the textbook will be used for teaching history to more than 1,000 students across the country. Some are already using it.
A total of 12 schools with 601 students started using the history textbook, published by Fuso Publishing Co., this academic year, which began in April, according to the education ministry.
This represents 0.046 percent of all the junior high students in grades required to take history courses, far lower than the 10 percent share the authors would like to see achieved.
The 12 schools comprise five of the six public schools for disabled students for which the Tokyo and Ehime education boards selected the textbook, as well as seven privately run junior high schools.
One of the schools for disabled students turned out to have no students this academic year. The bulk of the 601 students -- 578 -- are at private schools.