The Tokyo metropolitan board of education adopted a controversial, nationalist-inspired junior high school history textbook Thursday that critics say glosses over Japan's wartime atrocities.
The textbook, compiled by members of the Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform, will be introduced in a new school opening next April in Taito Ward that will integrate both junior high and high school years.
Local residents, education experts and South Korean residents here expressed concern over the decision, saying the textbook gives a distorted version of history and will cause further friction with Japan's Asian neighbors if it is introduced in classes.