Education minister Nariaki Nakayama apologized Tuesday for "causing trouble" to the government with his recent remark hailing the removal of references to wartime sex slaves for Japanese troops from revised history textbooks, top government spokesman Hiroyuki Hosoda said.
Hosoda said Nakayama apologized in a meeting of Cabinet ministers after he chided him for his weekend remark, which drew fire from South Korea and China.
But Nakayama, speaking at a separate news conference, denied making an apology.
"I did not say any such thing. I told the meeting, 'I always choose my words carefully (for speeches)' That's all," Nakayama said.
Hosoda also urged all fellow Cabinet members to "give due consideration to diplomatic relations in making public remarks."
Nakayama, minister of education, culture, sports, science and technology, said in a public address Saturday that there were originally no such words as "military comfort women," so it was good that the "incorrect" description was removed from school textbooks.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Hosoda both distanced themselves from Nakayama's remark Monday as South Korea called it "extremely inappropriate" and China expressed "strong criticism."
In the Tuesday news conference, Hosoda said, "The term comfort women had been used (in wartime) and those women existed. I do not know when the term 'military comfort women' started being used, but (whether that term was used or not) is not the main point at issue."