A group of people Thursday filed a lawsuit against Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe and the Liberal Democratic Party with the Tokyo District Court, claiming they broke the law by intervening in the approval process for a revisionist history text.
The textbook has been publicly criticized for whitewashing the country's militaristic past, including justifying Japan's invasion of East Asia in the early 20th century.
The 193 plaintiffs include teachers, parent-teacher association members, residents of Tokyo's Suginami Ward -- which approved the textbook -- and 54 Korean nationals. They are suing for a combined 386,000 yen, or 2,000 yen each, in compensation for emotional suffering.