The education ministry announced Tuesday that it has instructed junior high and high school teachers to use newly revised manuals to teach their students that the Senkaku Islands and Takeshima islets are "integral parts of Japanese territory."
"It is natural for the state to teach properly about (Japanese) territory," education minister Hakubun Shimomura said.
"With the cooperation of our Foreign Ministry, we will explain the country's position to our neighbors," Shimomura said of the move, which is in line with the stance of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government.