The education ministry has allowed textbook publishers to change the descriptions of islands at the heart of bilateral friction with China and South Korea even after their books were submitted to the ministry for approval, sources said Friday.
The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry has notified all textbook publishers, some of which are worried the ministry is urging them to beef up Japan's stance on the disputed islands.
The disputes involve the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea — claimed as the Diaoyu by China and Tiaoyutai by Taiwan — and the tiny Takeshima islets in the Sea of Japan administered by South Korea, which calls them Dokdo.