Japan's new textbooks reflect shift toward revanchism: Russian spokesperson

MOSCOW, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The new edition of Japanese school textbooks, set to be introduced in 2027, reflects Tokyo's efforts to instill a sense of revanchism in the younger generation and to deny the outcomes of World War II, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during her briefing on Wednesday.

"In the updated textbooks, sections dedicated to Tokyo's unfounded claims to the Southern Kurils have been expanded, as have those containing territorial claims against other neighboring states. There are virtually no references to the war crimes committed by militarist Japan in the first half of the 20th century," Zakharova said.

The Southern Kurils are four Pacific islands disputed between Russia and Japan. They are referred to as the Northern Territories in Japan.

Tokyo and its leadership are deliberately misleading their own younger generation, depriving them of historical memory and distorting their understanding of current geopolitical realities, Zakharova added.