Foreign Ministry hits Japan's use of Mein Kampf

Fascism and militarism "must be held thoroughly accountable and eradicated" and Japan must educate its young people with "the right view of history", a Foreign Ministry official said on Tuesday.

The comment came after reports that the Japanese Cabinet approved using what it described as "helpful and appropriate" content from Adolf Hitler's infamous book, Mein Kampf, or My Struggle in English, as part of its education curriculum.

The Japanese Cabinet said in a statement that educational organizations can use "helpful and appropriate" content from Hitler's autobiography, according to the reports.

"The whole world has a verdict on what kind of a book Mein Kampf is," Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in a daily news conference in Beijing.

"Yet the Japanese government chose the content of such a book as teaching material for adolescent students. This has led to much concern in Japan, which is totally understandable," he said.

"Fascism and militarism are the root cause for World War II and must be held thoroughly accountable and eradicated," the spokesman said. "There is no room for the least bit of ambiguity over such a major historical issue of right and wrong."

Lu urged Japan to "deeply reflect on and learn from historical lessons, educate its younger generation with the right view of history" and to "earn trust from its Asian neighbors as well as the international community with concrete actions".

Hitler's fascist policies led to the European stage of World War II. His book advocates fascism, racism and extremism.

The reprint of the book was banned in Germany for 70 years before an annotated version was published in 2016 when the copyright expired.