Textbook publisher redistributes atlas after fixing more than 1,000 errors

TOKYO, Feb 20 (NHK) - A major Japanese textbook publisher has redistributed an atlas to high schools after correcting more than 1,000 mistakes in it.

Tokyo Shoseki published the atlas for first-year high school students following a screening by the education ministry. About 36,000 copies have been in use since the start of the current academic year in April.

The publisher says it found about 1,000 mistakes in the index and roughly 50 errors in maps during an in-house inspection conducted after a high school teacher pointed out the mistakes last year. The errors included the misspelling of Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh.

Tokyo Shoseki says it also made changes due to social shifts. For example, the spelling of the Ukrainian capital was changed from "Kiev" to "Kyiv."

The publisher says as a result it made a total of 1,200 revisions.

Tokyo Shoseki blamed the errors on inadequate checks and insufficient communication between employees and contractors, mainly because the coronavirus pandemic forced them to work remotely.

The company has apologized for troubling teachers, students and their parents.