The Citizens Movement Center for Anti Over-Consumption (CMCAOC), an association of 40 civic and religious organizations, started a campaign to boycott Japanese-made products Monday.

Organizers said the boycott is meant to put pressure on the Japanese government in the wake of its decision to approve junior high school history textbooks that whitewash its past wartime atrocities.

The CMCAOC said in a statement, the Japanese government's recent authorization of the distorted history textbooks is a symptom of Japanese society's overall shift to a right-wing, nationalistic path.

The CMCAOC said the trend has been allowed to progress unchecked because Korea and other Asian nations have taken a low-key diplomatic approach to Japan and have failed to reveal the truth about its wartime crimes.