Despite pressure from South Korea and other Asian countries, Japan is standing firm against history textbook revisions.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Japan will listen sincerely to demands for revisions from South Korea, North Korea and China, but CANNOT make revisions. On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka echoed the position.

Tanaka speaking before a parliamentary committee said she will make the utmost effort to ensure the textbook issue will have little impact on Japan's relations with both countries.

On the same day, China stepped up the war of words by calling in a senior Japanese diplomat and demanding extensive changes to a textbook Tokyo approved this year. Chinese state media criticized the book for 'advocating imperialism and whitewashing and denying Japan's history of aggression.'

It follows a similar move by South Korea last week in which Seoul asked that 25 passages of the textbook be revised saying that they are clearly inaccurate.

Japan insists the textbook does not represent the government's official view of history.