A Japanese city has adopted a middle school history textbook questioned for its depiction of Japanese wartime atrocities.

Kyodo News said Yokohama's municipal board of education decided to approve Tuesday the two-year use of the disputed history textbook at public middle schools in its eight districts starting April next year.

This is the first time a Japanese municipal education board has allowed the use of a controversial history textbook published by Tokyo-based Jiyusha publishing house.

The textbook in question was mainly authored by a group of nationalistic scholars called the Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform, or more popularly known as “Tsukurukai.”

The textbook is seen as distorting history and glossing over Japan's wartime atrocities.