A Japanese daily reports that a high school textbook in Tokyo claims U.S. General Douglas MacArthur said Japan’s fight in World War Two was in self defense.

Japan’s Sankei Shimbun said the textbook carries comments made in 1951 by MacArthur, who served as Commander of U.S. Army Forces in the Far East during the war. The book alleges that MacArthur said Japan’s war against the U.S. in the Pacific was in self defense.

The textbook is expected to be distributed to 40-thousand high school students. The book is anticipated to spark controversy as it twists the history of Japan waging a war of aggression.