Japan Deputy PM Aso retracts contentious 'Japan should learn from Nazis' remark

Japan's Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso has taken back his remark advising Japan to take lessons from the Nazis' swiftness in revising the Constitution.

The Japan Times reported that Aso had said during a speech in Tokyo that the Weimar Constitution was changed almost before people realized it. Why don't Japanese learn from that method?'

Aso's comments had created misunderstandings and he faced criticism both at home and abroad.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center, a major international Jewish human rights organization based in Los Angeles, had also strongly criticized Aso's remark on its website.