Oct. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Japan's government said it may rescind an order to remove references in school textbooks to the military forcing hundreds of people to commit suicide in Okinawa during World War II, after protests among local people.

About 110,000 people demonstrated in Okinawa in southwest Japan on Sept. 29, the biggest protest since the U.S. returned the islands in 1972. They were opposing an order earlier this year by the education ministry for the Japanese army's role in the deaths to be removed from textbooks.

``We have to respect the sentiment of Okinawan people,'' Education Minister Kisaburo Tokai said yesterday. ``We will study what we should do. If textbook publishers apply for changes, we will consider it seriously.''

Four local assemblies earlier this year issued a protest against the order by the education ministry under former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who resigned last month and was replaced by Yasuo Fukuda. The mass suicides happened at the end of the war when U.S. forces were about to invade the islands.

``The content of textbooks shouldn't be changed according to the political regime,'' Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said yesterday at a regular press conference. ``We have to study what should be done considering the strong sentiment of the people of Okinawa.''

Since the order was issued in March, survivors have talked more about their experiences. Told by Japan's military government that death was more honorable than capture, more than 735 people committed suicide in Okinawa during the U.S. assault in 1945. Islanders also killed each other.

Okinawa is planning to send a delegation to Tokyo by mid- October to demand the government restore references in textbooks to the military's direct involvement, Ayano Kakinohana, a member of the Okinawa rally organizing committee, said by telephone today.

To contact the reporter on this story: Hideko Takayama in Tokyo at htakayama10@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 2, 2007 00:56 EDT