(JTA) — A conservative national Japanese newspaper apologized for publishing an advertisement for books by an author who claims the Jews were behind the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that killed 18,000.

Author Richard Koshimizu also blames the Jews for the 9/11 terror attack on the World Trade Center; claims that the Holocaust was a myth designed to establish the state of Israel;  and says that Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government elected in 2012 was part of a Jewish plan for global domination.

The apology was published Saturday in the Sankei Shimbun newspaper.

“It is extremely regrettable that such disreputable content was published and was delivered to our readers,” Takamitsu Kumasaka, president of the newspaper, said in the statement. ”I deeply apologize to our readers and to every member of the Jewish community.”

The advertisement  appeared  in the Nov. 26 edition of the Sankei Shimbun.

The apology came after a letter of protest from the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center, the Wall Street Journal reported.