In Japan, Patriotism is Mandatory

[GuyJean]

Teacher Temper Over Japan Flag Laws
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/05/03/japan.patriot/index.html

The government says public school teachers must honor the flag, stand-up and sing the anthem at school ceremonies, whether or not they agree. If not, they may be fired.

"We are educating young minds to respect the flag and the anthem. It is a teacher's duty. If they don't do their job, they will be held responsible," says Kimikazu Tatsumi from the Tokyo Board of Education

Among the regulations: the national flag must be placed at the front of the auditorium stage; all teachers must stand and face the flag; and all must sing the national anthem.

To make sure that teachers were observing the rules, special monitors were dispatched to school ceremonies to take note of which teachers weren't standing or singing.

I know; old news... But a little freaky..

GJ

[Big Booger]

This is why I think Japan is not a democracy at all.... it is a communist or rather a socialist country living under a very thin veil of so called "democracy".

Why should they respect a flag and a song? Why is it so wrong to stand up for what you believe or don't believe in? And why must it be a teacher's duty to educate young minds to respect a flag and an anthem?

Should they take an oath to kill for Koizumi as well? And if they don't let's burn them all at the stake?

THis is nationalism taken to a whole new level... and this policy should be stopped immediately.

If a teacher or student does not want to sing the national anthem or stand and face the flag, then they should have the right

I quote ARTICLE 19 of the Japanese Constitution:

Article 19. Freedom of thought and conscience shall not be violated.

[Big Booger]

hehehe,
yea if you are not a hitojiji.. forgot that clause.

[GuyJean]

THis is nationalism taken to a whole new level... and this policy should be stopped immediately.

What's interesting to me, is that this law was enacted in 1999, under Obuchi; The now deceased Tokaimura-nuclear-tomato-eating Prime Minister.. I believe it started out as a rather innocent way of instilling pride in a culture commonly thinking of itself as the 'victim', or a bit 'lesser' than foreign cultures..

Interesting how patriotism can lead to nationalism, then to jingoism in a world simplified by simple-minded leaders..

GJ

[blackcat]

Japan is really in no way a democracy, and the west are losing that too, we are ruled by special interest groups that force us to accept their ideas.

It is just so much more obvious in japan and when you add a society that has learnt nothing from their history, brainwash themselves how pure they are...well any surprises

[DJEB]

The government says public school teachers must honor the flag, stand-up and sing the anthem at school ceremonies, whether or not they agree. If not, they may be fired.

"We are educating young minds to respect the flag and the anthem. It is a teacher's duty. If they don't do their job, they will be held responsible," says Kimikazu Tatsumi from the Tokyo Board of Education

My first association was Laura Hein and Mark Selden's excellent Censoring History: Citizenship and Memory in Japan, Germany, and the United States. Their book demonstrates how states choose their school history books to craft citizens' images of their own societies in the service of nationalism.

At any rate, as BB said, Article 19.

[Mulboyne]

Kyodo: Making Hinomaru, Kimigayo compulsory at schools undesirable: emperor

Emperor Akihito suggested Thursday he believes it is undesirable to force teachers and students to pay respect to the Hinomaru national flag and sing the ''Kimigayo'' national anthem at school ceremonies.

The emperor made the unusual remarks on the flag and anthem, which are considered controversial because of their association with Japan's militarist past, in conversation with guests at an imperial garden party.

This poses an interesting conundrum for Blinky Ishihara.

[Big Booger]

This is outstanding.. and surprising..

[cstaylor]

When have the feelings of the royal family ever stood in the way of rabid Japanese nationalism? The emperor is a tool with which to beat the populace into submission.

[dimwit]

This is outstanding.. and surprising..

Outstanding yes, Surprising, not entirely. I suspect that the emperior probably regards the rightist as the thugs they are given his education and upbringing. Remember his is not a young man and he grew up during the war, so I think he has a pretty clear idea of what some of these turkeys represent.

[cstaylor]

I suspect that the emperior probably regards the rightist as the thugs they are given his education and upbringing. Remeber his is not a young man and he grew up during the war, so I think he has a pretty clear idea of what some of these turkeys represent.

I think his father did as well.

But look at this another way: Akihito felt it necessary to speak his opinion about Tokyo politics, directly from his own mouth instead of an Imperial household spokesperson. That tells me Tokyo's slippage into nationalism is farther along than the news is reporting.

Does anyone know if Ishihara has actually met the emperor?

[Mulboyne]

Looks like the right is taking the line "he's a bit old now and he's losing it so we'll tell you what he really means".

Kyodo via Japan Today

TOKYO — Cabinet ministers on Friday played down Emperor Akihito's statement against forcing teachers and students to pay respect to the national flag and sing the anthem.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said the remarks pose no problem with the Constitution, which bars the emperor from governing. In separate news conferences, Hosoda, Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Minister Nariaki Nakayama and Justice Minister Chieko Nono echoed the Imperial Household Agency's view that the emperor only voiced his wish that the Hinomaru flag be displayed and the "Kimigayo" anthem sung "voluntarily with joy" and not coercion. (Kyodo News)

[dimwit]

Looks like the right is taking the line "he's a bit old now and he's losing it so we'll tell you what he really means".

And the gobbled-gook from Ishihara is:

Japan Today from Kyodo News

Ishihara told a news conference, "It's a matter of whether public servants do or do not comply with it as an obligation that the state has decided on. It is different from whether it is forcing things in general. I don't want those matters to be mixed up," said the outspoken governor known for his nationalistic views. (Kyodo News)

I am just trying to figure out how an obligation is not forced :P

[AssKissinger]

I feel sorry for the royalty here. How would you like it if right wing wing-nuts worshiped you and controlled your every move. I wouldn't be surprised if one of them just broke down and said that all this emperor shit is a crock. The only Emperor I care about is the Norweigen black metal band http://www.fatalexception.org/spin_article

[cstaylor]

Ishihara told a news conference, "It's a matter of whether public servants do or do not comply with it as an obligation that the state has decided on. It is different from whether it is forcing things in general. I don't want those matters to be mixed up," said the outspoken governor known for his nationalistic views. (Kyodo News)

Oh that's rich! We can studiously avoid one law of the land (Article 9 of the Japanese constitution), but regular legislation that only stipulates the flag and anthem be reinstated can be used to browbeat left-leaning teachers in Tokyo high schools.

If there's an old fool here, it's Ishihara, not Akihito.

[Taro Toporific]

Tokyo's Flag Law: Proud Patriotism, Or Indoctrination?
NYTimes.com / 9PM 15 Dec / by Norimitsu Onishi (HomePage)
Tokyo Board of Education's new regulation requires teachers to sing the national anthem while standing and facing the national flag. ...
<big snip>
...Tokyo officials clearly hoped they could spur the stand-and-sing movement to grow nationwide by drawing the emperor to their side.
In October, Kunio Yonenaga, an education board member who oversees the new regulation in Tokyo but evidently wants his influence to reach beyond, told the emperor: "Making sure that students and teachers raise the rising-sun flag and sing the national anthem at schools across the country is my job. I'm doing my best."
Mr. Yonenaga, who had expected encouragement, was instead rebuked by the emperor, who said, "It's not desirable to do it by force." Taken aback, Mr. Yonenaga, who declined to be interviewed for this article, interrupted the emperor and blurted out, "Thank you for your wonderful words."
Mr. Tsuchiya, the Tokyo assemblyman, could barely disguise his disappointment. Asked why he thought the emperor held such a view, Mr. Tsuchiya mentioned the influence of Elizabeth Vining, a Quaker schoolteacher from Philadelphia, who tutored Akihito, then the crown prince, from 1946 to 1950, and even gave him a nickname. "The emperor was raised by Mrs. Vining, who called him Jimmy," he said.

[vir-jin]

I am actually waiting for some right wing homegoroshiya to praise the emperors statement as influenced by western thinking.

[cstaylor]

Mr. Tsuchiya, the Tokyo assemblyman, could barely disguise his disappointment.

Not once does Tsuchiya doubt his own position. Typical rightist.

I still think a Battle Royale on the Senkakus, Chinese versus Japanese, rightest against rightest, would probably draw a large PPV crowd.

[Mulboyne]

AP: Teachers file criminal complaint against Tokyo governor over anthem singing
Hundreds of public school teachers have filed criminal complaints against Tokyo's powerful governor after being punished for refusing to stand for the national anthem and flag, which they say are symbols of Japan's wartime militarism. Tokyo penalized some 200 teachers in 2004 for failing to stand before the "Rising Sun" national flag during the anthem at graduation ceremonies. Dozens more were punished for similar actions at other school ceremonies. "We cannot tolerate the massive punishment anymore, and we refuse to force our students to stand up for the anthem," said 60-year-old teacher Nobuki Matsubara on Tuesday. "We fear a growing fascism under the (Gov. Shintaro) Ishihara government," Matsubara said, adding he will remain seated at a graduation ceremony this Saturday despite expected punishment.

[Mulboyne]

Boston.com: Japan Emperor: Need to Consider 'Feelings' on Anthem
Tiptoeing around the issue of whether singing Japan's national anthem should be compulsory in schools, Emperor Akihito said Monday it was important to teach respect for the anthem and flag as symbols of the nation -- but also to consider the feelings of the people...On Monday, his comments were carefully nuanced. "All nations of the world have national flags and anthems and I believe that it is important for schools to teach (students) to respect them," Akihito told a news conference before a trip to Norway and Ireland next month. "National anthems and national flags are symbols of nations and therefore it is important to think a great deal about the feelings of the people...During Olympic Games, winners holding the ... flag make their victory laps but there are no scenes of anyone being forced to do that...Regarding the national anthem and national flag, it is best if individual citizens think about the matter themselves."

[Taro Toporific]

And the gobbled-gook from Ishihara is:
[INDENT]Japan Today from Kyodo News
Ishihara told a news conference, "It's a matter of whether public servants do or do not comply with it as an obligation that the state has decided on. It is different from whether it is forcing things in general. I don't want those matters to be mixed up,".[/INDENT]
I am just trying to figure out how an obligation is not forced :P

[floatr][/floatr]
Tokyo: Students must stand and sing "Kimigayo"
The Asahi Shimbun, 03/14/2006
Tokyo's board of education has ordered principals of public high schools to ensure that all students stand and sing "Kimigayo" during school ceremonies...
The move stems from a March 11 graduation ceremony held at a high school for part-time students run by the metropolitan government. Most of the students did not stand and sing "Kimigayo," which was made Japan's national anthem under a law enacted in 1999....
The Tokyo metropolitan government, led by nationalistic Governor Shintaro Ishihara, took disciplinary measures against about 200 school officials in 2004 and about 50 personnel in 2005 because they refused to stand for "Kimigayo" or other related reasons....more....

[Greji]

Boston.com: Japan Emperor: Need to Consider 'Feelings' on Anthem
Tiptoeing around the issue of whether singing Japan's national anthem should be compulsory in schools, Emperor Akihito said Monday it was important to teach respect for the anthem and flag as symbols of the nation -snip-

The playing of the national anthem has long been done in most if not all, private schools in Japan as well as the display of the Hinomaru. It has seldom, if at all, been raised as an issue in these schools. It did not become an issue as I think everyone is aware, until it was pressed into the public school system. It is kinda strange that nobody seems to object to it used when a J-type is getting the gold medal at the Olympics, or some international event.

One of the objections that had been frquently bantered about was that it would be offensive to Asian nations that had suffered under Japan during WW2, yet I have attended events in several different countries in Asia where Kimigayo was routinely played for the J-representatives without hesitation or comment.

It seems that it has the most problems domestically in Japan with the left and the media! Guilt complex ka na? Promoting an agenda?

[Greji]

BTW Taro, that is a nice picture of Blinky. The shadow from his salute prevents us from seeing his fangs and makes him appear human. Well almost!

[AssKissinger]

http://www.topix.net/content/trb/0550041773373575417924922184851508312054

[color="DarkOrange"]The proposal to make education more patriotic signals the determination of conservatives here to combat what they see as a self-obsessed youth culture, characterized by rampant school bullying and juvenile crime, that they say is eroding the nation's vaunted social order.
Under proposed revisions to the 1947 basic education law that are being debated in parliament, teachers would be required to instill in students 'an attitude that respects tradition and culture, and loves the nation and the homeland that have fostered them.'

The changes alarm liberal critics who worry that a legal duty to teach a love for Japan would override the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of thought and conscience. They argue that mandating educators to teach patriotism echoes the ultranationalism of imperial Japan, which led to the catastrophic error of military aggression and, ultimately, ruin. But the mood in Japan is strongly in favor of strengthening pride in country. Recent polls show two-thirds of the public supports the revisions.

During parliamentary debates last week, critics of the proposal said some schools were already grading students on their level of patriotism. Fifty elementary and middle schools in Saitama prefecture just north of Tokyo have been marking students on their love of Japan, a practice the teachers union contends is spreading to other parts of the nation in anticipation of changes to the basic education law.[/color]

[Mulboyne]

Kyodo via Crisscross: Koizumi says it is wrong to force children to become patriotic

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Thursday there is no need to evaluate whether students have patriotism under envisaged revisions to Japan's basic education law. He added that it is wrong to force children to become patriotic. "It is unnecessary to have an item evaluating students' patriotism on school report cards," Koizumi told a session of the House of Representatives Special Committee on Basic Law on Education. The government has submitted a bill to revise the 1947 basic education law to the Diet. The bill calls for developing "an attitude which respects tradition and culture and loves the nation and homeland that have fostered them," while the oppositio DPJ's proposal describes patriotism as "cultivating love toward Japan."

[Mulboyne]

A quick search on FG reveals that Akihito often says this kind of thing:

MDN: Emperor says Japan should remember damage caused by past militarism

Emperor Akihito on Tuesday said Japan should remember the damage and pain its militarist past caused its own people and Asian neighbors, and called for more effort to ensure it never happens again. Emperor Akihito, 72, also expressed concerns about fading knowledge of the past among Japanese born after the war, and said he hoped experts would come up with education guidelines to help the young respect other nations as well as their own...more...

[Mulboyne]

Mainichi: Court rules teachers in Tokyo don't have to stand up for national flag, sing anthem

Teachers are not obliged to stand up before the Hinomaru flag or sing the national anthem during entrance and graduation ceremonies, the Tokyo District Court ruled on Thursday. About 400 teachers and workers at Tokyo metropolitan high schools had filed a lawsuit in a bid to confirm they were not obliged to sing the anthem or rise to their feet for the national flag during ceremonies. The Tokyo District Court ruled in their favor, saying that forcing teachers and staff members of schools to do so was unconstitutional. The court ordered the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education to pay 30,000 yen in damages to each plaintiff.

In a directive distributed to the heads of metropolitan high schools in October 2003, the Tokyo board of education said teachers and school staff members had to stand up in the direction of the national flag, and sing the anthem during entrance and graduation ceremonies. Those who don't do so could be punished, the directive said. Teachers who were punished under the directive are among the plaintiffs of the lawsuit. "There are those who are opposed to raising the national flag and singing the national anthem (during ceremonies). Their freedom of thought should be protected under the Constitution unless they violate others' rights," the district court said. "Forcing teachers to stand up (before the flag) and sing (the anthem) violates freedom of thought." The court also said that the directive and the Tokyo board of education's stance over the issue are tantamount to infusing one-sided views on students in violation of the Fundamental Law of Education.

[Behan]

That's great news. It's kind of scary that they were trying to force teachers to stand up and sing Kimigayo.
How can you 'force' someone to respect something anyway? I guess you can force someone to act like they respect something.
I am an ALT at public schools (outside Tokyo) here and all the teachers I have seen at cermonies always stood up. But I think it would be great if some of them made a protest. The same for teachers back home, too.

[Mulboyne]

Not everyone is happy:

Yomiuri: Ruling on flag, anthem will have baleful effect

...The ruling said it is meaningful to hoist the national flag and sing the national anthem at ceremonies, and that it is important to have students recognize the importance of the flag and anthem and cultivate an attitude of respect toward them. But will students develop such an attitude if they attend school ceremonies at which teachers refuse to stand in front of the Hinomaru and sing "Kimigayo"? We fear the ruling shows an inaccurate understanding of these teachers' activities. The ruling said their activities are not designed to disturb the ceremonies, and that there is no danger that students will be emboldened to refuse to sing the national anthem in front of the national flag, nor any danger that their education will be impaired. We question the the way of thinking apparent in the ruling, which said the Hinomaru and "Kimigayo" cannot be recognized as being neutral in religious or political terms. Is that right? Various opinion surveys show that the flag and anthem have taken root in Japanese society and are supported by most of the public. The national flag is hoisted and the national anthem is sung in the National High School Baseball Championship tournament at Koshien Stadium. Japanese representative players faced the national flag and sang the national anthem before their matches in the soccer World Cup finals in Germany.
...It is common practice across the world to show respect for national flags and anthems at ceremonies, regardless of whether they are those of one's own country or of another. In its conclusion, the ruling said entrance and graduation ceremonies are precious opportunities for students to feel a sense of occasion and of new beginnings, and to deepen their sense of belonging to a group. In spite of that, the court likely came to its conclusion as it overestimated the importance of freedom of thought and conscience for the minority of teachers who filed the lawsuit. The ruling emphasized the severity of the notice issued by the metropolitan government's education board and orders from principals while underestimating the influence on students of the actions of the teachers who filed the lawsuit. It is a strange ruling that could influence the management of entrance and graduation ceremonies from now on.

[Greji]

Not everyone is happy:

Yomiuri: Ruling on flag, anthem will have baleful effect

I hesitate to post this reply for fear that Buraku will sic the dog on me, but I agree with Yomiuri in this instance. Respect for the flag and anthem of one's own and someone else's country is neither rampant nationalism, nor pre-WWII revisited. It is simply respect.