Liberal Japan

Recent News:

• 10 teachers lose ‘Kimigayo’ lawsuit against Tokyo, The Japan Times; “The Tokyo District Court on Wednesday rejected a lawsuit by 10 high school teachers who were denied postretirement employment after they refused to sing the national anthem during graduation ceremonies in March 2004 … Presiding Judge Hiroyuki Samura ruled ‘the directive does not deny the plaintiffs’ rights.’
  Samura ruled that singing the national anthem in school ceremonies does not force reverence of a specific ideology because it is a ‘ritual practice.’ He also said the annulment of the teachers’ re-employment contracts was a ‘legitimate exercise of discretionary power” because the plaintiffs had committed a violation of their duty.’”

Opinion:

The judge has rejected the plaintiffs claim because singing the national anthem is a ritualistic activity. So it’s not an ideology. You know, in a kind of bizarro world like this, we can pretty much pick and choose whatever we want to be an ideology. How about if my child rearing philosophy precludes having my children engage in rituals? Especially those that promote group solidarity to a symbolic Emperor, who was in the not so distant past considered a God? Issues like this just can’t be solved so long as education is nationally centralized. While I go so far as to support home education, at a very minimum people in their local area need to decide this, not centralized bureaucrats with an obvious far right … well, ideology.

Previous news articles:

• 2007/06/21 Court rules principals’ orders over anthem constitutional, The Yomiuri Shimbun; “The Tokyo District Court dismissed Wednesday demands by 10 retired teachers for their reemployment at Tokyo metropolitan high schools who had refused to stand up to face the national flag and sing the national anthem at school events. Presiding Judge Hiroyuki Samura ruled that orders by the school principals to the teachers to sing the ‘Kimigayo’ national anthem were constitutional. ‘Standing up and singing the anthem is an act of formality, and it does not infringe on individuals’ freedom of thought and conscience,’ Samura said…. ‘If some teachers or school officials do not stand up, it will diminish the ceremony’s disciplinary effects,’ Samura said. ‘Considering it is highly possible such violations will be repeated, it won’t be significantly unreasonable to cancel their reemployment.’”
• 2007/03/27 Playing “Kimi ga Yo” just another gig?, Liberal Japan.
• 2007/03/23 Ishihara, Asano are in capital duel: Miyagi reformist vs. hawkish, hip-firing, popular Teflon incumbent, the Japan Times.
• 2007/03/08 ‘Kimigayo’ snub stings another teacher Liberal Japan.
• 2007/03/06 Tokyo music teacher reprimanded, given pay cut for not playing anthem on piano, Japan Today.
• 2007/03/06 ‘Kimigayo’ snub stings another teacher, the Japan Times.
• 2007/03/02 Constitutionality vs freedom / Top court rules playing anthem on piano is part of teacher’s duties, the Yomiuri Shimbun.
• 2007/03/02 EDITORIAL Less than music to the ear, the Japan Times.
• 2007/03/01 EDITORIAl: Ruling on ‘Kimigayo’, the Asahi Shimbun.
• 2007/02/28 Supreme Court ruling on ‘Kimigayo’ sensible, the Yomiuri Shimbun.
• 2007/02/28 ‘Kimigayo’ observance a teacher duty, top court says, the Japan Times.
• 2007/02/27 Japan’s top court rejects appeal by teacher who refused to play anthem, Yahoo! Asia: News.
• 2007/02/14 Politicians, Teachers and the Japanese Constitution: Flag, Freedom and the State, Japan Focus.
• 2007/02/14 READERS IN COUNCIL: An institutionalized hazing system, the Japan Times.
• 2007/02/10 Metro teachers sue over punishments: 173 hit for snubbing ‘Kimigayo’, the Japan Times.
• 2007/01/17 Foes of Ishihara’s education policy fight his re-election bid, the Japan Times.
• 2007/01/03 Keidanren report pushes patriotism
  , The Asahi Shimbun; “Promoting patriotism and constitutional revisions have been hallmarks of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s administration. But those measures to create what Abe calls “a beautiful country” are now being pushed by the leader of the nation’s largest business group.”
• 2006/10/24 Teacher spared ‘Kimigayo’ penalty, the Japan Times.
• 2006/10/04 Politics on the Ground: Songs and Flags in the Schools and Court SSJ forum.
• 2006/09/24 EDITORIAL: Right to a minority opinion, the Japan Times.
• 2006/09/23 City Hall to appeal ‘Kimigayo’ ruling, the Japan Times.
• 2006/09/22 Tokyo teachers win anthem fight: ‘Kimigayo’ directive violates freedom of thought, court rules, the Japan Times.
• 2006/06/12 The Future of Japanese Education - Patriotism and Militarism, leesean.net.
• 2006/05/10 Parody of the Japanese national anthem, Kiss me Kimigayo, Life Studies Blog.
• 2005/09/23 Suit against forced singing of anthem unbelievable: justice minister, Yahoo! Asia: News.
• 2005/04/27 Japan: Court Backs Anthem, New York Times.
• 2004/12/16 Tokyo’s Flag Law: Proud Patriotism, or Indoctrination?, New York Times.
• 2004/10/01 Japan Emperor Discourages Overt Patriotism Guardian via Kitaguni TV.
• 2004/04/07 Sing or be sacked, Guardian Unlimited.
• 2001/07/00 Japan’s Neo-Nationalism: The Role of the Hinomaru and Kimigayo Legislation, JPRI.

Note: This entry was originally entered on March 27, 2007 and has since been updated.