Act On National Flag and Anthem (Japan) - Enforcement and Lawsuits

Enforcement and Lawsuits

When the law was passed, Prime Minister Obuchi and other officials stated that there was no intention to regulate the use of the flag and the anthem in everyday life. However, the 1999 curriculum guideline issued by the Ministry of Education after the passage of the Law Regarding the National Flag and Anthem decrees that "on entrance and graduation ceremonies, schools must raise the flag of Japan and instruct students to sing Kimigayo, given the significance of the flag and the song."

In Tokyo, regulations were put in place in 2003. As part of that city's regulations, board or school officials are required to record names of teachers who do not stand or sing, and the flag is displayed facing the students during ceremonies. Sanctions ranged from reprimands, re-education courses, pay cuts, loss of duties to termination; and the sanctions were encouraged by Shintaro Ishihara, the governor of Tokyo. In 2004, 243 teachers were disciplined and 67 teachers were warned for either not following policies or for instructing their students not to honor both symbols.

One city in Fukuoka Prefecture measured and rated each school on how loudly the students sang Kimigayo, but Tokyo was the only school board that issued large-scale punishments for not following the regulations. According to the Tokyo Board of Education, more than 400 people have been punished since 2004.

Several lawsuits were filed to challenge the Tokyo regulations on grounds that the order violated Article 19 of the Japanese Constitution, granting "freedom of thought and conscience." The Tokyo District Court sided with the teachers, ruling that teachers cannot be forced to stand or sing. However, its decisions are either being appealed or have already been overturned by the Tokyo High Court, which ruled that the order does not represent a violation of the Constitution. Over a dozen lawsuits, ranging from the constitutionality of the Tokyo order to the compensation of the punished teachers, have been filed in Japanese courts. The latest, filed in 2011, was rejected by the Supreme Court; the Court agreed with the Tokyo High Court that requiring teachers to stand for Kimigayo was not a violation of the Constitution. After this ruling, the Osaka Prefectural Assembly passed an ordinance on June 3, 2011, ordering teachers and other school employees in Osaka to stand and sing when Kimigayo is played during school ceremonies.