JAPAN: A Tokyo court has ruled that teachers can refuse to sing the national anthem at entrance and graduation ceremonies, dealing a blow to the plans of Japan's next prime minister Shinzo Abe, to revive patriotism in the nation's schools.
"The plaintiffs have no obligation" to sing the anthem or stand to attention for the hinomaru ('rising-sun') flag at school events, Judge Koichi Nanba yesterday in his ruling against the Tokyo board of education and the city.
He said freedom to disagree with others was "clearly protected by the constitution", adding: "Many people oppose raising the national flag and singing the anthem [ because] they were used as moral support for Japan's militarism."
The lead lawyer for the plaintiffs called the ruling "epoch-making" and said his team would use it as a weapon in the battle against the education board. "Today reaffirms the right to freedom of thought in Japan."
The suit was sparked by an October 2003 Tokyo directive demanding that the city's public school employees face the flag and sing the kimigao (his majesty's reign) anthem during school ceremonies.
About 400 teachers and librarians, who say the directive is an attempt to rehabilitate two key symbols of Japan's militarist past, filed suit, demanding the city reverse the ruling and pay them the nominal sum of 30,000 yen (€201) each for the psychological suffering it caused.
The legal battle has since developed into a major test case of the government's ability to push through reforms of the education system. More than 50 lawyers joined the plaintiff's side and at one stage even the emperor seemed to criticise the directive.
Several teachers have since been sacked and more than 300 have been slapped with salary cuts, suspensions and other reprimands; hundreds more have been sent on "re-education courses".
Educators who oppose the directive claim that the official punishments are merely the tip of the iceberg. "Many teachers are afraid to speak out even though they agree with us," said the lead plaintiff, Eishun Nagai.
Plaintiff Hiroko Arai said the ruling would be "very displeasing" to prime minister-elect Mr Abe. "He is one of those politicians who believes that teachers and children should automatically respect the flag and anthem. This is a blow to attempts to reform the education law."
