Ruling comes in face of a gov’t with a nationalist bent
A Japanese court has ruled that it is illegal to force the country’s teachers to stand and sing the Japanese national anthem. The court said that such a forcing infringes on freedom of thought and conscience. The decision comes at a time when Japan’s next prime minister Shinzo Abe says he is going to make patriotism a larger part of the country’s school curriculum and when there has been continued discord between teachers and education officials about the use of the anthem. The Tokyo District Court sided with 401 teachers, who sued the city government and board of education after the teachers were disciplined for refusing to stand and sing the controversial anthem. The court said that forcing the teachers to sing the anthem or accompany it on the piano is unconstitutional. The court’s decision specifically states that teachers are not obligated to participate, and that they may not be punished for refusing to do so.It awarded each teacher thirty thousand yen in damages (US$258). The court also said that it "cannot be denied" that the anthem and Japan’s national flag were the "pillars of ideology" of Japanese militarism "up until the end of World War II." It said that "even now," neither can be recognized as representing neutral values. Teachers who welcomed the decision said they are now going to focus on fighting an attempt by Abe to revise the Basic Education Law.
