Editing Kimigayo (section)

== Controversies ==
Japan's national anthem is controversial due to its [[Postwar Japan|post-war history]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GeasCAAAQBAJ |title=Republic or Death! Travels in Search of National Anthems|last=Marshall |first=Alex|publisher=Windmill Books |year=2016|isbn=978-0-09-959223-5|location=London|pages=99–100|quote="All anthems stir up controversy at some point...But no matter how heated such controversies get, none comes close to that around Kimigayo. It's a conflict that's been going on in Japan's schools for over 70 years. Teachers have lost jobs because of it. They've received death threats because of it. Parents have been left dazed by it, worrying about their children's future. And yes, Toshihiro Ishikawa committed suicide because of it."}}</ref> [[Education in Japan|Schools]] have been the center of controversy over both it and the national flag.<ref name='Wesiman'>{{cite news |author=Weisman, Steven R. |title=For Japanese, Flag and Anthem Sometimes Divide |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/29/world/for-japanese-flag-and-anthem-sometimes-divide.html#end_copy |work=The New York Times |date=29 April 1990 |access-date=2 January 2010 |archive-date=24 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524130632/http://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/29/world/for-japanese-flag-and-anthem-sometimes-divide.html#end_copy |url-status=live }}</ref> The Tokyo Board of Education requires the use of both "Kimigayo" and flag at events under their jurisdiction. The order requires school teachers to respect both symbols or risk losing their jobs.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/jun/05/worlddispatch.japan|title=A touchy subject|publisher=Guardian Unlimited|work=The Guardian|author=McCurry, Justin|date=5 June 2006|access-date=14 January 2008|archive-date=29 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121029123404/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/jun/05/worlddispatch.japan|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1999, several teachers in [[Hiroshima]] refused to put up the anthem while the Hiroshima Education Board demanded that they do so. As the tension arose between them, a vice-principal killed himself. A similar incident in Osaka in 2010 also occurred, with 32 teachers refusing to sing the song in a ceremony. In 2011, nine more teachers joined the rebellion, along with another eight in 2012.<ref>{{cite web |title=8 Osaka teachers to be punished for refusal to sing national anthem |url=http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/8-osaka-teachers-face-punishment-over-refusal-to-sing-national-anthem |website=Japan Today |date=25 February 2012 |access-date=25 February 2012 |archive-date=16 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160616230835/http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/8-osaka-teachers-face-punishment-over-refusal-to-sing-national-anthem |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Hashimoto Toru]], the mayor of [[Osaka]], stated that "[i]t was good that criminals who are intent on breaking the rules have risen to the surface".<ref>{{cite web |title=Teachers Who Refused To Sing National Anthem Face Punishment |website=japanCRUSH |publisher=Beth |url=http://www.japancrush.com/2013/stories/teachers-who-refused-to-sing-national-anthem-face-punishment.html |access-date=6 March 2013 |archive-date=21 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220421171830/https://www.japancrush.com/2013/stories/teachers-who-refused-to-sing-national-anthem-face-punishment.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Some have protested that such rules violate the [[United Nations]] [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]] and the "freedom of thought, belief and conscience" clause in the [[Constitution of Japan]],<ref name='Grossman'>{{cite book |last1=Grossman |last2=Lee |first2=Wing On |last3=Kennedy |first3=Kerry |title=Citizenship Curriculum in Asia and the Pacific |publisher=Springer |year=2008 |page=85 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=btkuYUgXLRIC&q=kimigayo&pg=PA85|access-date=12 October 2010 |isbn=978-1-4020-8744-8}}</ref> but the Board has argued that since schools are government agencies, their employees have an obligation to teach their students how to be good Japanese citizens. Teachers have unsuccessfully brought criminal complaints against [[Governor of Tokyo]] [[Shintarō Ishihara]] and senior officials for ordering teachers to honour the ''Hinomaru'' and "Kimigayo".<ref name="ishihara">{{cite web|url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20060105b2.html|title=Ishihara's Hinomaru order called legit|work=[[The Japan Times]] Online|date=5 January 2006|access-date=4 December 2007|archive-date=27 December 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121227215302/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20060105b2.html|url-status=live}}</ref> After earlier opposition, the [[Japan Teachers Union]] accepts the use of both the flag and national anthem; the smaller All Japan Teachers and Staffs Union still opposes both symbols and their use inside the school system.{{sfn|Heenan|1998|p=206}}

In 2006, Katsuhisa Fujita, a retired teacher in [[Tokyo]], was threatened with [[imprisonment]] and fined 200,000 [[Japanese yen|yen]] (roughly 2,000 [[United States dollar|US dollars]]) after he was accused of disturbing a [[graduation]] ceremony at [[Itabashi]] [[Secondary school|Senior High School]] by urging the attendees to remain seated during the playing of the national anthem.<ref>{{cite web
 |date        = 24 May 2006
 |url         = http://home.kyodo.co.jp/modules/fstStory/index.php?storyid=248658
 |title       = Feature: Upcoming verdict on retired teacher draws attention
 |work        = Kyodo News On The Web
 |access-date  = 29 July 2006
 |url-status   = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20060618201400/http://home.kyodo.co.jp/modules/fstStory/index.php?storyid=248658
 |archive-date = 18 June 2006
}}</ref> At the time of Fujita's sentence, 345 teachers had been punished for refusing to take part in anthem related events, though Fujita is the only man to have been convicted in relation to it.<ref>{{cite news | title = Japanese teacher fined for anthem protest | date = 31 May 2006 | publisher = AFP | url = http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2006/05/31/2003310932 | work = [[The Taipei Times]] | access-date = 14 October 2010 | archive-date = 30 August 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220830142736/https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2006/05/31/2003310932 | url-status = live }}</ref> On 21 September 2006, the Tokyo District Court ordered the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to pay compensation to the teachers who had been subjected to punishment under the directive of the Tokyo Board of Education. The then [[Prime Minister of Japan|Prime Minister]] [[Junichiro Koizumi]] commented, "It is a natural idea to treat the national anthem importantly". The ruling was appealed by the Metropolitan Government.<ref>{{cite web
|date=23 September 2006
|url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20060923a2.html
|title=City Hall to appeal 'Kimigayo' ruling
|work=[[The Japan Times]] Online
|access-date=25 October 2007
|archive-date=26 May 2012
|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120526023233/search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20060923a2.html
|url-status=live
}}</ref> From 23 October 2003 to 2008, 410 teachers and school workers were punished for refusing to stand and sing the anthem as ordered by school principals.<ref>{{cite news |title=2 teachers punished for refusing to stand up, recite 'Kimigayo' |date=24 May 2008 |url=http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/2-teachers-punished-for-refusing-to-stand-up-recite-kimigayo |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20091015193543/http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/2-teachers-punished-for-refusing-to-stand-up-recite-kimigayo |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 October 2009 |work=Kyodo News |publisher=Japan Today |access-date=14 October 2010}}</ref> Teachers can also be punished if their students do not stand while "Kimigayo" is played during school ceremonies.<ref name="Grossman" />

On 30 May 2011 and 6 June 2011, two panels of the [[Supreme Court of Japan]] ruled that it was constitutional to require teachers to stand in front of the [[Flag of Japan|Hinomaru]] and sing the Kimigayo during school ceremonies.  In making the ruling, the panels ratified the decision of the [[Tokyo High Court]] in ruling against 13 teachers who had asked for court relief after being disciplined between 2003 and 2005 for refusing to stand and sing the anthem.<ref>{{cite web|author=Kyodo News|title=Top court again backs 'Kimigayo' orders|url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110608b1.html|work=[[The Japan Times]] Online|access-date=15 October 2011|archive-date=21 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110821231030/http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110608b1.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Outside of the school system, there was a controversy regarding "Kimigayo" soon after the passage of the 1999 law. A month after the law's passage, a record containing a performance of "Kimigayo" by Japanese rock musician [[Kiyoshiro Imawano]] was removed by Polydor Records from his album ''Fuyu no Jujika'' (冬の十字架, ''Cross in Winter''). Polydor did not want to attract harassment from [[uyoku dantai|far-right groups]]. In response, Imawano re-released the album through an independent label with the track in question.<ref name='billboard'>{{cite magazine |first=Steve |last=McClure |date=25 September 1999 |title=Polydor Censors Japanese Rocker |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cAgEAAAAMBAJ&q=Kimigayo&pg=PA73 |magazine=Billboard |page=73 |access-date=25 August 2009}}</ref>