Editing Flag of Japan (section)

===U.S. occupation=== <!--Flag of Germany links here -->
{{multiple image
| footer = '''''Left:''''' The {{transliteration|ja|Hinomaru}} is lowered in [[Seoul|Seoul, Korea]], on 9 September 1945, the day of the surrender. <br /><br />'''''Right:''''' The civil and naval ensign of [[Occupation of Japan|occupied Japan]]. The {{transliteration|ja|Hinomaru}} simultaneously remained in ''de facto'' use.
| image1 = Surrender of Japanese Forces in Southern Korea.jpg
| width1 = 136
| alt1   = Men in military dress watch a flag being lowered.
| image2 = Flag of Allied Occupied Japan.svg
| width2 = 136
| alt2   = Japanese civil and naval ensign during Allied occupation.
}}

The {{transliteration|ja|Hinomaru}} was the ''[[de facto]]'' flag of Japan throughout [[World War II]] and the occupation period.<ref name="defacto" /> During the [[occupation of Japan]] after World War II, permission from the [[Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers]] (SCAPJ) was needed to fly the {{transliteration|ja|Hinomaru}}.<ref name="flag45">{{vcite web |url=http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/houdou/11/09/990906j.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080110115759/http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/houdou/11/09/990906j.htm |archive-date=10 January 2008 |title=国旗，国歌の由来等 |trans_title=Origin of the National Flag and Anthem |publisher=Ministry of Education |language=Japanese |date=1 September 1999 |access-date=1 December 2007}}</ref><ref name='Goodman' /> Sources differ on the degree to which the use of the {{transliteration|ja|Hinomaru}} flag was restricted; some use the term "banned;"<ref name='Wesiman' /><ref name="banned">{{vcite book | author = Hardarce, Helen; Adam L. Kern | title = New Directions in the Study of Meiji Japan | publisher = Brill | date = 1997 | page = 653 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=pXlZoSjXb2QC&dq=Japanese+flag+banned&pg=PA653 | isbn = 978-90-04-10735-9 | access-date = 18 October 2015 }} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240813023049/https://books.google.com/books?id=pXlZoSjXb2QC&dq=Japanese+flag+banned&pg=PA653#v=onepage&q=Japanese%20flag%20banned&f=false |date=13 August 2024 }}</ref> however, while the original restrictions were severe, they did not amount to an outright ban.<ref name="defacto" />

After World War II, an [[Ensign (flag)|ensign]] was used by Japanese civil ships of the United States Naval Shipping Control Authority for Japanese Merchant Marines.<ref name="scajape">{{vcite web|url=http://homepage2.nifty.com/captysd/yomoyama/syometu.htm|title=邦人船員消滅|trans_title=Kunihito crew extinguished|author=吉田 藤人|language=Japanese|access-date=2 December 2007|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121209001156/http://homepage2.nifty.com/captysd/yomoyama/syometu.htm|archive-date=9 December 2012|df=}}</ref> Modified from the "E" [[International maritime signal flags|signal code]], the ensign was used from September 1945 until the U.S. occupation of Japan ceased.<ref>{{vcite book | author = University of Leicester | title = The Journal of Transport History | publisher = University of Leicester | year = 1987 | location = Manchester, United Kingdom | page = 41 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=pYO2AAAAIAAJ&q=flag+SCAJAP+Easy | access-date = 18 October 2015 }} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240813023037/https://books.google.com/books?id=pYO2AAAAIAAJ&q=flag+SCAJAP+Easy |date=13 August 2024 }}</ref> U.S. ships operating in Japanese waters used a modified "O" signal flag as their ensign.<ref>{{Harvnb|Carr, Hulme|1956|p=200}}</ref>

On 2 May 1947, General [[Douglas MacArthur]] lifted the restrictions on displaying the {{transliteration|ja|Hinomaru}} in the grounds of the [[National Diet Building]], on the [[Tokyo Imperial Palace|Imperial Palace]], on the [[Kantei|Prime Minister's residence]], and on the Supreme Court building with the ratification of the new [[Constitution of Japan]].<ref name="47letter">{{vcite web |url=http://www.ndl.go.jp/constitution/shiryo/05/002_23/002_23tx.html |title=Letter from Shigeru Yoshida to General MacArthur dated May 2, 1947 |publisher=National Diet Library |author=Yoshida, Shigeru |language=Japanese, English |date=2 May 1947 |access-date=3 December 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081208161853/http://www.ndl.go.jp/constitution/shiryo/05/002_23/002_23tx.html |archive-date=8 December 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{vcite web |url=http://www.ndl.go.jp/constitution/e/shiryo/05/142/142tx.html |title=Letter from Douglas MacArthur to Prime Minister dated May 2, 1947 |access-date=10 December 2009 |author=MacArthur, Douglas |date=2 May 1947 |publisher=National Archives of Japan |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611221724/http://www.ndl.go.jp/constitution/e/shiryo/05/142/142tx.html |archive-date=11 June 2011 }}</ref> Those restrictions were further relaxed in 1948, when people were allowed to fly the flag on national holidays. In January 1949, the restrictions were abolished and anyone could fly the {{transliteration|ja|Hinomaru}} at any time without permission. As a result, schools and homes were encouraged to fly the {{transliteration|ja|Hinomaru}} until the early 1950s.<ref name="flag45" />