Music teacher reprimanded for refusing to play "Kimigayo"

Japan Policy & Politics, July 26, 1999

TOKYO, July 21 Kyodo

The Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education took disciplinary action against a primary school music teacher in June for refusing to provide piano accompaniment for "Kimigayo" when sung during the school's entrance ceremony, the education board said Wednesday. A bill to legally recognize the Hinomaru (the rising sun) and "Kimigayo" (his majesty's reign) as the national flag and anthem is set to clear the Cabinet Committee of the House of Representatives, the lower house of Japan's parliament later in the day. The 45-year-old music teacher at a primary school in the western Tokyo city of Hino, was scolded by the education board after she refused to comply with the school principal's requests for piano accompaniment at the ceremony in April, saying it is against her principles. The principal had made the request repeatedly, saying that such a request is an official order. The school used a tape-recorded accompaniment at the ceremony. The teacher said she will file a complaint with the metropolitan government's Personnel Commission by the end of this month demanding invalidation of the disciplinary measure.. The board of education said that after receiving the report from the school principal, it reprimanded the teacher on June 11 for violating the Local Civil Service Laws by defying an official order and by committing an act that caused a lose of credibility for her own post and for the posts of all civil servants. The board officials said it did not castigate the teacher for refusing to play an accompaniment to "Kimigayo," but rather for refusing an official order. Meanwhile, the union of Tokyo public school teachers have submitted a protest to the board, saying the measure was unfair. The union officials said that they are deeply concerned about the case, as they consider it to be a new development in the ongoing debate. One of the union officials said, "Piano accompaniment for the anthem is not specified in the teaching guidelines of the Education Ministry. We are afraid that such action may lead to reprimands for not singing 'Kimigayo' at school ceremonies." The ministry requires schools to display the "Hinomaru" flag and sing the "Kimigayo" anthem at ceremonies, though neither the flag nor the anthem are legally recognized as national symbols. The government's move to legally recognize the Hinomaru and the "Kimigayo" was prompted by the suicide of a high school principal in the western Japan prefecture of Hiroshima on Feb. 28 in response to a dispute over whether his students should be made to sing "Kimigayo" during a graduation ceremony. The Japan Teachers' Union opposed recognition of the Hinomaru and the "Kimigayo" as the national flag and anthem due to their connections to Japan's imperial system and past militarism.