Lower house panel approves flag-anthem bill

Japan Policy & Politics, July 26, 1999

TOKYO, July 21 Kyodo

The House of Representatives Cabinet Committee approved Wednesday a bill officially recognizing the Hinomaru as Japan's national flag and "Kimigayo" as the national anthem. The committee passed the bill by a majority vote of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, its coalition partner, the Liberal Party, and the No. 2 opposition party, the New Komeito. The bill is expected to clear the plenary session of the lower house Thursday before being sent to the House of Councillors, the upper house, and will likely be enacted before the current Diet session ends Aug. 13. Before giving the green light to the bill, the committee voted down a bill submitted by the largest opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), that would recognize the Hinomaru but would not recognize "Kimigayo." One DPJ member voted for the government-proposed bill after the party's bill was voted down. Members of the Japanese Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party all voted against the government bill. The Hinomaru, or the rising sun, and "Kimigayo," unofficially translated as "his majesty's reign," have long been used as Japan's national flag and anthem. But the government had not ventured to establish legislation to designate them as Japan's national flag and anthem because of opposition to their links to Japan's imperial system and past militarism. A suicide of a high school principal Feb. 28 in Hiroshima, however, prompted the government to break the longtime taboo and move to legally recognize them as national symbols. The principal reportedly committed suicide because of conflicting pressure from the local board of education, which wanted "Kimigayo" sung at the school's graduation ceremony, and from the school's teachers, who opposed it. According to the bill, the diameter of the sun on the flag will be three-fifths of the flag's length and the center of the sun will correspond to the center of the flag. The sun will be red on a white background, the bill states. The lyrics and musical score of "Kimigayo" are attached to the bill. A well-known translation of the lyrics, which is in ancient Japanese, is: Thousands of years of happy reign be thine/ Rule on, my lord, till what are pebbles now/ By age united to mighty rocks shall grow/ Whose venerable sides the moss doth line. There is no official translation for the title or the lyrics of the anthem. During lower house deliberations on the bill, Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi provided a new government interpretation of the words for "Kimigayo." Obuchi said that "Kimi" in "Kimigayo" refers to the emperor, who is "the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people, deriving his position from the will of the people with whom resides sovereign power," as is stated in the Constitution. Under the previous constitution, which was in place until the end of World War II, "Kimi" in "Kimigayo" referred to the emperor as a figure governing Japan. In Wednesday's session, Obuchi said the legal recognition of the flag and anthem will not mean their use will be legally enforced at schools. "It is not aimed at meddling with the minds of pupils and students," Obuchi told the committee. Earlier in the day, Education Minister Akito Arima told a joint session of the Cabinet Committee and Education Committee, "Whether 'Kimigayo' is sung or not pertains to individual freedom." "It would be inappropriate to treat the pupil and students unfavorably because they did not sing the anthem," Arima said. Also speaking at the session, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka said, "The government wants to clearly legalize the national flag and anthem and promote their proper understanding at schools."