Japan Press Weekly

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2013 September 25 - October 1 [EDUCATION]

JCP in Osaka demands retraction of forcible ‘Kimigayo’ order on school teachers

Japanese Communist Party members of the Osaka prefectural assembly on September 25 urged the head of the local education board to retract his order on public high schools to check if their teachers are singing the national anthem “Kimigayo” during school ceremonies.

Osaka Prefectural Board of Education Chief Nakahara Toru has sent a notice to public high schools ordering them to monitor their teachers to see if they are actually singing the song and report results to the board.

Nakahara is a college friend of Osaka Mayor Hashimoto Toru, who assigned him as the principal of Izumi High School in April 2010. He became the head of the education board in April this year.

A statement the JCP submitted to him states that to force teachers to stand up and sing “Kimiyago” violates their freedom of thought and conscience guaranteed by Article 19 of the Constitution. It points out that government representatives have reiterated in the Diet that such coercion should not be allowed to take place.

Past related article:
> Osaka school principal checked if teachers sing ‘Kimigayo’ (March 15, 2012)