Keiko Hirata [Assistant Professor, California State University Northridge]: "In March 2009, the Tokyo District Court rejected a lawsuit filed by Japanese teachers who had been penalized for refusing to sing Kimigayo, the Japanese national anthem, at school ceremonies. The court rejected the teachers' demand that their punishment be rescinded, ruling that the 2003 directives of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government ordering public school teachers to sing Kimigayo while facing the Hinomaru national flag at school ceremonies does not violate teachers' freedom of thought and conscience guaranteed under Article 19 of the Japanese Constitution and that the penalties were thus legitimate.

Kimigayo and Hinomaru have long been controversial symbols in Japan. For many, they represent Japan's wartime militarism and imperialism. From this perspective, Kimigayo is especially inappropriate for today's democratic Japan as its lyrics honor the emperor's long rein. Many Japanese teachers, especially those in the Japan Teachers' Union, resent having to face Hinomaru and sing Kimigayo at school ceremonies. But, in 1996 the education ministry instructed public schools to raise the Hinomaru flag and to sing Kimigayo at school ceremonies. Many teachers continued to rebel at recognizing the flag and anthem and, in 1999, a high school principle in Hiroshima committed suicide, reportedly due to his agony over the refusal of teachers at his school to face Hinomaru and sing Kimigayo. To avoid future incidents like this, the Japanese government shortly thereafter passed the Law of National Flag and Anthem that gave official government recognition to Hinomaru and Kimigayo. Thus the 2003 directives by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (that were contested in the above-mentioned legal case) reflected efforts by conservatives to legitimize Hinomaru and Kimigayo in the Japanese legal system.

The institutionalization of Hinomaru and Kimigayo is indicative of a recent tilt towards conservatism in Japan and particularly within Japanese education. For example, the education ministry recently deleted most references to the "comfort women" (sex slaves for the imperial Japanese army) from Japanese history textbooks. And, in 2007, the same ministry attempted to remove references in textbooks to the role of the Japanese military in forcing mass suicides in Okinawa in 1945 (The ministry later reinstated the references due to protests in Okinawa against the attempt). The Japanese government, under the leadership of then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, also passed the Revised Fundamental Law of Education in 2006, which requires public schools to teach their students patriotism.

It is unclear whether the current nationalist trend will continue. With the sudden resignation of Prime Minister Abe in 2007, the conservative movement to build an utukushii kuni (beautiful country) that cherishes an unblemished notion of the nation's culture, tradition, and history has stumbled. Also, a high profile history revisionist group, Tsukurukai (Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform), is said to have weakened due to internal conflicts and splintering. What is clear, however, is that Japan's educational system will continue to be a site of contention over diverse interpretations of Japan's past, whether in relationship to the flag, national anthem, or curriculum."