Ayami Toda [member, Daini Tokyo Bar Association]: "The Tokyo District Court rejected the teachers' demands simply on the ground that as public officers, they should obey the order which was given regarding their official duties, even while it said that to order all the teachers, without exception, to sing "Kimigayo" (which means "His Majesty's Reign") while standing and facing the national flag may cause infringement of the teachers' freedom of thought and conscience.

In this case, the plaintiffs argued that:

1. Teachers should provide students with various values on the national anthem and the flag and empower them to choose their own thoughts for the development of their personalities;

2. Teachers themselves, who are responsible for such education, should be guaranteed their own freedom of thoughts and conscience; and

3. Education Law stipulates that the administrative power should not take unjust control of education.

However, the court only emphasized the necessity of singing the national anthem at the school ceremonies, but totally lacked any understanding of the necessity of developing the children's freedom of thought in the course of public school education or the guarantee of teachers' freedom of thought and conscience. This ruling should be noted as a problematic one that allows the infringement of freedom of thoughts and conscience in Japanese public schools."