Tokyo teachers punished over 'Hinomaru' and 'Kimigayo'

The Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education on March 30 announced that it will punish about 180 metropolitan school teachers for failing to comply with its order to stand up and sing "Kimigayo" at graduation ceremonies.

The board of education issued a notice last October ordering metropolitan schools to hoist the "Hinomaru" flag at the ceremony stage and ensure that all teachers stand and sing "Kimigayo". In order to make sure that the schools follow the instructions, it had officials monitor teachers and students at graduation ceremonies.

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On the same day, about 30 members of the Teachers and Staffs Union in Metropolitan Schools for Disabled Children assembled in front of the Tokyo government office to stage a protest against the announced punishment, chanting, "Education never comes to terms with threats and coercion."

Six metropolitan special education schools have built a slope attached to ceremony stages in order to have students receive graduation certificates on the stage in front of "Hinomaru" at graduation ceremonies.

In a published statement, Union Chair Shirase Yoshihiro said that by forcing disabled students to receive their certificate on the ceremony stage, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government deprives them of the opportunity to demonstrate what they can do and violates their human rights. (end)