Oh christ, not again.

I'm a few days behind, but it seems that the Tokyo Courts were forced to rule on a case regarding showing proper respect to the Japanese flag and being compelled to join in the singing national anthem. Here's an english version of the editorial where I got the news, but it's curiously toned down (おかしいwhich has much stronger implications than the English "strange" the way it's used here, and lots of dependent clauses are inserted to soften the message).

The case revolved around an edict of the Tokyo School board (which you may remember from such hits as making japanese traditional arts a required subject, and cutting the time for world history in half, while more than doubling the time for Japanese history), which stated that teachers were required to stand and sing at school ceremonies. The courts said the edict was illegal... but I fear there's a whole lot of politics behind this.
The judges said that the flag and anthem "cannot be recognized as being neutral in religious or political terms." And the writer counters with, "various opinion polls" suggesting that a great majority of the Japanese people "support" the flag and anthem. There is no attempt to suggest that the flag and anthem are without political and religious content, only that that political and religious content is popular. This could only possibly be a response to the Judges words if we understand "popular opinion" as more important than the law. Later "common practice all over the world" and cases where other people stand up and sing without any hassle are brought forth as further proof, hammering home exactly what the author has in mind. This article never explicitly draws out the long knives, but the intentions are clear. Divide those who disagree with government policies and label them as unpatriotic. Where have I seen this before?

Maybe there's some good in Japan arguing in courts and newspapers about issues of personal freedom, but not here. When these issues are brought up in relation to patriotism, no good can come of them.