Covert

Hi folks --

Not to belabor the point, but here's another story that came out today,
indicating where public education in Japan seems to be heading.

To help put all this in context, it may help to keep in mind that the
"Kimi-ga-yo" national anthem and "Hi-no-maru" national flag in Japan are
not "official" at all, never having been legally sanctioned or voted on
by the public. But that hasn't stopped the Education Ministry from
adopting them anyway.

And of course, for many people both in and outside Japan, these two
controversial symbols of the anthem and flag (representing the Japanese
emperor as a "deity" and Japan as a "divine nation") still stand today as
reminders of past Japanese war atrocities in the Pacific and Far East.

My wife tells me that private schools too in Japan are now feeling the
pressure to go along with the Education Ministry's mandate to recognize
the "divine symbols" of the flag and anthem -- including a private
Christian school that is not too far from where we live.

If even the private Christian schools in Japan are giving in to the
Education Ministry's Shinto-based commandments, what's next?

Brian Covert
(KnoK NEWS)
in Osaka, Japan

-------------------------------------

[Asahi Evening News - 3 June 2000]


MOST SCHOOLS SINGING ALONG WITH KIMIGAYO, FLAG

*In Tokyo high schools, 99 percent sang the government tune
in ceremonies this year, up from only 5.9 percent in 1999.*


Asahi Shimbun

In this spring's school ceremonies, more than 90 percent of public
schools around the country led their students in singing Kimigayo, the
song legally designated the national anthem last August, the Education
Ministry said Friday.

In the Tokyo and Osaka areas especially, high schools adding the song to
their ceremonies rose overwhelmingly.

The ministry surveyed boards of education in all prefectures and major
cities around the country and found that elementary and junior and senior
high schools that had not previously included the song in ceremonies did
so after the law was passed.

After the legislation passed, the Education Ministry stepped up pressure
on schools to include the song and hoist the flag at school ceremonies.

On Friday, the ministry issued a notice to education boards across Japan
to ensure that "all schools sing the song and hoist the flag."

The survey found that most schools routinely hoist the flag at their
ceremonies.

For instance, 99.6 percent of elementary schools and 99.4 percent of
junior high schools and 99.8 percent of senior high schools hoisted the
flag at entrance ceremonies in April. Last year's corresponding
percentages for elementary schools and high schools were both 99 percent,
while the figure for junior high schools stood at 98.6 percent. Similar
percentages were reported for graduation ceremonies.

Meanwhile, 94.7 percent of elementary schools led their students in
singing Kimigayo at their entrance ceremonies this year, up from 89.2
percent last year. With senior high schools, the percentage was 98.1
percent for this year, up significantly from 85.2 percent last year, the
survey showed.

Similar percentages were reported concerning graduation ceremonies.

In Tokyo, only 5.9 percent of senior high schools included the song at
entrance ceremonies last year, while the percentage rose to 99 percent
this year. In Kanagawa Prefecture, the percentage rose from 26.6 percent
last year to 98.8 percent this year.

Senior high schools in Osaka and Kobe did not include the singing of
Kimigayo in their entrance ceremonies until last year, but all schools in
the two cities sang the song at ceremonies this year, the survey found.

In meetings in September and early this year, the Education Ministry
instructed officials from 13 education boards in regions where schools
have had a low rate of adopting the song to offer what it called
"appropriate guidance" on the issue.


[copyright 2000 - Asahi Shimbun]