Teachers should quit if they don't like anthem: Saitama governor

Thursday 02nd July, 02:28 PM JST

SAITAMA —

Saitama Gov. Kiyoshi Ueda said Wednesday teachers should quit if they refuse to stand up and sing the ‘‘Kimigayo’’ national anthem at school ceremonies.

‘‘I think teachers who do not like the (Hinomaru) national flag and the national anthem should quit,’’ he told the prefectural assembly. ‘‘Those who do not love their own country will not be respected in other countries.’’ He also said the names of schools should be made public if they have teachers who refuse to stand and sing the national anthem.

Kyodo

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kirakira25 at 08:52 PM JST - 2nd July

This kind of reminds me of a recent "discussion" I had with some kindergarten mothers. I refused to do the PTA work they had (without asking) put my name down for starting December this year - my 3rd baby is due November 24th, so I said no. Their answer: "you have to do PTA work. If you don't do it, you have to quit the kindergarten" - this bullying tactic seems to be a recurring theme.
LIBERTAS at 09:26 PM JST - 2nd July

"You have to do PTA work. If you don't do it, you have to quit the kindergarten" I can honestly say that mental inflexibility is the number one pet peeve I have about Japanese people. The concept of seeing the same thing from someone else's viewpoint just never fires that neuron to connect laterally. It's blinders, "my way or the cotton-pickin' highway" all the way. As the Saitama Governor has so perfectly demonstrated. Even mentioned in the Bible: John 1: 46 "Can anything good come from Saitama?"
fatfrenchfool at 10:12 PM JST - 2nd July

what a colossal prat
Patrick Smash at 11:24 PM JST - 2nd July

Exactly which countries is this version of democracy respected in? North Korea, China? I'm an Irish Brit and I will never again stand and sing God save the Queen. People who do not worship their unelected royal figureheads do not have to sing stupid Imperialistic piles of shite, whilst bowing at wartime flags. Of course this has nothing to do with "loving their countries", whatever that means.

Idiots like Ueno, from their wealthy dynasties that owe power ultimately to the Imperial family cannot see past the end of their own noses on this issue. Do make the names of schools who have independently-minded teachers available though. Many parents will want their children educated by those who will not show subserviance to archaic dynasties, myself included.

The US does a lot of flag-waving, but most democracies do not need to. Additionally, the US anthem does not swear blind loyalty to an unelected monarch, and so is not politically charged the way Kimigayo is.
Patrick Smash at 11:33 PM JST - 2nd July

kirakira25, yes, it's hilarous isn't it. We were informed that we were supposed to work unpaid in a kindergarten we paid for. Since everyone else does it, we should too, or so the logic went.

Didn't happen.
sfjp330 at 03:52 AM JST - 3rd July

In Japan it's more about comformaty. Everybody has to be the same. Not sticking out like the sore thumb. The primitive ideas and the principals will not change in Japan. This is why people in Japan have two faces.
amerijap at 06:29 AM JST - 3rd July

This is a paradigmatic of academic red-hunting propagated by an ill-force of JP neo-conservatives under the name of Japanese patriotism.

‘‘Those who do not love their own country will not be respected in other countries.’’

No. That’s not the case. Boycotting national anthem is a form of civil disobedience that may challenge the hegemony of institutional authority, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that people are ‘unpatriotic’ citizens. It doesn’t mean that you always have to be obedient to the government or institutional authority to be patriotic to your country.
medievaltimes at 08:22 AM JST - 3rd July

This kind of reminds me of a recent "discussion" I had with some kindergarten mothers. I refused to do the PTA work they had (without asking) put my name down for starting December this year - my 3rd baby is due November 24th, so I said no. Their answer: "you have to do PTA work. If you don't do it, you have to quit the kindergarten" - this bullying tactic seems to be a recurring theme.

This story (along with the news story) sum up Japanese culture pretty well.
GJDailleult at 10:25 AM JST - 3rd July

Actually a person who really loves their country would want it to have an anthem that did not have any political overtones, was accepted by all members of the society, and added to national pride and unity. They would also not use the anthem as a political weapon to attempt to justify an idiotic war and to silence those opposed to that idiotic war. Seems to me that it is the governor who doesn't love his country, and he's the one who doesn't have this foreigner's respect.
The758 at 01:09 PM JST - 3rd July

this bullying tactic seems to be a recurring theme.

Bullying is as Japanese as sushi
taj at 04:59 PM JST - 3rd July

Even mentioned in the Bible: John 1: 46 "Can anything good come from Saitama?"

Libertas for the win!
taj at 05:26 PM JST - 3rd July

【HP】 http://www.ueda-kiyoshi.com/ 【e-mail】 ueda@aya.or.jp

In case anyone would like to let Mr. Ueda know how people from "other countries" feel.
alargo at 11:12 PM JST - 3rd July

Have any of you ever known any Japanese person to change their mind, amend their behavior or otherwise modify themselves in relation to anyone or anything in the world at large?

Of course if you really want to compare Japan and the US, a discussion on the the "libretto" for the Star Spangled Banner might be a good starting point. Ah, yes! I can just make out the red glare of rockets and the bombs bursting somewhere of Soldier Field--much more appropriate than some peacenik America the beautiful.

Saitama is somewhere very near Philistia, right?
griff at 11:31 PM JST - 3rd July

the origin of the song is lamentable. most of countries had their anthems written as part of a (public) contest, or were already popular patriotic songs. kimigayo was written and rubber stamped by the government and bequeathed upon the people, whether they liked it or not. as with in vogue in the early 20th century...
amerijap at 07:28 AM JST - 6th July

Here's the English translation of lyrics.

May the reign of the Emperor continue for a thousand, nay, eight thousand generations and for the eternity that it takes for small pebbles to grow into a great rock and become covered with moss

Courtesy of about.com Japanese language(http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/aa030400.htm)

I personally wonder how many of Japanese students and young adults truly understand the meaning of the abstract lyrics(in Japanese) and the context underlying the lyrics. I think even most schools do not really take it seriously.