Japan yesterday enacted a controversial new law prohibiting desecration of its national flag, a key right-wing agenda pushed by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. Opponents said it was an attempt to intimidate the public and silence criticism of her government.The law punishes publicly damaging or defacing the national flag, known as hinomaru, including livestreaming of the scene in ways that would offend the feelings of others.
A Japanese flag flutters at the summit of Mt Fuji in Japan on July 19, 2021.
The ambiguous law only intimidates people from using the flag in art, protests or other forms of expression, and could violate constitutional freedom of speech, opponents said.Japan has a law to punish vandalizing foreign national flags, mainly those displayed at diplomatic facilities, to avoid international disputes.
Takaichi said Japan’s lack of a law criminalizing disrespectful handling of its own national flag is “wrong.”The law prohibits publicly damaging, removing or defacing a national flag in ways that “causes extreme discomfort or sense of disgust to others.” It is meant to protect the people’s respect for the flag, the law says.Violators would face up to two years in prison or a maximum fine of ￥200,000 (US$1,231.6).The passage of the law highlights a win for Takaichi’s right-wing agenda and her supporters.Many legal experts have opposed the law, saying the vaguely worded law criminalizes actions on the grounds of people’s feelings and could be used arbitrarily, possibly against those critical of the government.The law has raised a flurry of questions in parliament about exactly what actions can be punished.Takaichi’s governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) said contraventions include pulling down and discarding a national flag displayed at a municipal building; tearing, burning or cutting a national flag in a public space; stepping on a national flag, covering it with mud in public; livestreaming or uploading footage showing oneself cutting or burning a flag in a private space.Use of images of a flag in anime, cartoons or those created by artificial intelligence is allowed, because they are not in the tangible form, and flag images that form part of a painting would not be subject to punishment, the party said.Damaging of miniature hinomaru flags, often used to decorate children’s meals is also allowed.
