wfn.org | Japanese Christians Oppose Use of Flag and Anthem

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

Dear Friends:

Please find a copy of the translation of NCCJ's position
statement on Hinomaru (Japanese national flag) and Kimigayo (Japanese
national anthem). You are welcome to forward or to share the statement 
through your
website with your friends and network.

Peace and Grace,

Toshi Yamamoto
NCC-Japan

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Position Statement: We Oppose the Compulsory Use of Hinomaru (Japanese
				 national flag) and Kimigayo (Japanese
national anthem).

"As for us, our hope is that God will put us right with him; and this is what
we wait for by the power of God's spirit working through our faith."
(GALATIANS 5:5)

At the Executive General Committee meeting of the 35th General Assembly on
27th of May 2004, the National Christian Council in Japan took the position
to
oppose the compulsory use of the Hinomaru and the Kimigayo and called upon
its
member churches and organizations to take up this challenge together.

WHAT IS HAPPENING

After the national anthem and flag law was put forth in August 1999, the
Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education issued protocols for the Hinomaru and 
the
Kimigayo at public school ceremonies in October 2003. In April 2004, it 
punished
teachers who refused to sing and play the piano for the Kimigayo at the
graduation ceremony of public schools in Tokyo. It even punished teachers 
whose
students did not stand up to sing the Kimigayo.

These acts of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government contradicts the word of
late-Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi who clarified that the national anthem and 
flag
law will not be carried out by force. They are violating freedom of thought 
and
freedom of conscience (Article 19) and the freedom of religion (Article 20)
as
guaranteed in the Constitution. They are also violating the Article 14 -
freedom of thought, conscience and religion - of the Convention on the 
Rights of
the Child, which was adopted in 1989 and ratified by Japan in 1994. In an 
environment like this,
we cannot expect that there will be respect for uniqueness of each child at
school, which is essential for the growth of children.
Punishment of teachers is oppressive and affects the children who are
developing their own ideas about the anthem and flag.

Japan has become a military superpower. The Japanese government has
continuously damaged the Constitution which embraces the aspiration for 
peace. It has
dispatched troops to Iraq, he the Prime Minister goes to worship at the
Yasukuni shrine as one of his public functions, and the Hinomaru and the 
Kimigayo are
made compulsory at public schools. We, Japanese Christians, as well as
Japanese citizens of other faiths working for peace, have a great anxiety 
over this
situation. We note
that, among those who were punished for refusing the Hinomaru and the
Kimigayo, are teachers who struggle based on his/her Christian faith. We 
also note
that there are children who are struggling to keep their faith despite huge
pressures. We Christians recognize the challenges they are facing as our own.

WE ACT UPON REFLECTIONS OF OUR PAST DEEDS

The Hinomaru and the Kimigayo were symbols of the imperial militarism, which
committed aggressive wars,  based on the State Shinto. We Japanese invaded
neighboring countries and killed innocent citizens while singing the Kimigayo
anthem under the Hinomaru flag. We Japanese Christians were forced to 
acknowledge
the emperor above God, and we accepted to worship the emperor at the Shinto
shrines. By doing so, we took part in oppressing the peoples of Korea and 
other
Asian and Pacific countries. We will never forget this history. We will keep
the fact deep in our heart that we could not keep our faith in Christ who had
been crucified on the cross, the only God, and that it resulted in
the atrocious killing of our neighbors.

After the World War II, many member churches and organizations of NCC-J have
repented and confessed this sin and asked for forgiveness from God and our
neighbors. We have been seeking to live the gospel of reconciliation with 
sisters
and brothers of Asian countries. To keep silent now about the acts of the
Tokyo Metropolitan Government is, for us, none other than dishonoring our
confessions. We will not repeat committing the same sin to be a witness of 
the truth
of the gospel of reconciliation.

OUR CONFESSION

We have been listening to minorities in Japan and Asian countries. We came to
believe that we, Christians in Japan, can never sing the Kimigayo nor can
hold the Hinomaru in order to realize a society where people of different
cultures and ethnicity can live together. We confessed before God that we 
will never
repeat what we did towards people of Okinawa and Asian countries during the
colonization and aggressive wars. We believe solely in God who sacrificed
life
for every human being and who rules history. We will never again turn our
face
from God for fear of pressure or criticisms.

NATIONAL CHRISTIAN COUNCIL IN JAPAN CALLS FOR PRAYER AND ACTION

The NCC-J had been advocating against the legislation of the national anthem
and flag, which is against the principles of pacifism, democracy and
fundamental human rights as enshrined in the Constitution.

Member churches and organizations of NCC-J are praying and acting together
for the abolition of the compulsory use of the Hinomaru and the Kimigayo in
solidarity with the punished teachers. We are committed to supporting 
teachers and
students who are suffering from the coercion.

NCC-J, which is composed of 33 churches and organizations, and the Christian
Network for Peace, and includes the Catholic Church in Japan, Reformed Church
in Japan, Japan Evangelical Association, and The Church of Christ In Japan,
concluded "We denounce war as Christians" in the advent of 2003. Upon the
recognition that the Hinomaru and the Kimigayo is part of the process of
miniaturization, we call for resistance to coercion and opposition to the 
military
cooperation of Japanese government in Iraq.

NCC-J is committed to stand firmly on the biblical gospel principles of
reconciliation under the guidance of God, the only Lord of Christians, in
solidarity with brothers and sisters of churches in Asia. We, Christians in 
Japan, are
committed to work together to bring about the New Times based on the love and
peace as Jesus showed.

"Come, our Creator, the Holy Spirit"

Ms. Reiko Suzuki
Moderator

Rev. Toshimasa Yamamoto
General Secretary

National Christian Council in Japan
Tynccj@aol.com