Japan
Poem to Kimiko Nezu
Kimiko Nezu has been targeted by the Tokyo School Board for refusing to carry out the 2003 dictate to teachers that they must stand for the flag and sing the national anthem.
Japan's parliament designated the World War II hymn "Kimigayo" as the national anthem in 1999. Nezu opposes the song because it was the same one sung as the Imperial Army set forth from Japan calling for an "eternal reign of the emperor".
The punishments devised by the Tokyo School Board include frequent transfers of teachers to distant schools along with salary cuts and suspensions. "I feel as if freedom to question authority is being quashed just as it was during the war years, but I will never stand for that song, the same one that played when we were invading Asia.
Never."
Sourced from: Union Songs
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