Teachers' suit against action over Hinomaru, 'Kimigayo' rejected

The Tokyo District Court turned down Thursday a damages suit filed by a group of teachers in Tokyo who had claimed that their constitutional rights had been infringed upon for being punished and forced to go through a retraining program after they had refused to stand up and face the Hinomaru national flag and to sing the "Kimigayo" anthem at school events.


Presiding Judge Shigeru Nakanishi, acting on the suit by a group of 130 teachers at schools run by the Tokyo metropolitan government, rejected the plaintiffs' demand for the payment of 10,000 yen each in damages.