Criminalizing Damaging Japan Flag Emerges as Diet Debate Focus

Tokyo, Feb. 23 (Jiji Press)–After the Japanese ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s landslide victory in the recent general election, legislation criminalizing the damaging of the Japanese national flag is expected to become a key focus of deliberations in the newly convened special session of the Diet, the country’s parliament. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi expressed a strong desire to enact this legislation, with an opposition party also supporting it. However, there are lingering concerns that such a measure could restrict freedom of expression, thought and conscience. “If you deface or tear a foreign flag, you may face a prison term. But you can treat the Japanese flag however you like. That’s strange,” Takaichi said during a street speech in Tokyo on Jan. 27, the first day of the official campaign period for the Feb. 8 election of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet. Article 92 of the Penal Code states that a person who damages a foreign flag with the intent to insult may be sentenced to up to two years in prison or face a fine of up to 200,000 yen. However, there is no provision regarding the Japanese flag. “Any national flag should be respected equally,” Takaichi said. In 2012, she spearheaded the submission to the Diet of a bill calling for including the Japanese flag in the scope of the legislation. But the bill was scrapped. Given these circumstances, the coalition agreement reached between the LDP and the Japan Innovation Party in October last year explicitly stated that the two parties will work to enact during the 2026 ordinary session of the Diet the legislation criminalizing the damaging of the national emblem of Japan and rectify the inconsistency where only the crime of damaging foreign national flags exists. Sanseito, an opposition party, submitted a similar bill to revise the Penal Code to the House of Councillors, the upper Diet chamber, during the extraordinary Diet session last year. Although the ruling parties do not hold a majority in the Upper House, cooperation with Sansei could lead to the law’s revision. Critics argue that the proposed legislation could be used to suppress criticism of the government or artistic expression, potentially violating the freedom of thought and conscience stipulated in Article 19 of the Constitution and the freedom of expression in Article 21. Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the opposition Democratic Party for the People, called for careful discussion on the matter in a television program on Feb. 15, saying, “Freedom of thought is the right that must be respected above all others.” The crime of damaging a foreign state emblem requires a request from the foreign government to be established. In academic circles, the prevailing view is that this provision was established to ensure Japan’s smooth diplomatic relations with other countries, and some point out that this is weak as a legislative basis. A veteran LDP member stated unequivocally, “At this point, there is no necessity to criminalize damaging Japanese national flags.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]