Japan Enacts National Flag Vandalism Bill

Tokyo, July 17 (Jiji Press)–The Diet, Japan’s parliament, enacted a bill Friday to criminalize acts of damaging the Japanese national flag, despite concerns that it could infringe on freedom of thought and expression guaranteed by the Constitution. At a plenary meeting, the House of Councillors, the upper chamber, approved the bill by a majority vote, with support from the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and the Japan Innovation Party, as well as the Democratic Party for the People and Sanseito on the opposition side. The bill had passed the House of Representatives, the lower chamber, on June 30. The new law will be promulgated soon and will come into effect 20 days after its promulgation. Under the law, anyone who publicly damages the national flag “in a manner that causes people to feel extremely uncomfortable or disgusted” could face up to two years in prison or a fine of up to 200,000 yen. Whether an act is punishable will be determined through a comprehensive assessment of the objective circumstances, including the outward form of the act and the surrounding situation, regardless of the offender’s intention or purpose. Punishable acts include livestreaming the damaging of the national flag. The law defines the national flag related to the penalty as “a tangible object used as a national flag.” Flag images depicted in animation, comics and games, those created by generative artificial intelligence tools and flag-shaped decorations on children’s meals are excluded from the scope of the law. In October last year, the LDP and the JIP agreed to enact the bill during the current Diet session as part of their deal to form a coalition government. Diet committee deliberations on the bill were held for only three days in each of the two chambers. The LDP, the JIP, the DPFP and Sanseito argued that the legislation serves as a preventive measure to protect the public sentiment of respect for the national flag. Some other opposition parties, however, said it lacks the specificity required for criminal penalties. The bill was passed into law although the two sides remained divided. The bill also drew criticism that freedom of thought and expression could be restricted because expressions using the national flag are often made for political purposes. In response, the four supporting parties said that the bill was not intended to interfere with people’s inner thoughts or punish opinions or beliefs. However, constitutional scholars who expressed views on the bill before the Diet said that the legislation was unconstitutional. Also criticized was the provision defining the punishable acts as those damaging the national flag in a manner causing extreme discomfort or disgust. Critics said that the provision lacks the clarity that criminal laws should possess, warning that vague standards could have a negative effect on society. The four parties simply repeated that the provision will be interpreted according to social norms among ordinary citizens. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]