Tokyo teachers win anthem case

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A group of Japanese teachers who objected to being forced to sing the national anthem in schools has won a legal action in Tokyo.

Some 400 teachers and librarians sued Tokyo's government and education chiefs over a 2003 order that they raise the national flag and sing the anthem.

They objected to the ruling because of the anthem and flag's associations with Japan's controversial military past.

Tokyo district court ruled that the directive violated freedom of thought.

The city's government and education board were ordered to pay each teacher 30,000 yen ($256) for their distress over the order.

More than 350 people have been reprimanded for refusing to stand and sing the anthem in front of the national flag since the ruling was introduced, Kyodo news agency reported.

The lawsuit was first filed in 2004 by 228 teachers, who were then joined by others.

Inflamed tensions

Tokyo's metropolitan government is preparing a response to the ruling, education board official Hideshi Yasuma was quoted by the Associated Press as saying.

The court ruling may be a setback for Japan's likely next Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is expected to take office next week and who is seeking to encourage teachers to instil more patriotism among their students.

Japan's leaders say they want to revive a sense of identity among the country's youth, but opponents fear it could engender dangerous nationalism.

Moves towards greater nationalism would inflame tensions with Japan's neighbours, who already feel the country has not fully repented for its military aggression during the war.