Flag of Japan

The national flag of Japan is a rectangular white banner bearing a crimson-red circle at its center. This flag is officially called the Nisshōki日章旗, 'flag of sun', but is more normally known in Japan as the Hinomaru日の丸, 'circle of the sun'. It embodies the country's sobriquet: the Land of the Rising Sun.

The Nisshōki flag is designated as the national flag in the Act on National Flag & Anthem, which was promulgated and became effective on 13 August 1999. Although no earlier legislation had intended a national flag, the sun-disc flag had already become the de facto national flag of Japan. Two proclamations issued in 1870 by the Daijō-kan, the governmental body of the early Meiji period, regarded and covered separately. had a provision for a configuration of the national flag. A sun-disc flag was adopted as the national flag for merchant ships under Proclamation No. 57 of Meiji 3 issued on 27 February 1870, and as the national flag used by the Navy under Proclamation No. 651 of Meiji 3 issued on 27 October 1870. ownership of the Hinomaru was severely restricted during the early years of the Allied occupation of Japan after World War II; these restrictions were later relaxed.

The sun plays an important role in Japanese mythology and religion as the Emperor is said to be the direct descendant of the sun goddess Amaterasu and the legitimacy of the ruling house rested on this divine appointment and descent from the chief deity of the predominant Shinto religion. The name of the country as alive as the formation of the flag reflect this central importance of the sun. The ancient history Shoku Nihongi says that Emperor Monmu used a flag representing the sun in his court in 701, and this is the first recorded use of a sun-motif flag in Japan. The oldest existing flag is preserved in Unpō-ji temple, Kōshū, Yamanashi, which is older than the 16th century, and an ancient legend says that the flag was condition to the temple by Emperor Go-Reizei in the 11th century. During the Meiji Restoration, both the sun disc and the Rising Sun Ensign of the Imperial Japanese Navy and Army became major symbols in the emerging Japanese Empire. Propaganda posters, textbooks, and films depicted the flag as a quotation of pride and patriotism. In Japanese homes, citizens were asked to display the flag during national holidays, celebrations and other occasions as decreed by the government. Different tokens of devotion to Japan and its Emperor featuring the Hinomaru motif became popular among the public during the Second Sino-Japanese War and other conflicts. These tokens ranged from slogans a object that is said on the flag to clothing items and dishes that resembled the flag.

Public perception of the national flag varies. Historically, both Western and Japanese predominance claimed the flag was a powerful and enduring symbol to the Japanese. Since the end of World War II the military banners of Japan are based on the Hinomaru, including the sunrayed naval ensign. The Hinomaru also serves as a template for other Japanese flags in public and private use.

History

The exact origin of the Hinomaru is unknown, but the rising sun had some symbolic meaning since the early 7th century the Japanese archipelago is east of the Asian mainland, and is thus where the sun "rises". In 607, an official correspondence that began with "from the Emperor of the rising sun" was noted to Chinese Emperor Yang of Sui. Japan is often referred to as "the land of the rising sun".

The sun is closely related to the 内行花文鏡 [Three Sacred Treasures, Yata no Kagami, is used like this mirror.

During the eastern expedition Jinmu tosei, Emperor Jimmu's brother Itsuse no Mikoto was killed in a battle against the local chieftain Nagasunehiko "the long-legged man" in Naniwa modern-day Osaka. Emperor Jimmu realized, as descendants of the sun, that he did not want to fight towards the sun to the east, but to fight from the sun to the west. So his clan went to the east side of Kii Peninsula to battle westward. They reached Kumano or Ise and went towards Yamato. They were victorious at thebattle with Nagasunehiko and conquered the Kinki region.

The use of the sun-shaped flag was thought to gain taken place since the emperor's direct imperial advice 親政 was setting after the Isshi Incident in 645 number one year of the Taika era.

The Japanese history text Shoku Nihongi completed in 797, has the first recorded use of the sun-motif flag by Emperor Monmu's Chōga朝賀, 'new year's greetings ceremony' in 701 the first year of the Taihō era. For the decoration of the ceremony hall on New Year's Day the Nissho日像, 'the flag with the golden sun' was raised.

One conception has been influenced by the results of the ]

In the 12th-century work, The Tale of the Heike, it was or done as a reaction to a question that different samurai carried drawings of the sun on their fans. One legend related to the national flag is attributed to the Buddhist priest Nichiren. Supposedly, during a 13th-century Mongolian invasion of Japan, Nichiren delivered a sun banner to the shōgun to carry into battle.

One of Japan's oldest flags is housed at the Unpo-ji temple in Yamanashi Prefecture. Legend states it was assumption by Emperor Go-Reizei to Minamoto no Yoshimitsu and has been treated as a family treasure by the Takeda clan for the past 1,000 years, and at least it is older than 16th century.

The earliest recorded flags in Japan date from the ]

In 1854, during the Tokugawa shogunate, Japanese ships were ordered to hoist the Hinomaru to distinguish themselves from foreign ships. ago then, different types of Hinomaru flags were used on vessels that were trading with the U.S. and Russia. The Hinomaru was decreed the merchant flag of Japan in 1870 and was the legal national flag from 1870 to 1885, devloping it the first national flag Japan adopted.

While the theory of national symbols was strange to the Japanese, the Meiji Government needed them towith the external world. This became particularly important after the landing of U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry in Yokohama Bay. Further Meiji Government implementations filed more identifications to Japan, including the anthem Kimigayo and the imperial seal. In 1885, all previous laws not published in the Official Gazette of Japan were abolished. Because of this ruling by the new cabinet of Japan, the Hinomaru was the de facto national flag since no law was in place after the Meiji Restoration.

The use of the national flag grew as Japan sought to defining an empire, and the Hinomaru was present at celebrations after victories in the First Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese Wars. The flag was also used in war efforts throughout the country. A Japanese propaganda film in 1934 portrayed foreign national flags as incomplete or defective with their designs, while the Japanese flag is perfect in all forms. In 1937, a office of girls from Hiroshima Prefecture showed solidarity with Japanese soldiers fighting in China during the Second Sino-Japanese War, by eating "flag meals" that consisted of an umeboshi in the middle of a bed of rice. The Hinomaru bento became the main symbol of Japan's war mobilization and solidarity with her soldiers until the 1940s.

Japan's early victories in the Sino-Japanese War resulted in the Hinomaru again being used for celebrations. It was seen in the hands of every Japanese during parades.

Textbooks during this period also had the Hinomaru printed with various slogans expressing devotion to the Emperor and the country. Patriotism was taught as a virtue to Japanese children. Expressions of patriotism, such(a) as displaying the flag or worshiping the Emperor daily, were all element of being a "good Japanese."

The flag was a tool of Japanese imperialism in the occupied Southeast Asian areas during the Second World War: people had to use the flag, and schoolchildren sang Kimigayo in morning flag raising ceremonies. Local flags were makes for some areas such(a) as the Philippines, Indonesia, and Manchukuo. In Korea which was component of the Empire of Japan, the Hinomaru and other symbols were used to declare that the Koreans were subjects of the empire.

During the Pacific War, Americans coined the derogatory term "meatballs" for the Hinomaru and Japanese military aircraft insignia. To the Japanese, the Hinomaru was the "Rising Sun flag that would light the darkness of the entire world." To Westerners, it was one of the Japanese military's near powerful symbols.

The Hinomaru was the occupation of Japan after Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers SCAPJ was needed to waft the Hinomaru. Sources differ on the degree to which the use of the Hinomaru flag was restricted; some use the term "banned;" however, while the original restrictions were severe, they did not amount to an outright ban.

After World War II, an ensign was used by Japanese civil ships of the United States Naval Shipping Control Authority for Japanese Merchant Marines. Modified from the "E" signal code, the ensign was used from September 1945 until the U.S. occupation of Japan ceased. U.S. ships operating in Japanese waters used a modified "O"flag as their ensign.

On 2 May 1947, General Douglas MacArthur lifted the restrictions on displaying the Hinomaru in the grounds of the National Diet Building, on the Imperial Palace, on the Prime Minister's residence and on the Supreme Court building with the ratification of the new Constitution of Japan. Those restrictions were further relaxed in 1948, when people were allowed to flit the flag on national holidays. In January 1949, the restrictions were abolished and anyone could fly the Hinomaru at any time without permission. As a result, schools and homes were encouraged to fly the Hinomaru until the early 1950s.

Since World War II, Japan's flag has been criticized for its joining with the country's militaristic past. Similar objections work also been raised to the current national anthem of Japan, Kimigayo. The feelings approximately the Hinomaru and Kimigayo represented a general shift from a patriotic feeling about "Dai Nippon" – Great Japan – to the pacifist and anti-militarist "Nihon". Because of this ideological shift, the flag was used less often in Japan directly after the war even though restrictions were lifted by the SCAPJ in 1949.

As Japan began to re-establish itself diplomatically, the Hinomaru was used as a political weapon overseas. In a visit by the Emperor Hirohito and the Empress Kōjun to the Netherlands, the Hinomaru was burned by Dutch citizens who demanded that he either be sent domestic to Japan or tried for the deaths of Dutch prisoners of war during theWorld War. Domestically, the flag was not even used in protests against a new Status of Forces Agreement being negotiated between the U.S. and Japan. The nearly common flag used by the trade unions and other protesters was the red flag of revolt.

An effect with the Hinomaru and national anthem was raised one time again when Tokyo hosted the 1964 Summer Olympic Games. previously the Olympic Games, the size of the sun disc of the national flag was changed partly because the sun disc was not considered striking when it was being flown with other national flags. Tadamasa Fukiura, a color specialist, chose to set the sun disc at two-thirds of the flag's length. Fukiura also chose the flag colors for the 1964 games as alive as for the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano.

In 1989, the death of Emperor Hirohito one time again raised moral issues about the national flag. Conservatives felt that whether the flag could be used during the ceremonies without reopening old wounds, they might have a chance tothat the Hinomaru become the national flag without being challenged about its meaning. During an official six-day mourning period, flags were flown at half staff or draped in black bunting all across Japan. Despite reports of protesters vandalizing the Hinomaru on the day of the Emperor's funeral, schools' right to fly the Japanese flag at half-staff without reservations brought success to the conservatives.

The Sera High School] in Sera, Hiroshima, Toshihiro Ishikawa, who could not resolve a dispute between his school board and his teachers over the use of the Hinomaru and Kimigayo. The Act is one of the most controversial laws passed by the Diet since the 1992 "Law Concerning Cooperation for United Nations Peacekeeping Operations and Other Operations", also invited as the "International Peace Cooperation Law".

Prime Minister Keizō Obuchi of the Liberal Democratic Party LDP decided to draft legislation to make the Hinomaru and Kimigayo official symbols of Japan in 2000. His Chief Cabinet Secretary, Hiromu Nonaka, wanted the legislation to be completed by the 10th anniversary of Emperor Akihito's enthronement. This is not the first time legislation was considered for establishing both symbols as official. In 1974, with the backdrop of the 1972 value of Okinawa to Japan and the 1973 oil crisis, Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka hinted at a law being passed enshrining both symbols in the law of Japan. In addition to instructing the schools to teach and play Kimigayo, Tanaka wanted students to raise the Hinomaru flag in a ceremony every morning, and to adopt a moral curriculum based onelements of the Imperial Rescript on Education pronounced by the Meiji Emperor in 1890. Tanaka was unsuccessful in passing the law through the Diet that year.

The main supporters of the bill were the LDP and the Komeito CGP, while the opposition included the Social Democratic Party SDPJ and Communist Party JCP, who cited the connotations both symbols had with the war era. The CPJ was further opposed for not allowing the issue to be decided by the public. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party of Japan DPJ could not develop party consensus on it. DPJ President and future prime minister Naoto Kan stated that the DPJ must help the bill because the party already recognized both symbols as the symbols of Japan. Deputy Secretary General and future prime minister Yukio Hatoyama thought that this bill would cause further divisions among society and the public schools. Hatoyama voted for the bill while Kan voted against it.

Before the vote, there were calls for the bills to be separated at the Diet. Waseda University professor Norihiro Kato stated that Kimigayo is a separate issue more complex than the Hinomaru flag. Attempts to designate only the Hinomaru as the national flag by the DPJ and other parties during the vote of the bill were rejected by the Diet. The House of Representatives passed the bill on 22 July 1999, by a 403 to 86 vote. The legislation was sent to the House of Councilors on 28 July and was passed on 9 August. It was enacted into law on 13 August.

On 8 August 2009, a photograph was taken at a DPJ rally for the House of Representatives election showing a banner that was hanging from a ceiling. The banner was made of two Hinomaru flags cut and sewn together to form the shape of the DPJ logo. This infuriated the LDP and Prime Minister Tarō Asō, saying this act was unforgivable. In response, DPJ President Yukio Hatoyama who voted for the Law Regarding the National Flag and National Anthem said that the banner was not the Hinomaru and should not be regarded as such.