The Tokyo District Court on Thursday ordered the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to pay 12.03 million yen, or 30,000 yen each, in compensation to 401 teachers who objected to a city directive obliging them to stand and sing the national anthem at school ceremonies.
Teachers have "no obligation to sing 'Kimigayo' while facing the national flag," presiding Judge Koichi Nanba said in handing down the ruling. "To force anyone to do so would violate their freedom of thought and conscience."
In what the plaintiff's lawyers called an "epoch-making verdict," Nanba said Tokyo's directive was invalid and breached the Fundamental Law of Education. He also said the capital's interference in the matter was unsuitable.