Love of nation has become a hot political debate topic in Japan.

Many Japanese are arguably reluctant to wave the flag, some out of a sense of guilt for what the symbol once stood for, and the bitter memories it conjures up. Then there are the countless elderly people across Asia who can recall Japan's half-century of expansionism — beginning with its making Taiwan a colony in 1895. For them, the mere sight of an unfurled Hinomaru flag recalls Japan's brutal Imperialist oppression.

So it came as little surprise that the ruling Liberal Democratic Party met resistance from liberal lawmakers when it tried to include "patriotism" among ideals laid out in the Fundamental Law of Education. The conservative LDP prevailed and the revision was passed into law in December.