Osaka's education chief has stirred controversy by instructing managers at all prefectural schools to check whether teachers are singing or only lip-synching the national anthem at school ceremonies.
The new directive requires principals to monitor teachers' lip movements when they sing "Kimigayo."
Toru Nakahara, who became Osaka Prefecture's superintendent of education in April, said public teachers should observe a prefectural ordinance stipulating that they stand and sing "Kimigayo" at commencement ceremonies and other school events.