{"id":2700,"date":"2026-07-19T09:55:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T04:25:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/?p=2700"},"modified":"2026-07-19T09:55:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T04:25:32","slug":"japan-passes-legislation-banning-violation-of-national-flag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/japan-passes-legislation-banning-violation-of-national-flag\/","title":{"rendered":"Japan passes legislation banning violation of national flag"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

New Delhi ( Vivek Ojha ) : <\/strong>troversial law introducing criminal penalties for desecrating the national flag.The passage of the legislation on Friday is part of an ongoing drive by staunchly conservative Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to promote traditional patriotism and correct what her supporters call a \u201cwrong\u201d legal double standard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under existing laws, Japan penalises the desecration of foreign flags to prevent diplomatic disputes, but previously lacked equivalent protections for its own flag, the Hinomaru.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the newly enacted law, violators who publicly damage, remove or defile the national flag in a manner that causes others \u201cextreme discomfort or disgust\u201d face up to two years in prison or a fine of up to 200,000 yen ($1,250).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Japanese broadcaster Kyodo News, the law covers physical acts of vandalism such as stomping, burning, or throwing mud in public spaces, as well as livestreaming such acts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The law drafting committee, led by former Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, carved out highly specific legal exemptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ruling party clarified that the new law completely exempts physical paintings, digital media including anime, manga, video games, and generative AI, and even the miniature paper flags famously used to decorate children\u2019s restaurant meals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, opponents, including constitutional scholars and liberal politicians, argue the vaguely worded law poses a severe threat to freedom of speech as protected under Article 21 of the constitution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Democratic Lawyers Association of Japan strongly condemned the bill\u2019s rationale, stating that what constitutes \u201cdiscomfort\u201d is left entirely to the \u201carbitrary judgment of investigative authorities,\u201d which risks targeting political protests and government critics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A group of 150 Japanese academics had petitioned politicians to halt the controversial bill, warning of \u201cstrong concerns that it could curb freedom of political expression\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New Delhi ( Vivek Ojha ) : troversial law introducing criminal penalties for desecrating the national flag.The passage of the legislation on Friday is part of an ongoing drive by staunchly conservative Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to promote traditional patriotism and correct what her supporters call a \u201cwrong\u201d legal double standard. Under existing laws, Japan …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2701,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[136],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\nJapan passes legislation banning violation of national flag - The Indian View - English News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/japan-passes-legislation-banning-violation-of-national-flag\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Japan passes legislation banning violation of national flag - The Indian View - English News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"New Delhi ( Vivek Ojha ) : troversial law introducing criminal penalties for desecrating the national flag.The passage of the legislation on Friday is part of an ongoing drive by staunchly conservative Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to promote traditional patriotism and correct what her supporters call a \u201cwrong\u201d legal double standard. Under existing laws, Japan …\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/japan-passes-legislation-banning-violation-of-national-flag\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Indian View - English News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-19T04:25:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-19T04:25:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ap_69886e4e46782-1770548814.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"770\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"513\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"TIV Eng Team\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"TIV Eng Team\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theindianview.in\\\/en\\\/japan-passes-legislation-banning-violation-of-national-flag\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theindianview.in\\\/en\\\/japan-passes-legislation-banning-violation-of-national-flag\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"TIV Eng Team\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theindianview.in\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e88193a1ba8403dde5920933ad4d0798\"},\"headline\":\"Japan passes legislation banning violation of national flag\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-19T04:25:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-19T04:25:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theindianview.in\\\/en\\\/japan-passes-legislation-banning-violation-of-national-flag\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":292,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theindianview.in\\\/en\\\/japan-passes-legislation-banning-violation-of-national-flag\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theindianview.in\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/ap_69886e4e46782-1770548814.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"World\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theindianview.in\\\/en\\\/japan-passes-legislation-banning-violation-of-national-flag\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theindianview.in\\\/en\\\/japan-passes-legislation-banning-violation-of-national-flag\\\/\",\"name\":\"Japan passes legislation banning violation of national flag - The Indian View - English News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theindianview.in\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theindianview.in\\\/en\\\/japan-passes-legislation-banning-violation-of-national-flag\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theindianview.in\\\/en\\\/japan-passes-legislation-banning-violation-of-national-flag\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theindianview.in\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/ap_69886e4e46782-1770548814.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-19T04:25:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-19T04:25:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theindianview.in\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e88193a1ba8403dde5920933ad4d0798\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theindianview.in\\\/en\\\/japan-passes-legislation-banning-violation-of-national-flag\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/theindianview.in\\\/en\\\/japan-passes-legislation-banning-violation-of-national-flag\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theindianview.in\\\/en\\\/japan-passes-legislation-banning-violation-of-national-flag\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theindianview.in\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/ap_69886e4e46782-1770548814.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theindianview.in\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/ap_69886e4e46782-1770548814.jpg\",\"width\":770,\"height\":513},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theindianview.in\\\/en\\\/japan-passes-legislation-banning-violation-of-national-flag\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theindianview.in\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Japan passes legislation banning violation of national flag\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theindianview.in\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theindianview.in\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Indian View - English News\",\"description\":\"Latest News Views & Information\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theindianview.in\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theindianview.in\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e88193a1ba8403dde5920933ad4d0798\",\"name\":\"TIV Eng Team\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/cc27720412278fa585a7e2bcd3f3637f463d23f4fab051eb2bdd9f646cabd062?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/cc27720412278fa585a7e2bcd3f3637f463d23f4fab051eb2bdd9f646cabd062?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/cc27720412278fa585a7e2bcd3f3637f463d23f4fab051eb2bdd9f646cabd062?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"TIV Eng Team\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theindianview.in\\\/en\\\/author\\\/tiveng1\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Japan passes legislation banning violation of national flag - The Indian View - English News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/japan-passes-legislation-banning-violation-of-national-flag\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Japan passes legislation banning violation of national flag - The Indian View - English News","og_description":"New Delhi ( Vivek Ojha ) : troversial law introducing criminal penalties for desecrating the national flag.The passage of the legislation on Friday is part of an ongoing drive by staunchly conservative Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to promote traditional patriotism and correct what her supporters call a \u201cwrong\u201d legal double standard. Under existing laws, Japan …","og_url":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/japan-passes-legislation-banning-violation-of-national-flag\/","og_site_name":"The Indian View - English News","article_published_time":"2026-07-19T04:25:31+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-07-19T04:25:32+00:00","og_image":[{"width":770,"height":513,"url":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ap_69886e4e46782-1770548814.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"TIV Eng Team","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"TIV Eng Team","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/japan-passes-legislation-banning-violation-of-national-flag\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/japan-passes-legislation-banning-violation-of-national-flag\/"},"author":{"name":"TIV Eng Team","@id":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/e88193a1ba8403dde5920933ad4d0798"},"headline":"Japan passes legislation banning violation of national flag","datePublished":"2026-07-19T04:25:31+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-19T04:25:32+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/japan-passes-legislation-banning-violation-of-national-flag\/"},"wordCount":292,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/japan-passes-legislation-banning-violation-of-national-flag\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ap_69886e4e46782-1770548814.jpg","articleSection":["World"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/japan-passes-legislation-banning-violation-of-national-flag\/","url":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/japan-passes-legislation-banning-violation-of-national-flag\/","name":"Japan passes legislation banning violation of national flag - The Indian View - English News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/japan-passes-legislation-banning-violation-of-national-flag\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/japan-passes-legislation-banning-violation-of-national-flag\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ap_69886e4e46782-1770548814.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-19T04:25:31+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-19T04:25:32+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/e88193a1ba8403dde5920933ad4d0798"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/japan-passes-legislation-banning-violation-of-national-flag\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/japan-passes-legislation-banning-violation-of-national-flag\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/japan-passes-legislation-banning-violation-of-national-flag\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ap_69886e4e46782-1770548814.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ap_69886e4e46782-1770548814.jpg","width":770,"height":513},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/japan-passes-legislation-banning-violation-of-national-flag\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Japan passes legislation banning violation of national flag"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/","name":"The Indian View - English News","description":"Latest News Views & Information","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/e88193a1ba8403dde5920933ad4d0798","name":"TIV Eng Team","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cc27720412278fa585a7e2bcd3f3637f463d23f4fab051eb2bdd9f646cabd062?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cc27720412278fa585a7e2bcd3f3637f463d23f4fab051eb2bdd9f646cabd062?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cc27720412278fa585a7e2bcd3f3637f463d23f4fab051eb2bdd9f646cabd062?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"TIV Eng Team"},"url":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/author\/tiveng1\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2700"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2700\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2702,"href":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2700\/revisions\/2702"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theindianview.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}