LDP Members Split over Criminalizing Japan Flag Desecration

Tokyo, April 1 (Jiji Press)--Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party is divided over a proposal to establish a crime for damaging the national flag, but the party aims to reach a consensus as early as the end of this month.

At the first meeting of an LDP project team at party headquarters Tuesday, some members called for enacting a bill to criminalize damage to the national flag during the ongoing session of the Diet, the country's parliament.

But others expressed caution, reflecting concerns over freedom of expression.

The coalition agreement between the LDP and the Japan Innovation Party calls for establishing a crime of damaging the national flag during the current Diet session, saying, "We will correct the inconsistency whereby only the crime of damaging foreign national emblems exists."

"There are various issues and opinions," former Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, who heads the project team, said at the meeting. "From a legislative point of view, we want to study cases from countries around the world and deepen discussions."

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]