Strolling home from the office today, I noticed my neighbor had erected a new Japanese flag - the fourth on the street. Passing the junior high school on my block, I heard the muffled notes of a piano and a loud chorus of kids belting out the national anthem. Both right and left-wing politicians are now lobbying for constitutional reforms to alter Japan's official pacifist position. My students echo Tokyo Governor Ishihara, by moaning about "dangerous foreigners" making our streets unsafe for their children.

In an apparent manipulation of Article #9 of the national Constitution, which renounces "the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes", the government has successfully deployed troops in Iraq. Prime Minister Koizumi provokes anxiety and fury in those who once suffered from Japanese military aggression, by making bi-annual visits to Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo - a memorial to the WWII leaders.

Aside from causing irreparable damage in bilateral relations with other Asian nations, district courts in seven prefectures filed lawsuits against the prime minister, arguing that visits by political leaders violate the separation of state and religion. In defense, he claims his visits were of a personal nature. Oddly, he signed the shrine registry as "Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi" and traveled there in an official car.

Although reminiscent of wartime aggression and an outdated Imperial government, strict regulations for using the national anthem and flag in school assemblies were imposed in Tokyo metropolitan schools in October 2003. Met with such resistance from uncooperative, liberal teachers, the school board began doling out punishments on March 30th, 2004.

To date, almost 300 teachers, and other educators in the Tokyo area have been reprimanded, and some have even been docked pay for declining to sing the anthem. Principals have been penalized for misbehaving children who remain seated during the singing of "kimigayo" a trend that seems to be spreading to other school boards in Japan. Fukuoka Prefecture authorities have begun to survey schools, scrutinizing the volume levels during the performance of the anthem and issuing warnings to the teachers of the quieter children.

It seems that social divisions are being created by controversial rules, and old-fashioned symbolism is only effective in rousing negative sentiments. Cohesive nationalism cannot be accomplished in this setting. Why not write a new national anthem, praising the cultural richness of Japan?

Why adhere to rules that do nothing to promote a positive learning environment? Less emphasis needs to be placed on forcibly restoring 'pride' and 'patriotism', the preliminary steps of a potentially dangerous path.