Japan's parliament enacted a law criminalising the desecration of the national flag on Thursday, introducing penalties of up to two years in prison or a fine of 200,000 yen ($1,250) for publicly damaging, removing, or defacing the Hinomaru.
The legislation, jointly proposed by the Liberal Democratic Party, Japan Innovation Party, Democratic Party for the People, and Sanseito, applies only to physical flags and covers acts of vandalism as well as livestreaming such acts. An accompanying resolution stipulates that writing political messages or creating artistic works on the flag does not constitute a punishable offence.
Exemptions extend to anime, manga, video games, generative AI imagery, digital media, miniature paper flags, and physical paintings. Several opposition parties, including the Constitutional Democratic Party, Komeito, and the Japanese Communist Party, voted against the measure.