04.10a The Japanese National Anthem, Kimigayo. There's been a fuss lately because in Tokyo schoolteachers are being required to sing the national anthem, an ancient poem set to music in the modern-- but pre-WWII-- era. Some teachers object to its jingoist associations, apparently. And others are perhaps not monarchists. The words are hardly offensive:

May the reign of the Emperor continue for a thousand, nay, eight thousand generations and for the eternity that it takes for small pebbles to grow into a great rock and become covered with moss.

I can't see the objection, particularly since for most of Japanese history, as now, the Emperor has been merely the head of state (and perhaps a religious figure), while the actual government was in the hands of other people--- the Diet, the Shogun, warlords, and suchlike.

[in full at 04.04.10a.htm]

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