Opinion

Educational Considerations

By DOUGLAS LUMMIS

The brave, bright students of Tokorozawa High School in Saitama Prefecture are giving us all an education in democracy.

I'm sure you know the story as well as I do. But let me summarize the main events as I have learned them from the newspapers.

Tokorozawa High has a tradition of student self-government. In particular, students had participated in the planning of the graduation and entrance ceremonies. And until last year the Hinomaru flag and the song "Kimigayo" had not been part of those ceremonies. But last year newly appointed principal Tatsuo Uchida announced his intention to change both ceremonies into the rigid patriotic rituals demanded by the Education Ministry.

The students courageously made plans for their own ceremonies, with the support of teachers and parents. As a result, in March there were two graduation celebrations, one planned by the principal, the other by the students. From a student population of 2,236, a total of 20 graduating students and 11 others came to the principal's ceremony, where they could look at the flag with the big red spot and listen to a recording of "Kimigayo." The student planned celebration, on the other hand, was packed.

From the standpoint of the principal, this was a disaster. His authority was being undermined. And now the students were planning an alternative entrance ceremony as well. In what was probably an act of panic, the principal sent out threatening letters to the parents of the incoming students, saying that students who did not attend the "official" entrance ceremony would not be admitted to the school.

The tactic backfired. Students, parents and teachers were angered. A group of graduates hired lawyers and threatened legal action. And the principal's shameful behavior got publicity all over the country.

Principal Uchida lost. His "official" ceremony was boycotted by 40 percent of the incoming students. This number is remarkably large, considering the principal's threats and considering that the students were not yet part of the school community. They were newcomers. During his ceremony, Uchida announced that, after all, he would grant admission to the absent students "for educational considerations."

It is ironic that, in the very ceremony he claimed was of high dignity and grave importance, Uchida would make such a dishonest statement. "For educational considerations" — nonsense! This statement was only an attempt to hide the fact that he was defeated. He admitted the students because he did not have the power to do otherwise. He had no legal basis to reject them. If he had tried, he would have been sued in a court of law, and probably would have lost.

But there is a more important reason. When students are united, they generate real power. A school that begins expelling its own students is only attacking itself. A school with no students is no school. The more students a principal expels, the fewer he has over which to be principal. And if he expels all his students, he is no longer a "principal" at all.

If Mr. Uchida changed his mind "for educational considerations," perhaps the "education" he means is the one he received from his students, an education in the nature of democratic power.

Shukan ST: May 1, 1998

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