The Independent yesterday carried an illustration of Japan's Maritime Self-Defence Force's ensign with a report on the trial of an anti-military demonstrator who burnt a Rising Sun flag (below). The significance of the case was the judge's ruling, for the first time since 1945, that the Rising Sun flag - known as the Hinomaru in Japan - should be regarded as Japan's national flag. Until this ruling, the Hinomaru had no clear status in Japanese law.
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