Despite opposition from media organizations, the Finance Ministry displayed the Hinomaru flag in its press briefing room Friday under orders from Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa.
In other nations, displaying the national flag in a government press briefing room may be normal. But in Japan, the Hinomaru, which officially became the national flag in 1999, remains contentious due to its association with the country's past militarism.
When Nakagawa was agriculture minister that same year, he riled ministry press club members by placing the Hinomaru in the farm ministry's briefing room.
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