<P> Main supporters of the bill were the LDP and the Komeito (CGP), while the opposition included the Social Democratic Party (SDPJ) and Communist Party (JCP), who cited the connotations both symbols had with the war era . The CPJ was further opposed for not allowing the issue to be decided by the public . Meanwhile, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) could not develop party consensus on it . DPJ President and future prime minister Naoto Kan stated that the DPJ must support the bill because the party already recognized both symbols as the symbols of Japan . Deputy Secretary General and future prime minister Yukio Hatoyama thought that this bill would cause further divisions among society and the public schools . Hatoyama voted for the bill while Kan voted against it . </P> <P> Before the vote, there were calls for the bills to be separated at the Diet . Waseda University professor Norihiro Kato stated that Kimigayo is a separate issue more complex than the Hinomaru flag . Attempts to designate only the Hinomaru as the national flag by the DPJ and other parties during the vote of the bill were rejected by the Diet . The House of Representatives passed the bill on July 22, 1999, by a 403 to 86 vote . The legislation was sent to the House of Councilors on July 28 and was passed on August 9 . It was enacted into law on August 13 . </P> <P> On August 8, 2009, a photograph was taken at a DPJ rally for the House of Representatives election showing a banner that was hanging from a ceiling . The banner was made of two Hinomaru flags cut and sewn together to form the shape of the DPJ logo . This infuriated the LDP and Prime Minister Tarō Asō, saying this act was unforgivable . In response, DPJ President Yukio Hatoyama (who voted for the Law Regarding the National Flag and National Anthem) said that the banner was not the Hinomaru and should not be regarded as such . </P> <P> Passed in 1870, the Prime Minister's Proclamation No. 57 had two provisions related to the national flag . The first provision specified who flew the flag and how it was flown; the second specified how the flag was made . The ratio was seven units width and ten units length (7: 10). The red disc, which represents the sun, was calculated to be three - fifths of the hoist width . The law decreed the disc to be in the center, but it was usually placed one - hundredth (​ ⁄) towards the hoist . On October 3 of the same year, regulations about the design of the merchant ensign and other naval flags were passed . For the merchant flag, the ratio was two units width and three units length (2: 3). The size of the disc remained the same, but the sun disc was placed one - twentieth (​ ⁄) towards the hoist . </P>

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