Japan Mayor Hit With Monetary Penalty For Church-State Violation

In Japan, an appellate court, the Kanazawa branch of the Nagoya High Court, has ruled that Hakusan Mayor Mitsuo Kado violated Japan's constitution when in 2005 he attended a ceremony at the Shirayama Hime Shrine and delivered a congratulatory speech. The court wrote: "The defendant's congratulatory speech is of a religious nature, and constitutes a religious activity (by a government official) banned by Article 20 of the Constitution." Today's Mainichi Daily News reports that the court ordered the mayor to return to the city the 2000 yen in city funds that had been paid to the driver who transported Kado to the shrine ceremony.