The rising sun flag controversy captured in the group stage of this North and Central America World Cup is too serious to be dismissed as a simple incident. At the last match between Japan and Tunisia, Japanese spectators proudly waved the Rising Sun flag and even took commemorative photos with it wrapped around their bodies, which was broadcast on the electronic screen. In particular, given that the match was a symbolic match played for the 1,000th time in World Cup history, it was a huge disappointment to soccer fans around the world. Despite the fact that bringing the Rising Sun flag into the stadium is strictly prohibited by FIFA regulations, the act of displaying it as if mocking clearly shows the Japanese cheering team's false sense of history.

International sports organizations such as FIFA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have long regarded the Rising Sun flag as a political expression and have banned it from being brought into stadiums. The case where security guards directly stopped the Rising Sun flag on site during the Qatar World Cup was an official measure that reflected this perception of the international community. However, in this tournament, the Japanese cheering team is adopting the ‘balloon effect’ style of cheering, where they take to the streets if they are stopped inside the stadium. This cannot be interpreted as a simple lack of cheering tools, but as an intentional move to show off their militaristic nostalgia by cleverly avoiding prohibited areas.

Experts, including Professor Seo Gyeong-deok of Sungshin Women's University, are raising strong voices of criticism against this behavior. Professor Seo emphasizes that the Rising Sun Flag is a symbol of the imperialism that devastated Asian countries during the Pacific War, and points out that using it as a tool of support is a direct violation of the universal spirit of peace. In fact, on Japanese portal sites such as Yahoo Japan, there are tens of thousands of comments defending the use of the Rising Sun flag or criticizing FIFA's regulations, proving that Japan's distorted sense of history is still strong. This suggests that the rising sun flag issue is not simply a one-time controversy, but is directly related to the lack of history education deeply rooted within Japanese society.

The Rising Sun Flag controversy is now expanding to online platforms. Recently, a YouTuber who produced a World Cup-related video inserted a scene of the Rising Sun flag cheering, but received strong criticism and had to edit the video with an apology. This clearly shows how effective continuous public surveillance and public debate are in eliminating incorrect symbols from the international community. It is a time when systematic education and campaigns to make the international community recognize the Rising Sun Flag as a war crime like Germany's Hakenkreuz, beyond simply emotional condemnation, become more urgent.