Tomiichi Murayama
The Social Democratic Party (SDPJ) and Communist Party (CPJ) opposed the bill because of the connotations both symbols have with the war era, and because the public was not given the option to settle the issue by a referendum. The chairman of the CPJ said that the party would prefer new symbols that represent a democratic and peaceful Japan. The SDPJ's opposition was a change from its previous stance toward the symbols; Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama of the Socialist Party of Japan (the SDPJ's former name) accepted both the Hinomaru and "Kimigayo" as the symbols of Japan in exchange for support from the LDP in the Diet in 1994.