Provide well-being and save children under “duress” in Japan

The decades-long and widespread sexual abuses of young boys by the founder of the largest J-pop agency, Johnny & Associates, have uncovered the need to protect children in the society otherwise considered peaceful. The number of child abuse cases has hit the record highs in the past two consecutive years, reaching 220,000 as of March 2023.

Unlike the United States, where neglect is the predominant type of child abuse, 60 percent of the reported cases in Japan derive from psychological abuse, such as verbal threats, ignoring or rejecting, or witnessing domestic violence, followed by physical abuse (24%) and neglect (16%). It is therefore linked closely to the mental and emotional well-being of their closest caregivers = mothers in many cases.

Children in Japan thus face a very different kind of challenge to their welfare, which often results in low self-esteem and depression. Indeed, suicides have become the leading cause of death among Japanese children between the ages of 10 and 14. Another survey finds that 45% of the youth between age 18 and 29 have suicidal thoughts – that is almost one in every two.

Need of action plans for children’s rights in Japan

The government’s response to this alarming trend has been slow. The new Children and Families Agency held the first meeting to discuss suicidal children in April 2023 and presented initial proposals, including the call for further research informed by inter-agency data collection and analysis and the establishment of expert teams in each prefecture for providing advisory support. It is unclear whether and how soon these preliminary steps can change the state of despair that nearly half of all children across the country are in.

Japan ratified the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1994. Based on it, 64 municipalities across Japan have instituted their own ordinance on children’s rights as of May 2023, starting in Kawasaki (Kanagawa Prefecture) in 2000. While upholding common principles and themes for children’s rights, these ordinances vary in terms of details (e.g., some cover more issues than others), action plans and implementation mechanisms. The remaining 1,660 municipalities have yet to develop one.

Little voice of children in public

As a rule, debates in Japan on children – even those concerning their rights – tend to take place without children in the room. A few days ago, I asked a senior official in the education board for one of the medium-sized cities in Tokyo about whether junior school students had any say in the design of their schools being renovated, and the answer was “We conducted a survey once but do not remember what the feedback was or whether their opinions led to any changes in the masterplan.”

The age and gender imbalances in Japan’s decision-making bodies across the board remain notoriously skewed towards senior male citizens, which only accelerates youth disengagement from the politics. How can children feel part of the future, if they have no part to play in shaping it?

Moving back to Japan last year with a 9-year-old, I have felt at times that the Japanese tend to shield children from any potential harm “for their protection,” which is instinctively understandable and admirable, but it can also carry the risk of alienating them from discussions and decisions they should be aware of. Courage is needed all around to change the society that drives children to an untimely end with their own hands.

Please reach out if you need consultations concerning child abuse suspicions and child-related matters.
The National Child Consultation Hotline number: 189