Japan Press Weekly

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2014 March 12 - 18 [WELFARE]

State’s deregulation policy causes distress to children

On weekdays, public parks in Tokyo are packed with children attending day-care centers that have no playgrounds. Behind this is the fact that the state has relaxed the national standards for childcare under the name of solving the problem of the existence of waiting lists of children wanting to enter childcare facilities.

One day, a public park in Setagaya Ward, which is located near the border with Meguro Ward, was filled with children playing tag or playing in the sand. Judging from the difference in the shapes and colors of their caps, there appeared to be children from four different childcare facilities.

Near the park are six day-care facilities, including authorized and unauthorized ones. Those facilities use the park as an alternative to an on-site playground. A 27-year-old childcare worker who works at one of the authorized day nurseries said, “Sometimes, children of the six facilities are playing here at the same time. I’m so worried that children may have some accidents or be injured.”

On weekday mornings and afternoons, the worker takes children to the park and takes consideration how many children are playing there that day. “When there are many more children than I expected, I give up using the place,” she said.

The government policy to ease the national childcare standards has resulted in this situation.

In 2001, the Welfare Ministry relaxed the requirements to build day-care centers under the pretext of addressing the issue of the number of children on waiting lists who were not admitted to childcare facilities. The authorities permitted the establishment of day-care facilities without playgrounds on condition that they can use nearby public parks or the grounds of shrines as an alternative site for outdoor play.

However, the numbers and sizes of public parks in Tokyo are highly inadequate. The average size of municipal parks in the 23 wards of Tokyo was only 3.0 square meters per capita as of the end of March 2013. It was less than one-third of the national average of 10.0 square meters. On top of that, the national and metropolitan governments have failed to conduct a survey on how many childcare facilities use the same park and to set up certain criteria for utilization.

Japanese Communist Party Meguro Ward assemblywoman Hoshimi Teiko said, “I will urge relevant authorities to increase authorized childcare facilities equipped with their own playgrounds by using non-private land as well as to provide more public parks where children can play as much as they like.”