The Tokyo Metropolitan Government on Friday announced a plan to save the capital's children from "a state of moral and social decay," by calling on adults to scold children and participate in activities like "family bonding day" every third Saturday.
Released nearly nine months after Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara first announced the launch of "A Tokyo Revolution of the Soul," the action plan says it aims to address an era in which children are "self-centered, lack basic principles and the ability to sympathize with others."
Expanding on the original draft, the plan declares every third Saturday "family bonding day," when metropolitan officials will encourage families to sit down together to eat and talk by asking the restaurant industry to offer discounts.
Metropolitan government officials will also set up support centers in local communities where residents can seek advice via the Internet, activities where children can play traditional games with senior citizens and training classes to help young parents raise and discipline children.
The plan comprises 47 projects, but officials said that they cannot specify when the activities listed under the plan will take place. "It's not that we are going to pass an ordinance to declare a family bonding day," one official said.
The plan was revealed along with Ishihara's repeated assertion that "children have a right to be scolded." Pointing to classroom collapse, dating for pay, bullying and children who don't show basic manners in public, the plan blames a declining birthrate that encourages overprotecting and spoiling children and "a misplaced understanding of individualism."
The plan further calls on adults to follow seven basic rules, including: "Make children say 'hello,' 'goodbye' and 'thank you;' " "Make children tell you about their day;" "Don't give in when children whine for something -- make them endure;" and "Scold other people's children."