Japanese children are in the news these days with a frequency that would have astonished earlier generations. Hardly a day goes by without reports of some new disturbing incident, ranging from heinous crimes committed by minors to instances of serious child abuse or neglect. When the news is not about incidents in which children themselves are directly involved, it often concerns plans and programs devised by central government or education establishment "experts" that have the unstated goal of making the younger generation conform better to adult standards. Thus, it is a welcome and refreshing surprise to learn that the Kawasaki Municipal Assembly passed an ordinance this month that spells out in statutory form the basic general rights of minors.

At a time of repeated indications of increasing alienation among Japanese youth, the Kawasaki assembly's bold action deserves support. The municipal ordinance, which takes effect on April 1, 2001, was passed after more than two years of study and preparation. It is especially noteworthy that the advisory panel which studied the proposal for such an ordinance included not only educators and adult private citizens, but junior and senior high school students as well. Reports indicate that before the group produced its draft of the new children's rights code it first heard the opinions of as many as 30 elementary, junior high and senior high school students. The result is that prominent among the rights stipulated are the right to live without anxiety, the right for children to be themselves and the right to participate in society.

At first glance, the codification of these and other rights may seem uncontroversial. Yet on the very day that the media reported the passage of the Kawasaki ordinance, reports were also carried that the police had investigated 163 cases of child abuse in the 10 months between January and October, an increase of 55.2 percent from the previous year. Add this to the continuing reports of bullying and corporal punishment in the nation's schools, despite supposed signs of improvement, along with the unending emphasis on examinations and test results, and it is easy to understand why living "without anxiety" assumes such importance in the children's-rights ordinance.