Is the renaming of the "Children's Hall", a key policy that continued from Yoshihide Suga to Fumio Kishida, also related to the Unification Church?

Since the shooting death of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe by the suspect Tetsuya Yamagami, the motive for the crime is suspected to be related to the heretical beliefs of Yamagami Tetsuya's mother. The fake religion really made money, so it was formerly known as "Unification Church", which has now been renamed "World Federation of Peaceful Families" Once again attracted attention from all walks of life. Among them, the relationship between the "World Federation of Peaceful Families" and the Liberal Democratic Party regime is also a major focus.

At present, it is rumored that the controversial "Children's Hall (こども庁)", which had been noisy a while ago, was suddenly changed to "Children's Family Hall (こども家庁)" on the eve of the road, and there was also the intervention of the "World Peace Family Federation" behind it, which caused topic.

The focus of governance from Yoshihide Suga to Fumio Kishida

The "Children's Office" can be said to be a very important policy during Yoshihide Suga's short one-year term as Prime Minister. The popularity of the "Children's Hall" issue has caused the four candidates in the LDP leadership election last year, in addition to Takaichi Sanae, Kono Taro, Kishida Fumio, and Noda Seiko all to declare that they will definitely set up "Children" as soon as possible after their election. hall". After Fumio Kishida was elected, he even appointed Seiko Noda as the minister in charge of children's policy (こども policy minister), which shows that the Liberal Democratic Party attaches great importance to achieving Yoshihide Suga's key policies.

However, this "Children's Hall" was not initiated by Yoshihide Suga at first, but changed to the Liberal Democratic Party's shirt when the Senate was re-elected in March 2019. Relying on the advantages of online air combat, it won 540,000 votes in one go, and the scenery became a member of the Liberal Democratic Party. Yamada Taro received the second highest number of votes.

The initiator is actually the Liberal Democratic Party Senator Yamada Taro

In January last year (2021), Yamada Taro visited Yoshihide Suga and proposed the idea of "Children's Hall" to Yoshihide Suga. Led by Yoshihide Suga, the cabinet and the Liberal Democratic Party quickly moved. Established "Children's Hall".

For Yamada Taro , he was raised by a single-parent family, and he is very concerned about single-parent families, child abuse and poverty among children. In recent years, there have been a series of social cases of child abuse in Japan (for example: Yuai Funado in Meguro Ward, Tokyo in March 2018, and Xinai Kurihara in Noda City, Chiba Prefecture in January 2019). Behind many tragedies, there are actually Before the situation got worse, the administrative department stepped in to assist, but because of coordination problems between the various administrative departments, the rescue opportunity was repeatedly missed.

Why do you need a "Children's Room"?

The problem to be solved by the "Children's Office" is the problem of administrative organization: At present, Japan's relevant policies on children are scattered in the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and the Cabinet Office. Through the establishment of a central administrative organization of the "Children's Office" , may be able to solve the problem of horizontal communication between the various ministries.

During Yoshihide Suga's tenure as Prime Minister,Taro Kono was assigned as Minister of Administrative Reform, and one of his goals was to solve the problem of poor horizontal communication between the executive departments . It's not hard to imagine why Yoshihide Suga would be so interested when he heard the "Children's Hall" proposed by Yamada Taro, and quickly asked the lower departments to move. Yoshihide Suga also expressed his determination to promote the "Children's Hall" in his speech at the Liberal Democratic Party conference in March last year .

Extended reading:[Comment] Taro Kono, who goes online with high efficiency and also goes offline very quickly, "Administrative Reform Sight Box"

So what went wrong with the Japanese administration's policy on children? Forget the question of "How old is a child?" From a childcare integration perspective:

• Nursery schools that enroll 0-5 years old (before entering elementary school) are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
• The kindergarten that enrolls 3-5 years old (before entering elementary school) is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
• Enrolling accredited kindergartens (accredited こどもien) for 0-5 years old (before entering elementary school) is under the jurisdiction of the Cabinet Office

Nurseries, kindergartens, and accredited kindergartens are all three types of childcare institutions that belong to three different central authorities, and are not integrated at all. Childcare issues aside, other child-related policies include:

• Health care, social welfare, and childcare belong to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
• Educational issues belong to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
• In recent years, the issues of poverty among children, measures to prevent youth suicide, and measures to reduce birthrates are under the Cabinet Office

Not only that, social issues such as poverty, domestic violence, and child abuse are highly correlated, and family status is an important indicator for judging whether children are neglected at home. However, in Japan, the Children's Consultation Center (Children's Consultation Center) responsible for dealing with child abuse issues belongs to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, while poverty and domestic violence issues belong to the Cabinet Office. Early detection of the situation of school children requires school notification (the higher level is the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology), If it is more serious, it may even require the intervention of the National Police Agency or the Ministry of Justice, all of which belong to different competent agencies.

Extended reading: From child poverty to solving the problem of "solitary food", what is Japan's "children's canteen"?

Want to set up a "Children's Hall", then what?

All in all, the main reason and purpose of setting up the "Children's Office" is to solve the problem of poor horizontal communication between the administrative departments, so it is necessary to reorganize the organization. The next question will be:

1. If a "Children's Hall" is really established, how much can it be improved compared to the status quo? Can it really solve the above problems and propose a policy that is closer to children and more friendly to children?
2. To establish a new provincial department, where will the money come from?
3. Where do people come from if a new provincial department is established? Is it necessary to consolidate the civil servants of the original administrative departments, or to recruit civil servants with relevant professional backgrounds?

At present, the discussion direction of the "Children's Hall" is still only in the face of organizational reform. Whether the "Children's Hall" can integrate children's relevant policies and play an effect based on the best interests of the children as expected may not be evaluated until the "Children's Hall" is actually on the road.

"Children (Family) Hall" name change

While the preparatory process for "Children's Hall" was in full swing, everything seemed to be going smoothly at first glance, but at the end of last year, there was a sudden change of name.

As early as when Yoshihide Suga decided to launch "Children's Hall", the name "Children's Hall (こども庁)" has been used to the outside world, but it was announced on December 14 last year that the name would be changed. At that time , Kyodo News reported that in order to worry about conservatives in the party who value traditional family values, the Liberal Democratic Party intends to change the name of the "Children's Office" to "Children's Family Office (こどもFamily House)". As soon as the news came out, at the meeting of the Liberal Democratic Party the next day (2021.12.15), the "Children's Hall" was really changed to "Children's Family Hall".

The reading club within the party was specially changed to "Children's Hall"

As early as the early days when the Liberal Democratic Party was preparing for the "Children's Office", Kazama Kazuma, who was a lecturer in the reading group of the party members, pointed out that the name "Children's Family Office (子ども家庁)" was actually used in the Liberal Democratic Party for the first time. But for her or other survivors who were also abused in the family as a child, "family" equals "hell", and seeing the name "Children's Family Hall" only makes them think of "Children's Hell Hall" , so I hope the word "family" can be deleted. This proposal was passed on the spot, and everyone said that it was a provincial office for children. Of course, children should be given priority. Even the name was marked as "Children's Office (こども庁)" in children's easy-to-read hiragana. And at that time, the Liberal Democratic Party really changed its name quickly. The next day, the reading club in the party was directly renamed "Towards the Creation of Children's Hall (こども庁Creation に Xiang け て)".

How do you know that when everyone discussed something good, suddenly a news came out, completely ignoring the process of everyone's discussion, and the name was changed back like this. Kazama Kai also launched an online signature on this, hoping to arouse the attention of all walks of life to this issue.

The problem with the word "family"

There are 3 problems in changing from "Children's Hall" to "Children (Family) Hall":

First, strengthen the traditional view that raising children is a family responsibility, and push the work of raising children to the family, rather than from the perspective of society, leaving the work of raising the next generation to the society as a whole. If you think that children-related business will be related to families, why not add the word "school" and change the name to "Children's Home School Office"? Only the word "family" is specially added. The underlying idea behind this is to emphasize that raising children is the responsibility of the family, which is a very typical thinking mode of conservative traditional family values. Not only that, the "Children's Hall" has become a "Children's Family Hall", and the main body has changed from "children's individual" to "family with children" as a unit. In this way, children are not the subject of rights, which is inconsistent with the original intention to set up a child. Rights are the priority.

Second, the whole process is quite disrespectful to the opinions of the parties involved. Survivors have shown that if it really wants to stand on the children's point of view, if this institution is to serve abused children in the future, the word "family" should not be used. The threshold for an abused or homeless child to be able to call for help must be lowered. This name will make them feel that "after calling for help, they will be taken home", and it is impossible for them to call for help. If the "Children's Office" is really a provincial office that prioritizes children, it should put children first. The absence of "family" in the name does not mean that family is not valued, but in this ministry, the concept of children as the main body is more important than family.

Third, it has only recently been revealed that the Liberal Democratic Party has quickly changed its name to a name that caters to the opinions of conservatives within the party. Is there any interference from religious forces? Many members of the Liberal Democratic Party have participated in organizations that have close ties with conservative groups, such as the "Japan Congress Congressman Symposium" and the "Shinto Political Alliance Congressman Symposium". After the shooting of Shinzo Abe, the relationship between conservative forces within the Liberal Democratic Party and religious groups has also attracted attention. Some people discovered that the International Union of Victory Communists founded by Moon Myung-myung, who founded the Unification Church (now renamed the "World Federation of Peaceful Families"), the theme of their official magazine "World Thought" in January this year was to talk about "children." The importance of changing the "Children and Family Hall" back to "Children and Family Hall". Although such content alone cannot be used to doubt that it was the International Victory-Communist Coalition case that put pressure on conservatives within the Liberal Democratic Party, the timing is too coincidental to be suspicious.

All in all, the relevant bill on the establishment of the "Children (Family) Office" has been approved by the Cabinet on February 25, the House of Representatives on May 17, and the Senate on June 15. The bill has been officially passed. The "Children (Family) Office" will be officially established as soon as April next year, and there may be an opportunity to change the name of the organization before the official establishment. Yamada Taro, who gave birth to "Children's Hall", also promised that it should not be called "Children's Family Hall", and he would fight until the last moment to change the name back to "Children's Hall".

The currently planned organizational structure of the "Children (Family) Office"

Although the "Children (Family) Office" has been moving in the direction of organizational reorganization from the very beginning, it is still under discussion what kind of organizational reorganization method. After more than a year of discussions, the Prime Minister has changed from Yoshihide Suga to Fumio Kishida, and the organizational structure of the "Children's Hall" has finally become more and more clear.

The current plan is that under the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, there is a minister in charge of children's policy (the minister in charge of policy of 子ども), which is the role of Noda Seiko now. Under the Minister in charge of Children's Policy, there are "Children (Family) Office" and "Children (Family) Office Chief". The "Children (Family) Office" also has a "Children's Family Review Council (こどもFamily Review Council)", where the provincial office and people with lofty ideals discuss issues related to children or raising the next generation, and it is not ruled out that they will directly listen to children's opinions .

In addition, the "Children (Family) Office" will have about 300 employees, mainly from the relevant departments of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Cabinet Office. As for the policies or departments of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology on children, they will not be combined. Enter the "Children (Family) Office", but work closely with the "Children (Family) Office".

Childcare integration fails again

This actually reflects that the Japanese government's attempt to "integrate child care (unification of child care)" has failed again. Because the business content of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology still cannot be integrated with other ministries and agencies, in order to accelerate the establishment of the "Children (Family) Department", the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has to be released first, and only the Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare can be integrated, and then the newly established The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology cooperates closely.

In Japan, "kindergartens" are under the control of the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. Kindergartens and nurseries are not only different in the competent authorities, but also the age of the children they accept and their applicable objects. There has long been hope of integrating the voices of kindergartens and nurseries. During the administration of Junichiro Koizumi in 2003, the topic of "integration of childcare (unification of childcare)" came to the fore again. However, kindergartens and nurseries have long belonged to two different systems, and each has its own national industry organization, saying that the two sides should be merged. As a result, the kindergarten and the nursery school were not merged, but a comprehensive institution was established separately, that is, the "certified kindergarten (certified こども Garden)" launched in 2006. In this way, the matter has become more complicated, because it is determined that kindergartens are under the control of the Cabinet Office. Originally, it was only the "double administration" of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, but now it has become a "triple administration" in one go.

"Children (Family) Office" consists of three departments

At present, there are 3 departments in the "Children (Family) Hall", which are:

• Planning proposal and comprehensive adjustment department (planning proposal and coordination adjustment department)
  Integrate relevant policies of various departments, listen to the opinions of children and young people, and formulate relevant policies for children. And cooperate with the Digital Agency (デジタル庁) to create a database of individual children's family status and social welfare assistance.
• Growth and Development Department (Growing Department)
  Cooperate with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology to formulate the early childhood education guidelines for kindergartens, nurseries, and accredited kindergartens; produce the "Japanese version of DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service, which is the British Good Citizen Certificate)", and strictly examine whether adults who work with children have ever There is a criminal record; at the same time, it is also considered to promote the "Child Death Review" system. If a child dies due to an accident, the cause needs to be thoroughly verified to prevent the tragedy from happening again.
• Support Department (Support Department)
  Provide assistance to children or families who encounter difficulties in life such as abuse, bullying, and single-parent families. In the event of a major case of campus bullying, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology will be asked to provide relevant explanatory materials. In addition, we will also provide social welfare, medical and other necessary assistance to children and young family caregivers (young carers, ヤングケアラー), children with disabilities, or children who grew up in foster homes.

Sue Yufang, a professor of education administration at Nihon University, pointed out that in the future, if the "Children's and Family Centers (こども家センター)" of local governments can be included under the umbrella of the "Children (Family) Office", the "Children (Family) Office" will establish a local A standing children's family center with relevant professional staff may be able to effectively improve the current situation. In addition, the "Children (Family) Department" also has the function of the command tower of the children's policy. If the policies of other provinces and departments are not sufficient from the perspective of children, they can exercise the right to advise and request corrections (but not mandatory). Mo Yufang also pointed out that the relevant policies of the Japanese government in the past did not start from the perspective of respecting children. The government must change the way of thinking. The cost of taking care of children should be borne by all citizens, so that everyone can jointly raise the next generation of talents. Yes.

The future of the "Children's Hall"

The above is the current planning direction of the "Children (Family) Hall". According to the new law passed this time, the "Children (Family) Office" must re-examine the current system every 5 years, and if necessary, adjust the organizational structure or practices as soon as possible.

At this stage, the biggest problem of the "Children (Family) Office" should still be financial. The original budget allocated by the Japanese government for childcare was low. Although the current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida intends to double the relevant budget, where will the extra funds come from? Still a question.

In addition to the "Children's Hall", there is also the "Basic Law for Children"

In this legislation, in addition to the laws required to create the "Children (Family) Office", the "Basic Law for Children ( こどもBasic Law )" and the "Child Welfare Law (Amendment of the Children's Welfare Law )" were also established to cooperate with the The "Children (Family) Office" will be established in April next year.

The background of the Basic Law of Children can be traced back to the Convention on the Rights of the Child adopted by the United Nations in 1989. Although Japan had already signed the "Convention on the Rights of the Child" in 1994, it was believed that the rights and interests of children could be protected by using the existing laws. It took almost 30 years before the first individual law on children finally came into being. It was only after 30 years that the legislation was enacted. On the one hand, it was also related to social changes. With the increase in child abuse, school bullying, "not attending school" who are unwilling to go to school, and suicides in recent years, even though the "Child Welfare Law" was revised once in 2016, there were voices questioning at that time. The Welfare Act is not enough.

Is it enough to cultivate so many Fa in one sitting? Actually it's not the best. The original ruling coalition's Komeito proposed to establish the "Children's Commissioner (Ombudsman)" launched by European countries in the 1980s as a national-level third-party agency representing children, responsible for supervising administration, investigating social conditions, and promoting awareness of children's rights. . However, conservative members of the Liberal Democratic Party criticized this as a "leftist way of thinking ", and the case is now closed.

This article is simultaneously published inthe Japanese current affairs まとめ translation of Kaori Ishikawa .