Photo/Illutration Liberal Democratic Party members of a Saitama prefectural assembly committee and others stand in favor of a revised ordinance with new definitions of child neglect. (Yuri Nishida)

SAITAMA--Saitama Prefecture became the first in Japan to pass an ordinance that defines leaving children alone at home, even for short periods, as abuse.

The revised ordinance passed by a committee of the Saitama prefectural assembly was submitted by the Liberal Democratic Party caucus, which controls a majority of seats in the body.

The move was prompted by a slew of recent reports from around the nation of young children dying in cars or at home after being left to fend for themselves while their parents or guardians went out.

Even though there are no penalties in the ordinance, opposition assembly members took issue with the measure, saying it only added more pressure on parents already struggling to find a day care center for their young offspring.

The measure, submitted to the assembly on Oct. 4, would ban adult guardians from leaving children in the third grade or younger alone at home. As for fourth to sixth graders, parents would be obligated to make efforts to ensure an adult is always on the premises.

In a controversial provision, the measure obligates other Saitama residents to report cases if they notice young children alone at home.

The Oct. 6 session of the welfare, public health and medical care committee was inundated with questions about the proposal because of the vagueness of the wording. Among other actions, the proposal defined abuse as leaving young children alone at home or elsewhere while no guardians were present.

The LDP’s Kenichi Kokubo explained that among the actions to be considered as abuse were allowing children to go to and from school by themselves or to remain at home for even the short period their parents go to a neighbor’s home to pass around a neighborhood association notice.

In essence, this would spell an end to a practice commonly found across Japan of small groups of children going to and coming from school by themselves, although volunteers are posted at crosswalks and corners to keep an eye out on the kids.

Kokubo added that parents would be neglecting their responsibilities if they were not able to immediately come to the rescue of their children when they faced danger.

However, LDP members also said they did not plan to cite specific acts that would be banned, preferring to leave it to the Saitama prefectural government to properly implement the ordinance.

Five of the 12 members of the committee belonged to caucuses other than the LDP and they were quick to raise concerns about the measure.

Koji Tsuji, a member of the caucus with ties to the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the Democratic Party for the People, pointed out that many elementary school students in the third grade or younger were unable to find a place in day care centers after school.

“If the ordinance is implemented while an adequate childcare structure remains out of reach, parents who have nowhere to put their children will come under even more pressure,” Tsuji said.

Noriko Shiroshita of the Japanese Communist Party conveyed some of the views that parents had passed on to her about the measure, one being that household income would be slashed if one of them had to always be at home to look after the children.

Despite the concerns, the LDP majority in the committee was joined by the single Komeito member to pass the measure.

After the committee session, Takumi Tamura, the head of the LDP caucus, met with reporters who asked if penalties were in the cards at some point.

He said that might have to be considered if many cases of parents neglecting children emerged in the future.

The revised ordinance is expected to pass the entire prefectural assembly on Oct. 13. The prefectural government intends to enact the measure from April 1.

(This article was written by Yuri Nishida and Sokichi Kuroda.)

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