Shun the sun: most Japanese children never see the dawn

August 18, 2004

Osaka: Half of Japanese primary and secondary school students have never seen the sun rise or set, a survey has found. The study, conducted last year among 900 children, found Japanese youngsters spend significantly less time outdoors than previous generations.

Compiled by Tetsuro Saito, of Kawamura Gakuen Women's University, the survey shows that 52 per cent of today's children have never seen either a sunrise or a sunset. Thirteen years ago, when the first such survey was conducted, the figure was 41 per cent.

"Today's parents don't have a lot of experience with nature," said Professor Saito, who advocates changing the classroom-bound education system to allow for more time for outdoor learning.

Parents' groups and other social analysts blamed factors such as an urbanised lifestyle with its emphasis on consumption, few opportunities to spend time outdoors, and Japan's notorious cram school system.

But Professor Saito and others said young people's apathetic, sometimes hostile, attitude towards nature was often shared by their parents.

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In Dogs and Demons, the US author Alex Kerr says Japanese prefer things to be neat, orderly and convenient rather than natural. "Thus, many municipalities in Japan cut the branches on roadsides before the leaves turn in the autumn, because residents find fallen leaves dirty and messy," he says.

In Kyoto, more people have complained about croaking frogs in nearby rice paddies keeping them awake than about the sound trucks of right-wing parties blasting their hate messages in the streets.

The Guardian