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Japan’s Passes Law Striving to Limit Gaming for Minors to 1 Hour Per Day (Siliconera)

TacosNSalsa

Member
"Japan’s Kagawa Prefecture government in the Kansai region passed a law that strives to limit the amount of gaming children under 18 years old can enjoy in a day. It is the first law of this sort in Japan. It’s supposedly meant to stop kids from becoming addicted to the internet and video games, echoing moves that China has put into place ..."

More at link


Thought we were passed this and also thought this was a western way of thinking ..boy was I ignorant
 
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Walledhouse

Member
The new Kagawa law goes into effect on April 1, 2020.
Hmm, I thought this was an April fools but I’m not sure since the article is a few days old.

It’s April 1st in Japan (and Australia) already so it’s hard to tell fact from fiction when the other half of the world basically carries on making up bullshit well into my April 2nd.
 

TacosNSalsa

Member
Wasn't this story from months ago? Coulda sworn it was just one somewhat small region in Japan rather than a nationwide thing.
If it is then it is resurfacing because it goes into effect tomorrow April 1st . I'm sure people thought it would've been shot down by now
 
Wow... I used to love that country, I guess I still do, but it seems like since I last visited for a long stay, it seems to have gotten less fun, gradually.
 
I spent a year and a half teaching kids in primary and junior high schools in japan, still live here, and so many of them said all they do at home is play fortnite, so many of them said they slept at 4am the night before, so many of them said they want to be pro gamers, i'm talking about kids between 6 and 12 years old, losing so many hours of sleep, at such a crucial stage in their development... it was really awful

i totally support a gaming restriction for these kids. of course, their parents should have more control over them, but a lot of their parents are super busy and just want to relax at home ,so they don't care what's keeping their kids quiet. most of the parents pass out many hours before the kids do~

totally support this.

in fact, anyone who is against this is being willfully ignorant to the consequences of sleep deprivation, and also ignorant to how fucking useless being good at fortnite is.

edit: reading other comments, i'm just despairing at the way gamers have come to bend their perceptions of reality to accommodate their firebrand positions. Who gives a shit if it's the governments' or the parents' responsibility? These kids aren't fucking playing the game because they like it, they're playing the game because their vulnerable brains are getting rewired by the addictive reward mechanisms and addiction mechanisms that the makers of the game built in. They're losing sleep, brain cells, education, because a few companies have worked out a perfect formula for permanent profits.

If you had any sense of goodwill towards your fellow man you would be sickened that these companies manipulate kids who are too young to think for themselves into severely undermining a very important period in their lives for the sake of profits. But no, if it's anti game it must be the same as families saying Quake, or Marylin Manson, inspired Columbine so you have to take a stand against it. You're thoughtless and there are kids in Japan with severe health and social problems who you don't give a shit about.

They're not playing some underground rebellious title that we need to band together to defend, they're playing fucking fortnite, or they're playing gambling apps on their smartphones with real money requirements whenever possible, it's hardly gaming mozart people.
 
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njean777

Member
I spent a year and a half teaching kids in primary and junior high schools in japan, still live here, and so many of them said all they do at home is play fortnite, so many of them said they slept at 4am the night before, so many of them said they want to be pro gamers, i'm talking about kids between 6 and 12 years old, losing so many hours of sleep, at such a crucial stage in their development... it was really awful

i totally support a gaming restriction for these kids. of course, their parents should have more control over them, but a lot of their parents are super busy and just want to relax at home ,so they don't care what's keeping their kids quiet. most of the parents pass out many hours before the kids do~

totally support this.

in fact, anyone who is against this is being willfully ignorant to the consequences of sleep deprivation, and also ignorant to how fucking useless being good at fortnite is.

edit: reading other comments, i'm just despairing at the way gamers have come to bend their perceptions of reality to accommodate their firebrand positions. Who gives a shit if it's the governments' or the parents' responsibility? These kids aren't fucking playing the game because they like it, they're playing the game because their vulnerable brains are getting rewired by the addictive reward mechanisms and addiction mechanisms that the makers of the game built in. They're losing sleep, brain cells, education, because a few companies have worked out a perfect formula for permanent profits.

If you had any sense of goodwill towards your fellow man you would be sickened that these companies manipulate kids who are too young to think for themselves into severely undermining a very important period in their lives for the sake of profits. But no, if it's anti game it must be the same as families saying Quake, or Marylin Manson, inspired Columbine so you have to take a stand against it. You're thoughtless and there are kids in Japan with severe health and social problems who you don't give a shit about.

They're not playing some underground rebellious title that we need to band together to defend, they're playing fucking fortnite, or they're playing gambling apps on their smartphones with real money requirements whenever possible, it's hardly gaming mozart people.


While I agree with you that the companies making these types of games should be held accountable to a certain extent, it is also a very eye-opening view of the work culture in Japan. If the the government has to decide this type of limitation to put on children then maybe, just maybe, the companies that are over working the parents should have to limit their work hours or whatever the Honor stuff about working in Japan thing is, and make the parents take care of the children that they decided to have. A child isn't a trophy and it takes attention to raise and teach. It's important the parents get the time to take care of their children without having some fear of taking time off from work. There are some major problems with the Japanese culture and work, it is killing them (literally) and they shouldn't have to go through that especially at a time where children are the minority in Japan. Its time the government looks into that problem and not about video game limiting.

The predatory nature of video games today is a problem and I agree with you to an extent. I teach children here in America and luckily haven't seen any children majorly addicted to video games (yet) but it is something I pay attention to especially as a person that enjoys video games myself. I see a lot of tablet shoving in the face for children who are unruly, which I hate, but I can understand from a certain extent as well. It is a delicate balance and is something that will probably be studied in the future.
 
Meanwhile me and my daughter are playing video games together 3-4 hours every day during this quarantine. 1 hour? That's so cruelly harsh.

Really, it's the parents' responsibility to handle their children's bedtimes and access to video games. Which they acknowledge, making this law pointless. Just an imperative for parents. Really, would hope legislators did things that mattered a bit more. I guess the intention is to make parents aware of the problem, though mentioning hours makes it counterintuitive. Instead it should be about making sure that their children grow up healthy, having time for homework and socialization and exercise, avoiding having gaming make them neglect it.
 

lukilladog

Member
Lmfao, and what´s the maximum penalty?. Hurt the family economy?, take the kids away?, dissolve the family?. Everybody wants to make stupid laws.
 
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ranmafan

Member
Thankfully this new ordinance based off what I’ve read about it when it was passed a few weeks ago: 1. Only is in effect in this small prefecture in western Japan, 2. Will not be enforced by authorities as it would be too difficult to do and they expect parents to abide by it, and 3. Like some other laws like the NHK one, there are no penalties for breaking it. It’s the usual Japanese law system adding silly and unenforceable acts to make it look like they are doing something important.

such a waste of time and effort too. I’m all for kids having limits on gaming decided by a parent like I am, but as someone living in Japan this is another law while basically useless in the very small area that it effects, still troubles me based on the idea it interferes with basic freedoms, especially on how people raise their kids. Thankfully this nonsense ain’t leaving that prefecture.

That being said, getting kids off of smartphones here more would be a great thing to see.
 

Shantae

Banned
Even as a guideline, this is fucking ridiculous. Where's the law that says children can't watch movies? Movies are 1-2 hours long, so it's okay for children to watch a movie for that long, but video games...oh nooo, we can't have that for more than one hour. Even though video games probably are more beneficial to children considering it improves hand-eye coordination, and watching tv/movies does not.

This screams yet another attack on video games, that other forms of media never get, because old out of touch people think what the kids like is not good for them. When arguably, I think TV and movies are worse for people, but because they are accept forms of entertainment, and "art", they get a pass.

Does this hour limit include educational games? Shit, I probably am as good at math as I am because of all the number munchers in the computer lab at school.
 
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Sakura

Member
I spent a year and a half teaching kids in primary and junior high schools in japan, still live here, and so many of them said all they do at home is play fortnite, so many of them said they slept at 4am the night before, so many of them said they want to be pro gamers, i'm talking about kids between 6 and 12 years old, losing so many hours of sleep, at such a crucial stage in their development... it was really awful

i totally support a gaming restriction for these kids. of course, their parents should have more control over them, but a lot of their parents are super busy and just want to relax at home ,so they don't care what's keeping their kids quiet. most of the parents pass out many hours before the kids do~

totally support this.

in fact, anyone who is against this is being willfully ignorant to the consequences of sleep deprivation, and also ignorant to how fucking useless being good at fortnite is.

edit: reading other comments, i'm just despairing at the way gamers have come to bend their perceptions of reality to accommodate their firebrand positions. Who gives a shit if it's the governments' or the parents' responsibility? These kids aren't fucking playing the game because they like it, they're playing the game because their vulnerable brains are getting rewired by the addictive reward mechanisms and addiction mechanisms that the makers of the game built in. They're losing sleep, brain cells, education, because a few companies have worked out a perfect formula for permanent profits.

If you had any sense of goodwill towards your fellow man you would be sickened that these companies manipulate kids who are too young to think for themselves into severely undermining a very important period in their lives for the sake of profits. But no, if it's anti game it must be the same as families saying Quake, or Marylin Manson, inspired Columbine so you have to take a stand against it. You're thoughtless and there are kids in Japan with severe health and social problems who you don't give a shit about.

They're not playing some underground rebellious title that we need to band together to defend, they're playing fucking fortnite, or they're playing gambling apps on their smartphones with real money requirements whenever possible, it's hardly gaming mozart people.
No, sorry but it's a stupid fucking law.
You're saying the parents are busy blah blah blah, but guess what? The government isn't going to enforce the law. They aren't going to arrest kids or fine families for not following the rules. They just made a "rule" and are expecting the parents to enforce it. So at the end of the day, it still falls on the parents to control their kids behaviour, and the government can pat themselves on the back for doing absolutely nothing.
 

petran79

Banned
I remember we used to play video games only on weekends or holidays during school days. During working days it was unheard off. Though usually we'd melt in front of the TV watching cartoons all day.
now parents don't want to enforce even that simple rule
 

GV82

Member
I read that the guy who made Brain Training for the DS did this with his kids years ago & thought it was pretty harsh parenting as he believed schoolwork etc was more important part of the week after school even for younger kids which is fair enough but then he said their reward was something like 2-3 hours of videogames over the weekend only iirc. So another words gaming for his children throughout the week was non existent, even after all their schoolwork was done & probably like this ruling - 1 hr each on Friday, Sat & Sunday.
 

Orenji Neko

Member
I spent a year and a half teaching kids in primary and junior high schools in japan, still live here, and so many of them said all they do at home is play fortnite, so many of them said they slept at 4am the night before, so many of them said they want to be pro gamers, i'm talking about kids between 6 and 12 years old, losing so many hours of sleep, at such a crucial stage in their development... it was really awful

i totally support a gaming restriction for these kids. of course, their parents should have more control over them, but a lot of their parents are super busy and just want to relax at home ,so they don't care what's keeping their kids quiet. most of the parents pass out many hours before the kids do~

totally support this.

in fact, anyone who is against this is being willfully ignorant to the consequences of sleep deprivation, and also ignorant to how fucking useless being good at fortnite is.

edit: reading other comments, i'm just despairing at the way gamers have come to bend their perceptions of reality to accommodate their firebrand positions. Who gives a shit if it's the governments' or the parents' responsibility? These kids aren't fucking playing the game because they like it, they're playing the game because their vulnerable brains are getting rewired by the addictive reward mechanisms and addiction mechanisms that the makers of the game built in. They're losing sleep, brain cells, education, because a few companies have worked out a perfect formula for permanent profits.

If you had any sense of goodwill towards your fellow man you would be sickened that these companies manipulate kids who are too young to think for themselves into severely undermining a very important period in their lives for the sake of profits. But no, if it's anti game it must be the same as families saying Quake, or Marylin Manson, inspired Columbine so you have to take a stand against it. You're thoughtless and there are kids in Japan with severe health and social problems who you don't give a shit about.

They're not playing some underground rebellious title that we need to band together to defend, they're playing fucking fortnite, or they're playing gambling apps on their smartphones with real money requirements whenever possible, it's hardly gaming mozart people.

Citing Fortnite and gambling apps and games doesn't matter when the law doesn't discriminate between types of games, be it some "underground rebellious title", fortnite, or gambling apps, etc: it is in regard to gaming as a whole from what I read, hence a portion of the reason why some would take issue with a suggestion like that. The other is parental responsibility being on parents, not government, and hilariously this law seems to ironically suggest that: it's puff. Who enforce ultimately? Parents.

"Ok we have made your law."
giphy.gif
"Now do as you should and pay attention to your children's indulgence...so they aren't breaking the ha ha law."

Work or being tired is not an excuse. If you are a parent then you must parent. Mine did as much and I and my wife do so as a parents. If you just want to relax and not have to worry about what a child is doing or pay attention to them, then do not have a child. Part of curbing the out of control indulgence of a child is to circumvent their attempts to continue to do so after you have set limitations. Children or people will indulge in what they like, if they can, and have done so long before there was a Fortnite or even video games. Being good at -any- game is, as you would/should say: useless. You cannot pick and choose which games when it is all just entertainment.

As for the addictive reward mechanisms, I do not agree with such practices and feel they are dangerous, but it's still a two way street: nobody forces a kid to partake, nobody forces a parent to turn a blind eye and allow it, and peer pressure is no excuse when you have involved parents to educate their children on the silliness of giving in to such things from their peers. The only response my own mother would give me to the suggestion that "Everybody is doing this or that..." was always, always, always "どうでもいい" These pleas mattered not to her. Hell they still don't with her grandchildren.

That was they and their parents problems and she is going to run her house her way and raise us accordingly. They, the government, video game makers, (or my father lol), etc, didn't carry and push me and my siblings out; she did. She may have been tough, but she was fair and she rewarded us: we never did without or felt we weren't having as much or more fun than other kids: she knew how to parent and passed it on to us.....even me with the challenge of having a very, very, headstrong and difficult teenage daughter who follows after a very easy going and agreeable son. I thought I had it made and then she came along and has been a challenge from the very beginning. That is parenting for you. I would ask none for help, none for laws, and place blame on nobody and nothing else as it is my responsibility to educate her and develop her view and understanding of the how and why.
 
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KiteGr

Member
They are kind of shooting them selfs in the foot, or rather, they are killing their own industry.

Unless the age of adulthood is the same as the age of consent there...
 

Hostile_18

Banned
I agree on a limit as games are so much more involved now a days, but one hour a day seems harsh.

Also it punishes X Box players more as they will spend a larger percentage of their hour on a loading screen than PS5 players ;)
 

MrA

Banned
I agree on a limit as games are so much more involved now a days, but one hour a day seems harsh.

Also it punishes X Box players more as they will spend a larger percentage of their hour on a loading screen than PS5 players ;)
All three xbox owners will be devastated,
but in all seriousness I'm pretty sure this is a pretty small piece of Japan , 1 prefecture, and a fairly small one at that doesn't really mean the whole country
 

joe_zazen

Member
I spent a year and a half teaching kids in primary and junior high schools in japan, still live here, and so many of them said all they do at home is play fortnite, so many of them said they slept at 4am the night before, so many of them said they want to be pro gamers, i'm talking about kids between 6 and 12 years old, losing so many hours of sleep, at such a crucial stage in their development... it was really awful

i totally support a gaming restriction for these kids. of course, their parents should have more control over them, but a lot of their parents are super busy and just want to relax at home ,so they don't care what's keeping their kids quiet. most of the parents pass out many hours before the kids do~

totally support this.

in fact, anyone who is against this is being willfully ignorant to the consequences of sleep deprivation, and also ignorant to how fucking useless being good at fortnite is.

edit: reading other comments, i'm just despairing at the way gamers have come to bend their perceptions of reality to accommodate their firebrand positions. Who gives a shit if it's the governments' or the parents' responsibility? These kids aren't fucking playing the game because they like it, they're playing the game because their vulnerable brains are getting rewired by the addictive reward mechanisms and addiction mechanisms that the makers of the game built in. They're losing sleep, brain cells, education, because a few companies have worked out a perfect formula for permanent profits.

If you had any sense of goodwill towards your fellow man you would be sickened that these companies manipulate kids who are too young to think for themselves into severely undermining a very important period in their lives for the sake of profits. But no, if it's anti game it must be the same as families saying Quake, or Marylin Manson, inspired Columbine so you have to take a stand against it. You're thoughtless and there are kids in Japan with severe health and social problems who you don't give a shit about.

They're not playing some underground rebellious title that we need to band together to defend, they're playing fucking fortnite, or they're playing gambling apps on their smartphones with real money requirements whenever possible, it's hardly gaming mozart people.

good post.

american tech giants use addiction and manipulation to make money. They get better at it every year and they target everyone including kids. This will be the new tobacco in 20 years if suicide and mental health continue to get worse in coming generations.

Heavy gaming affects children’s behaviour, and can, therefore, make things shitter for kids who are gaming restricted because more school resources have to go managing these problem behaviours in others; just like health care gets worse for everyone as the mental illness rates go up and more resources have to go to managing it.

edit: also, they have demonstrated actual prefrontal cortex changes in heavy screen use children. The issue is real.
 
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DunDunDunpachi

Patient MembeR
They're gonna take care of your old frail bodies over the next 30 years, Japan. Be nice. Also, gov't enforced self-control is typically a bad idea. Let the worst of the kids flunk out, become neets, whatever. It makes the field of competition easier on those with talent and with the drive to succeed.

Distraction isn't going away any time soon. The value of focus and self-control continues to increae. It is better to distract the impulsive droolers with shiny than to grant the government power over such a mundane and inconsequential aspect of your family's personal life. The impulsive people will still be impulsive and the bureaucrats will have control over another small facet of your life. Lose-lose.

If you had any sense of goodwill towards your fellow man you would be sickened that....
This vapid nobility is what leads to totalitarianism, churchmarms, and social-justice throwaways.

If you care so hard about it, go volunteer at your local school to teach Fortnite addicts how to read and manage their finances. Stop whinging on a videogame board.
 

Mista

Banned
1991 flashbacks all over again. Being Solid Snake to sneak and play video games late at night. Good days♥️
 
This vapid nobility is what leads to totalitarianism, churchmarms, and social-justice throwaways.

If you care so hard about it, go volunteer at your local school to teach Fortnite addicts how to read and manage their finances. Stop whinging on a videogame board.

Call me vapid :p

Yeah schools would invite a white guy who doesn't speak the language to come in and have a talk with 80% of the boys and a fair chunk of the girls in their grades about the evils of videogames. I suppose you wouldn't care to hear that I actively discouraged any kid who came to me saying they love fortnite: "Remember to get enough sleep, or you brain will break!" or stuff along those lines~

I'm not a religious person and I don't know what you mean by 'social justice throwaway' but it sounds to me like you're using a blanket term to ignore social problems that are very important to people because it makes you feel like your opinions carry a fiery weight.

You know what leads to totalitarianism? People who go against common sense laws because they have a pugilistic contrarian instinct. You may feel offended by my word choice but the way you knee-jerk aligned yourself against it without perceiving my wider argument is pretty telling, wouldn't you say? ... call me vapid.
 

DunDunDunpachi

Patient MembeR
I suppose you wouldn't care to hear...

it sounds to me like you're using...

it makes you feel like

You may feel offended...

the way you knee-jerk aligned yourself against it...

...wouldn't you say?
Your whole post pivots on multiple assumptions made about me while not spending any effort on addressing what I said. Vapid means "lacking in stimulation". It's also another word for "empty".
 

TLZ

Banned
An hour a day and you're mad? I was only allowed gaming on weekends and holidays. Weekdays my console was locked up in my dad's closet.

Kids these days.
 

M1chl

Currently Gif and Meme Champion
Under 18? What kind of bullshit is this? How long can you game above 18 if you study University or have a job?
 

Lucumo

Member
An hour a day and you're mad? I was only allowed gaming on weekends and holidays. Weekdays my console was locked up in my dad's closet.

Kids these days.
Was limited to four hours a week for the longest time (until I got my own PC). That was reason enough to always visit the other kids to play together on consoles (PSX, N64, later Gamecube) as well as via LAN on two PCs there.
 
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