Matsue education board lifts restrictions on access to “Barefoot Gen”
Sep. 3, 2013
by Koji Higuchi, Staff Writer
The Matsue Municipal Board of Education decided on August 26 to lift its restrictions on student access to the manga series Barefoot Gen. The board, which had earlier requested that elementary schools and junior high schools in the city limit access to the books, met to discuss the matter and concluded that the decision-making process had been flawed, and that each school will now be entrusted with handling student access to the manga series as they see fit.
Discussions were held on August 22 and again on August 26, with all five members of the board in attendance. A unanimous agreement was reached on lifting the restrictions and respecting each school’s independence.
Nobuo Shimizu, the superintendent of Matsue schools, held a press conference after the extraordinary August 26 meeting and said, “The decision by the board will be respected.” An ad hoc meeting of school principals will be held on August 28, and the 49 city schools with school libraries will be notified of the lifting of these restrictions.
According to the head of the board, Tomio Naito, the main reason for walking back the board’s request involved a flaw in the procedures used to make the original decision. After receiving a petition which called for the removal of the manga series from elementary school and junior high school libraries, the city assembly rejected it unanimously. But the secretariat of the board of education nevertheless decided to restrict student access to the manga series without raising the matter in a meeting of the full board. The process, as such, was problematic.
The board of education had requested that access to Barefoot Gen be restricted on the grounds that the depictions in the books are too violent for younger children. The board members all agreed that the manga includes graphic depictions, but this was not part of the criteria used to render their judgment, since the members have different opinions on this point, according to Mr. Naito. Discussions were held on a child’s right to knowledge and freedom of expression, but an agreement could not be reached.
In December of last year, twelve days after the city assembly refused to adopt the petition, the education board requested that elementary schools and junior high schools restrict their students’ access to Barefoot Gen. The board then made the same request in January of this year. According to a survey conducted by the board on August 20, 42 out of 43 schools which have the manga series complied with the request.
Education Minister Hakubun Shimomura expressed understanding for the restrictions in a press conference on August 21. “It is important to consider the children’s stage of development,” said the minister. On the other hand, voices calling for a more sensitive handling of this issue have been raised from inside the government and the ruling parties.
Keywords
Restricting access to Barefoot Gen
Barefoot Gen is the signature work of manga artist Keiji Nakazawa, who was born in Hiroshima and died last December. The Matsue Municipal Board of Education urged elementary and junior high schools in the city to keep the manga series in storage and not lend the books to children. According to the board, a petition calling for restricting access to Barefoot Gen was submitted to the city assembly in August 2012. The petition was rejected by the assembly in December, but its members held different views of the manga. Some saw the series as suitable for peace education, but others felt the books were a negative influence. Taking these opinions into consideration, the board of education decided that access to the books should be restricted on the grounds that “some of the graphic descriptions are unfavorable for children’s development.”
(Originally published on August 27, 2013)
The Matsue Municipal Board of Education decided on August 26 to lift its restrictions on student access to the manga series Barefoot Gen. The board, which had earlier requested that elementary schools and junior high schools in the city limit access to the books, met to discuss the matter and concluded that the decision-making process had been flawed, and that each school will now be entrusted with handling student access to the manga series as they see fit.
Discussions were held on August 22 and again on August 26, with all five members of the board in attendance. A unanimous agreement was reached on lifting the restrictions and respecting each school’s independence.
Nobuo Shimizu, the superintendent of Matsue schools, held a press conference after the extraordinary August 26 meeting and said, “The decision by the board will be respected.” An ad hoc meeting of school principals will be held on August 28, and the 49 city schools with school libraries will be notified of the lifting of these restrictions.
According to the head of the board, Tomio Naito, the main reason for walking back the board’s request involved a flaw in the procedures used to make the original decision. After receiving a petition which called for the removal of the manga series from elementary school and junior high school libraries, the city assembly rejected it unanimously. But the secretariat of the board of education nevertheless decided to restrict student access to the manga series without raising the matter in a meeting of the full board. The process, as such, was problematic.
The board of education had requested that access to Barefoot Gen be restricted on the grounds that the depictions in the books are too violent for younger children. The board members all agreed that the manga includes graphic depictions, but this was not part of the criteria used to render their judgment, since the members have different opinions on this point, according to Mr. Naito. Discussions were held on a child’s right to knowledge and freedom of expression, but an agreement could not be reached.
In December of last year, twelve days after the city assembly refused to adopt the petition, the education board requested that elementary schools and junior high schools restrict their students’ access to Barefoot Gen. The board then made the same request in January of this year. According to a survey conducted by the board on August 20, 42 out of 43 schools which have the manga series complied with the request.
Education Minister Hakubun Shimomura expressed understanding for the restrictions in a press conference on August 21. “It is important to consider the children’s stage of development,” said the minister. On the other hand, voices calling for a more sensitive handling of this issue have been raised from inside the government and the ruling parties.
Keywords
Restricting access to Barefoot Gen
Barefoot Gen is the signature work of manga artist Keiji Nakazawa, who was born in Hiroshima and died last December. The Matsue Municipal Board of Education urged elementary and junior high schools in the city to keep the manga series in storage and not lend the books to children. According to the board, a petition calling for restricting access to Barefoot Gen was submitted to the city assembly in August 2012. The petition was rejected by the assembly in December, but its members held different views of the manga. Some saw the series as suitable for peace education, but others felt the books were a negative influence. Taking these opinions into consideration, the board of education decided that access to the books should be restricted on the grounds that “some of the graphic descriptions are unfavorable for children’s development.”
(Originally published on August 27, 2013)
