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The story
At a press conference on the 16th, Children’s Policy Minister Hiroshi Nakatsuji said the government would not consider legally defining children’s voices as “not noise,” while stressing the importance of society as a whole warmly watching over and supporting children. The backdrop includes lawsuits in Kobe and Tokyo’s Nerima Ward, where nearby residents sued daycare centers and the Supreme Court ultimately ruled against the residents in both cases, as well as a park in Nagano City that was shut down after a complaint from a single neighboring household. In 2023, LDP lawmaker Shinjiro Koizumi had cited a related German law in calling for better accommodations. On the 5ch forum, opinions split between those arguing “it really is noisy” and “it’s a parenting issue,” and those countering that “parks and daycares are a different matter” and “that’s separate from trains or stores.”
At a press conference on the 16th, Children’s Policy Minister Hiroshi Nakatsuji spoke about the voices of children playing in parks and daycare centers, saying, “This arises naturally as part of children’s healthy development, and it’s important for society as a whole to warmly watch over and support children and parents.” At the same time, he denied that the government was considering legislation declaring such voices not to be noise.
On the issue of children’s voices, residents near daycare centers in Kobe and Tokyo’s Nerima Ward sued the facilities, and in both cases the Supreme Court finalized rulings against the residents. In addition, a park in Nagano City was closed in March 2023 after a noise complaint from a single neighboring household, sparking debate.
At a House of Representatives Health, Labor and Welfare Committee session that April, LDP lawmaker Shinjiro Koizumi (now Defense Minister) noted, “In Germany, apparently there’s a law stating that children’s voices are not noise, so that plans to build daycare centers or parks don’t get derailed by noise complaints,” and called for “creating an environment that eases the discomfort felt by children and parents raising them.”
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Are neighbors just supposed to keep putting up with it?
That's messed up, right?
At restaurants and supermarkets,
there are kids screaming and running around, right?
Doesn't that get on your nerves?
You want to eat in peace — can you really just tolerate it?
Kids are creatures that let out high-pitched screams, you know?
And that happens every single day, nonstop?
Kids' voices are noise.
People who say "it's just kids' voices"
just live in a quiet house themselves —
they're on the perpetrator's side with no clue how the victims feel.
In this thread, you're the loudest one of all.
And without fail, the husband is like a faint shadow while the wife is pushy and overbearing.
Exactly! The mom's already the loudmouth ringleader of the gossip circle.
Seriously, discipline your kid.
Why are there swarms of brats who can yammer away just fine but have zero sense, even at an age where they should know better?
Discipline them, damn it.
You should be disciplined too — parents and all.
Maybe work on your own manners first.
It just stands out more now because you rarely hear it.
Back in the day it was echoing everywhere all the time, so nobody paid it any mind.
This is specifically about parks and daycares.
Don't blow it out of proportion.
Obviously it's not okay to be loud on trains or in upscale restaurants.
Apparently it also flashes you back to that oblivious time when you knew nothing, had nothing to worry about, and life was just fun — and that makes it unbearable.
Apparently people living near wind turbines in mountain areas suffer from ongoing health issues due to low-frequency noise.
I live in a detached house, so it doesn't bother me that much.
That's just because you're the type with a family living in a detached house.
You don't understand how an elderly single person living in an apartment feels.
People should be careful with sound.
What should be proposed is keeping noise within common-sense limits —
not "it's fine because it's a kid,"
but "it's fine as long as it's within common-sense limits."
Was that actually about kids' voices?
Sounds more like it was piano playing or footsteps.
Doesn't matter what the sound was — it can still be a factor in a crime.
"It was a kid, so it's fine" isn't a valid excuse.
Then your very existence is harassment too, huh.
That way of thinking is dangerous in a sense.
Re: #162
Sorry, but I was a quiet kid.
Apparently everyone having a good time is unacceptable.
Just build a park or kindergarten right next to whoever's demanding a law saying it's not noise.
Background and Key Points of This Debate
The push to legislate on children’s voices traces back to 2023, when LDP lawmaker Shinjiro Koizumi cited Germany’s example in the Diet. In Germany, there is a rule that, in principle, treats noise from facilities like daycare centers as not constituting a public nuisance. In Japan, by contrast, lawsuits over daycare centers in Kobe and Nerima Ward both ended in final rulings against the residents — so the judiciary has weighed in, but there is no codified law. The thread split between those who argued it “depends on individual perception” and those who framed it as “a matter of discipline in public spaces,” with many replies extending the discussion to trains and restaurants without acknowledging that both positions were originally premised on the limited context of parks and daycare centers. It’s easy to overlook that Minister Nakatsuji’s remarks were a call to “watch over” children specifically in parks and daycare settings, not a blanket exemption for behavior in public spaces generally.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (News Speed+) thread “[Topic] Denies Legislating “Children’s Voices Are Not Noise” — Children’s Policy Minister: “It’s Important to Warmly Watch Over and Support Them”“.
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