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The story
After reading a local newspaper’s reader-submission column featuring a woman in her 60s who raised her children without ever buying them video games, users on 5ch’s Nanidemo Jikkyo G board debated whether banning games was really the right call. Some shared cautionary tales — “banning games backfires in the long run,” or “the backlash from being banned made me get hooked on pachinko slots and mobile gacha games as an adult” — while others countered with success stories, like a friend who played games constantly yet still got into Osaka University’s medical school. The discussion never settled into a single conclusion about the link between gaming and kids’ futures, and opinions also split over whether this is really an educational-philosophy issue or simply a matter of household budgets, given how expensive game consoles have become.
What people said
Children's Center Instructor, Kyoko Shiba, 60
Reading the "Asanagi" column in the local section on the 3rd, about a parent agonizing over whether to let their child have a smartphone, brought back memories of how things once were in our own home.
Lol, they've even got a Mario plush toy
I'm curious how she'd respond to this
Me and a friend who played games nonstop as a kid vs. me who was banned from them… the ending? We both ended up hopelessly addicted to pachinko slots starting at 19 😭
Banning them backfires, sure, but game addiction is scary too — parenting is just insanely hard
But nowadays something like the Switch 2 costs over 50,000 yen, so I can't really blame anyone for not being able to afford it
In her case, isn't it more about her parenting philosophy than money?
I bet behind the scenes they were massively into games but just told their parents they weren't playing much to spare their feelings
That's literally me
No way you're gonna tell your parents the truth about that
It's not like getting super hooked on games as an adult actually causes any real problems
It's not like playing games is what turned people into denizens of the Nanidemo Jikkyo ("NanJ") board
Plenty of gamers out there aren't NanJ posters
That's like saying "everyone who's ever drunk water dies within 100 years" — correlation isn't causation
Honestly this one's the real killer
I'm in trouble
Realistically most households manage it fine by just setting time limits on gaming
It's honestly kind of gross when adults are still into it
That depends on the person
It's not like adults who watch anime are some tiny minority, so the argument that it's weird for adults to watch it doesn't hold up
Not denying that you personally got tired of anime, of course
That's just a matter of personal taste
But by that logic, you not being interested in any of it is just as "gross"
I think people who enjoy what they like in life are the happier ones
If someone played a ton as a teen and is still not satisfied and keeps playing well into middle age, I feel like it's some kind of unconscious substitute or "nesting" behavior for something they needed at home but never got
Most of these claims come from X (Twitter) posts anyway
Massively biased sample
Console games and mobile gacha games are totally different things, so isn't that a separate issue?
It's not gaming itself, it's the pressure to spend money
Maxing out a credit card is a whole different issue
That's more about gambling-brain type stuff
Japanese people are all out of their minds
While the whole world's watching Spider-Man, Japan's over here obsessed with Chiikawa (a cutesy mascot character)?
Seriously embarrassing country
The one who's out of their mind is you, making sweeping generalizations like that
I don't get the logic that "if the whole world does it, it's correct, and whoever doesn't is weird"
Adults who still like anime and games as grown-ups are gross
That's not actually a counterargument
I'll grant you permission to use your brain now, go ahead
What exactly is the complaint here?
Given her generation, this parent probably grew up without video games herself
So I think it's just something completely unfamiliar to her
Then started studying seriously for exams once the new year began, scored 96% on the Center Test, and got into Osaka University's medical school
That's when I learned that hard work only gets you so far — genetics and talent are what's on top of it
I think that's a lie
No, this guy's the real deal
He took classes seriously at school and basically picked everything up just from that
I think he's a genuine genius
In college he picked up German, French, and Chinese, kept getting great grades while still goofing around, and now he's a professor
So you're saying he only studied for exams for like 2-3 weeks?
Background and Key Points of the Debate
The discussion was sparked by a reader submission in a local newspaper’s letters column, in which a children’s center instructor described raising her kids without ever buying them video games — a story that caught the attention of users on 5ch’s Nanidemo Jikkyo G board. It’s worth noting that the claim “banning games leads to addiction” is based mainly on anecdotal accounts shared on social media, not on any academic evidence. It’s also true that game console prices have been climbing year after year, and in recent years more households are holding off on buying consoles for financial reasons rather than as a matter of parenting philosophy. Within the thread, opinions split between those who argue that banning games leads to a bad outcome later in life and those who argue it’s really a money issue rather than a deliberate educational choice, with no clear consensus reached.
※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Nanidemo Jikkyo G) thread “[Sad News] Parent: “We won’t buy our kid video games. Books are enough.” → Here’s what happened“.
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