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The story
Some elementary schools in Nagoya have announced plans to stop taking the group photos traditionally used for graduation albums, stirring controversy. On a TOKYO MX program, author Shimako Iwai questioned this “overly cautious” trend, asking “where does it all end up?” On the 5channel forum, some users voiced concern about photos being misused on social media or by AI, and about victims’ photos being recycled in crime reporting, while others pushed back with complaints like “now even our memories are being taken from us” and “individually shot photos end up far more edited anyway” — the debate spread into a broader argument over whether school events themselves still make sense.
Shimako Iwai on the move to scrap elementary school group photos: “So much caution, so much caution — where does it all end up?”
Author Shimako Iwai appeared live as a weekly commentator on TOKYO MX’s “5-ji ni Muchu!” (Mon–Fri, 5 p.m.), which aired on the 1st.
She shared her views on the stir caused by some Nagoya elementary schools announcing plans to discontinue group photos.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Read the original article here
What people said
One more privilege for the old media disappears…
I can't accept that victims still get exposed in these photos even after they're dead
Young people's biggest weapon is solidarity, so once you take that away, all that's left is applying pressure.
Weakening labor unions and churning out more corporate drones (shachiku) over these past 30 years has been this country's 'success story.'
Being kept apart just makes people more selfish and quicker to bail on each other
You can't exactly restrict what individuals do on their own.
Group photos are basically unedited, but
individually shot ones are probably edited to death.
We're in an age where every memory is just an illusion now.
parents were told not to film events like sports day, which triggered a huge backlash from them,
and it apparently settled on 'just don't post it on social media' instead…
The sample photos posted for ordering had them edited out, but once you actually bought a copy, they were visible just fine.
The ones posted on the school website had them blurred out too.
But then again, if you worry about that too much, you can't live your life.
Guess that's just the times we live in now.
Just teach the actual schoolwork.
Kids will make their own memories regardless.
Might as well scrap school trips and field trips too then
That's the kind of society we're turning into.
Such a foolish country, all because of the truly stupid elites running it.
I can already hear that take coming next.
If you stop taking group photos, you'll end up with kids left out of every group, unable to get photographed with anyone at all.
But perpetrators are a different story entirely.
And also, what's with not letting a kid into the school photo just because they're signed with a talent agency?
That kind of special treatment in public education is the real anomaly here.
That's just what memories are like.
It's what they call the 'nostalgia filter' (omoide hosei).
Then again, what we actually see is already processed/corrected by the brain to begin with.
What a boring era we're heading into.
I'm so glad I was born in the Showa era, before any of this existed — new things kept popping up every day, there was money to go around, you could do anything.
Lucky me, getting to spend my youth in the amazing 80s and 90s.
People who lived through the 60s and 70s say the exact same thing, so I guess history just repeats itself.
Background and Key Points of This Topic
Behind the move to scrap group photos lies concern that photos leaked on social media could be edited and misused with AI, as well as the long-standing issue of crime and accident victims’ photos being exposed by the press. In the thread, though, it remained unclear whether this change is limited to ‘some elementary schools’ in Nagoya or part of a nationwide trend, and the discussion expanded into the broader management of school events — from accommodating children signed to talent agencies to whether parents should even be allowed to film events. Some pointed out that individually taken photos are, if anything, more likely to be edited and leaked online, so it’s worth noting that the original article never actually examines whether scrapping group photos alone would meaningfully reduce that risk.
*This article was compiled as an excerpt/summary of the 5channel (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “[Entertainment] Elementary schools move to scrap group photos… Shimako Iwai shares her view: “So much caution, so much caution — where does it all end up?”“
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