14th Meeting of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Council on Children’s Future

Governor Koike called for an increase in opportunities for children to speak up when she attended the 14th meeting of the Council on Children’s Future on July 3.

The council, a panel of experts on educational and social issues, was launched in 2020 by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.  

In her opening remarks, the governor noted the theme of the meeting was ”How to Create Opportunities for Children to Express Their Opinions as Members of Society.” “Children have ideas that never occur to adults,” she said. “Oftentimes adults are inspired, all of a sudden, by the perspective and imagination of children.”

“The Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) has been listening to children’s opinions and upgrading its policies from their perspective,” the governor said. “For example, on the basis of policy proposals from junior and senior high school students in the previous fiscal year, the TMG incorporated a platform project into this fiscal year’s budget. The project is to create vocational experiences matching junior and senior high school students with companies and organizations.”

“Needless to say, children will be the key players in the coming era. We hope to increase opportunities for children to express their opinions so that we can listen carefully to what children say and reflect them in various policies and measures.”