Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a daily column that runs on Page 1 of The Asahi Shimbun.
February 3, 2023 at 12:31 JST
Elementary school children on their way home in Tokyo in June (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
About 20 years ago, a local edition of The Asahi Shimbun printed a poem by Yuki Mizumoto, who was an elementary school first-grader at the time.
It starts, “I’m home.”
I visualize her arriving home and opening the front door, her school bag still on her back.
Eager to tell her beloved mother how her day at school went, she chatters about her classmates who were absent and what she had for lunch.
She also wants to know how her mother’s day was, so she asks: “Mother, where did you go today?/ What did you do today?/ What did you buy today?”
The poem captures the happy relief schoolchildren feel when they come home.
That moment was also what a pedophile deliberately chose when committing his crimes.
Osaka prefectural police announced last month they arrested a 26-year-old man on charges of sexually violating multiple underage girls and sent the case to prosecutors.
The man told police he followed children leaving school and looked for ones who did not appear to have any family member waiting for them at home.
He would attack the moment his victim opened the door.
His reason for not targeting adult women was that “they might report (the rape) to police.”
The suspect is reprehensible beyond words. His ilk, who prey on defenseless victims, have always been around.
A home security company advised people in an Asahi Shimbun report to get their children into the habit of calling out, “I’m home,” even when there is no one home to fool would-be rapists.
Children must feel forlorn when they return to an empty house and their voice is not greeted by another voice from inside their home. And it is none other than their parents who are most pained by this thought.
But today, there are more than twice as many dual-income households than those with stay-at-home mothers.
It is only natural for any parent unable to wait for their children at the door to try to do whatever they can to protect them.
“I’m home” is the switch, so to speak, that connects the hearts of parents and children.
But when that must be used to protect a child’s safety, I feel chilled and not because it’s winter.
--The Asahi Shimbun, Feb. 3
* * *
Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.
Rape victims outraged over legal proposals for sex crimes
October 25, 2022
Four university football players accused of rape in Kyoto
September 9, 2022
Junior high school students ‘rape’ boy with gym’s oil pump
December 13, 2022
Child abuse cases rise, breaking record for the 31st straight year
September 9, 2022
Child abuse cases across the nation have soared over the past decade
March 21, 2022
Revision to Civil Code aims to crack down on child abuse
February 25, 2022
Visit this page for the latest news on Japan’s battle with the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
The Asahi Shimbun aims “to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls” through its Gender Equality Declaration.
Let’s explore the Japanese capital from the viewpoint of wheelchair users and people with disabilities with Barry Joshua Grisdale.
