Japanese Play Park Encourages Free Play
South East Asian Project Revitalizes Young People's Independence
Jan 2, 2009
Think of Japan and you probably have either a highly evocative, possibly even nostalgic image of kimonos, samurai and the tea ceremony. Skip forward to the 21st century and modern Japan is a culture that precariously balances two, seemingly contradictory extremes.
Tradition and Evolution
What is fashionably referred to as a slow lifestyle is an integral part of many traditions such as Ikebana (flower arranging) and Shodo (calligraphy). These co-exist side by side with bullet trains, capsule hotels, conveyor belt sushi and frenzied salary men trying to cram into a train like beans in a can.
Land of Two Faces
In 2002 Phil Rees, reported in BBC 2 programme "Japan: The Missing Million" that Hikikomori, the phenomena of young people refusing to leave their rooms at all was becoming increasingly prevalent. Positively, there is an increasing number of grassroots initiatives which aim to provide community based solutions. Groups such as "Machizukuri" (a community building think tank) provide practical help with community and youth focused development.
Youth Development
Youth development is one way of combating the tendency towards isolation. Setagaya, located in south Tokyo, is the home of a group of play park schemes started in the mid 1970s. Growing from a single three month project in 1975, what started as the "Kyodo Children's Sanctuary" has blossomed into three fully fledged play parks and a strong link with similar schemes in the U.K.
Free Play
Aimed at promoting "free play" as a potential antidote to information overload and result orientated study, the parks' information leaflets state that their aim is to encourage children to "...enjoy free play and be responsible for watching him/herself."
In these small green spaces in the heart of one of the largest cities in the world, children are able to use all available resources to creatively and uniquely respond to their inner and external environments. Here play goes hand in hand with risk and responsibility.
Children and young people can develop the ability to try things and resolve difficulty in a way that is not formulaic or prescribed. Instead of Juku (additional schooling), the children are able to enjoy building, singing, painting, planting in a natural environment that is a place of wonder and discovery rather than stress.
Risk Management
In an August 20th 2007 interview with the author, Play Leader Noriko Take said, "We believe that free play is about respecting children, allowing them the space to make mistakes and learn from them, we also encourage them to think about the effects that their actions might have on others".
In 2007 two of the leaders visited the U.K. to facilitate workshops with similar projects in London. In a feedback session in Japan the team reported that health and safety restrictions in the UK meant that the strategies used there were very different, however both aimed to encourage young people to be empathetic and develop the capacity for leadership.
The Way
The Japanese model shows that although risk management is a necessary legal component, in many place, encouraging through experiential learning and fostering a sense of group focused play can also be an effective way to help young people gain a sense of independence.
Learning Experience
Internationally, youth development has aimed to encourage growth through providing experiential opportunities and engaging young people in reflection. The Setagaya Parks model demonstrated that it is possible to foster and environment where children and young people develop empathy, co-operation and a sense of community through engaging in self-directed play.
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