<general questions by a legislator>
Takayuki Tsuchiya (The Democratic Party): First, I would like to ask questions about sex and gender education.

Recently the content of sex and gender education has become too radical to speak or write. It has strayed from the common sense of decency. It was reported in a newspaper in December 2002, that methods of sexual intercourse were explained to a science class at an elementary school in Kita-Ward and that a video about childbirth, showing female genitalia, was going to be shown to children in an elementary school in Hachioji-City. I thought that this kind of radical sex and gender education had been stopped partly because of these two shocking reports.

However, teachers in many public junior and senior high school (*Note: Senior high school is not mandatory in Japan) in Tokyo have described their teaching materials and written essays, as many as 29 in total, in the periodicals issued by the "Sei-Kyo-Kyo" (The Private Association for the Study of Human Sexuality and Gender Education), an organization which ignores traditional sex and gender education and supports more radical form of sex and gender education.

For example, a teacher in a school for handicapped children in Tokyo has the elementary level children sing the "Song of the Body." I have given the words to Mr. Yokoyama, the of the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education, and I would like him to read it later when he answers my questions. The song includes the words for the male and female genitalia. This teacher starts the sex and gender education class by having the children sing this song. The teacher says that the children understand the relation between the words and the body by singing this song and by watching the teacher touch the different parts of the body.

A teacher in a junior high school in Suginami-Ward uses a home page for adults, the "Bulletin Board for Abortion," as teaching material. An elementary school teacher in Machida-City uses video material which includes a girl who is sexually abused by her father, brother, and uncle. Her story "distorts the concept of family relationships" and it is outside "acceptable norms."

Also, dolls are used to explain sexual acts. <Pointing out> This is a photo of the dolls. It seems that there are dolls made in Mexico and in Japan. These dolls named Susie and Fred are used when human sexual acts are explained in class. Can you believe that dolls, exhibiting male and female genitalia, are used in a classroom setting?

Another elementary school teacher employs a book called the "Picture Book of Sex," which has been labeled as "inappropriate." <Pointing out --> This is the front cover. The content is, as you see, a series of illustrations of sexual acts. Can you believe that this kind of book is used in a classroom?

These are just a few of many examples. The Office of Education ("Kyoiku-cho") sent out a notice outlining how to conduct sex and gender education at school in December 2002. However, the teachers have ignored the notice and continue to provide sex and gender education of their own design. Did the Office of Education think that the situation would be improved by sending the notice only?

Also, did they look to see if there were other examples of "radical" sex and gender education and "inappropriate" teaching materials at schools, other than the ones listed in the newspaper? What about the senior high schools? I think you should investigate immediately any schools where problems have been reported then check conditions at other schools. I would like to know about your policy concerning these matters.

The book I mentioned before, the "Picture Book of Sex," has been labeled an "inappropriate" general library book as well, according to Code #107 of the School Education Law at the meeting for the selection of textbooks in Tokyo Prefecture in 2002 ("the 14th year of Heisei"). It should no longer be used as a teaching material. The selection of textbooks has often been discussed at the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly, but with no concrete solutions, just superficial answers, such as "We will deal with it seriously" or "We will direct them appropriately." As a result, nothing has been changed, and the same problems keep occurring.

In order to solve surly problems and to regulate schools, I think you must give more responsibility to school principals. In addition, you should train teachers, with the cooperation of Municipal (wards, cities, towns, and villages) Boards of Education and using the 320 directors of education in the Tokyo Metropolitan Boards of Education. I would like to ask your policy.

It is required that teachers submit a weekly teaching plan for approval in advance, but 20% of elementary school teachers, 30% of junior high school teachers, 93% of teachers in schools for deaf, blind, and handicapped children, and 100% of senior high school teachers in Tokyo Prefecure do not submit their weekly plans. Some say it is too heavy a burden (for teachers); others consider it too much administrative control which, I think, is an inappropriate criticism. However, in the periodical of the "Sei-Kyo-Kyo," detailed teaching plans are described. In short, teachers are not willing to submit weekly plans which they think are too regulated by the administration, yet they do desire their own teaching plans in order to submit them to the magazine.

If the weekly teaching plans are submitted and the administrators are able to learn about how and what teachers intend to teach in advance, they, as leaders, can give advice and can check if the teaching materials are appropriate. These are normal "administrative duties," but how do you enforce the submission of weekly plans from now on?

Also, I think it is not appropriate to let the schools use the materials (books and dolls) I pointed out earlier. There are many inappropriate books and other materials used in schools and they should be investigated first and possibly discarded. At the same time, a screening system should be established to aid teachers in the selection of instructional materials. I would like to know how you plan to deal with these matters? Later, Mr. Tashiro, as a medical doctor, will give you his comment concerning unsuitable sex and gender education. I think it is important to have learned of an "objective" viewpoint like his, after having previous examples.

< omitted the part about the national anthem and flag>

< answered by the Governor>
Shintaro Ishihara: I am going to answer the general questions of Mr. Tsuchiya.

I know that all of the examples you mentioned are outrageous and numerous. I think teachers who have unusual beliefs and who conduct unusual classes must have misunderstood something important, although I am not saying all teachers are like that.

To oversee them is the responsibility of the Board of Education. As for the problems of textbooks, the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education has given some advice. The Municipal Board of Education have become actively involved in the selection of textbooks. However, there have been many outrageous examples and it is still hard for us to get all of the information.

Because there are some opinions like Mr. Tsuchiya's from here and there, the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education should be aware of the present conditions and deal with the issues not only as problems between the Boards of Education and the teachers. I believe that the confused educational situation will be changed by involving the parents and making them aware of their responsibility and participation in education. As the most powerful mediator among those, I expect the Boards of Education will be more active than before. The Superintendent of the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education will answer other questions.

< answered by the Superintendent of the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education>
Mr. Yokichi Yokoyama:
Concerning sex and gender education for the mentally handicapped children, it is important for us to provide good plans and good structure in order to teach them fashion, etiquette, and the rules and manners of society, in accordance with each child's needs.

The words of the "Song of the Body" are too embarrassing to read aloud in front of people and are extremely inappropriate because the names of male and female genitalia are used without concern about the degree of handicap and the developmental stages of children. We will request that schools and Municipal Boards of Education make a commitment to the assigned curriculum, so that those kinds of materials will not be used.

As for the reform of sex and gender education, we have already noticed the public schools and Municipal Boards of Education in December 2002, stating that sex and gender education at school should be provided according to the government's curriculum guidelines (by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) and the developmental stages of the children.

In spite of this notice, inappropriate sex and gender education has been conducted without concern for the curriculum guidelines and the developmental stages of children in some schools. The purpose of the notice has not been accomplished. We intend to set up a meeting with staff of the public schools and Municipal Boards of Education in order to develop appropriate sex and gender education plans, using the recommendations we made and presented in May. We also plan to revise "The Guidelines for Sex and Gender Education," which provides concrete teaching examples, in this academic year and to implement them immediately.

We have reviewed data on how they conduct sex and gender education from Municipal Boards of Education, and/or public elementary and junior high schools in 2002 ("the 14th year of Heisei"). As a result, I think there were 10 complaints at elementary schools, 1 at a junior high school, and 3 at the Boards of Education. Since then, we have advised them by sending a notice which introduces appropriate forms of sex and gender education, by creating new guidelines for the subject.

We have investigated inappropriate teaching materials at the Municipal Boards of Education and at the schools for handicapped children (including deaf and blind) and have directly approached the principals and the teachers who used those materials you pointed out, after we were sure of the facts. From now on, we plan to constantly monitor lesson plans, books, and other teaching materials used for sex and gender education at school. We plan to send directors of education who can understand the situations and give advice and guidance to the schools where "problems" have been pointed out. We will also send directors of education to other schools eventually. We are going to create an office to discuss sex and gender education with local schools and Boards of Education in Tokyo.

directors of education from the Board of Education advise teachers on the government's curriculum guidelines as well as what is appropriate for the classroom. Their role is very important because they should be supervising the content of education in every school. As for the inappropriate sex and gender education pointed out today, the directors of education have examined the problem along with the principals and the Municipal Boards of Education and have asked the teachers to reconsider their sex and gender education curricula. We will meet periodically with the directors of education so that they can better advise staff on the matter of sex and gender education as well as other subjects.

Every school must make a yearly teaching plan, monthly teaching plans, and weekly teaching plans under the supervision of a principal and it is important that they should finish them in a timely manner. Nowadays, every school makes a yearly plan, but some schools neglect to make and submit the weekly plans. We plan to notify the schools and the Municipal Boards of Education of the advantages of submitting weekly teaching plans based the government's curriculum guidelines. We also plan to meet with principals, vice principals, and teachers and remind them of their responsibilities.

As for teaching materials including books, it is necessary for schools to select valuable and suitable materials in order to provide effective teaching. To that end, we are going to examine books and other teaching materials used in all of the public schools in Tokyo. After that, we will instruct the schools and Municipal Boards of Education in how to deal with inappropriate teaching materials including books, by throwing them away, if necessary.
As far as screening teaching materials, we recognize the importance of selecting suitable teaching materials with good curriculum planning. Some schools buy teaching materials without sufficient discussion. Principals need more control of the choice of teaching materials under their administration. We will recommend that schools and Municipal Boards of Education discuss and check teaching materials according to their yearly teaching plans and goals. We also strongly suggest that the principals should see to it that information from the internet and magazines "not be used" in the weekly lesson plans.

< omitted the part about the national anthem and flag>

Link to the Board of Education in Tokyo Prefecture:
http://www.kyoiku.metro.tokyo.jp/buka/soumu/tokyo2003/02.html

For your information, you can see Japanese version:
http://www.gikai.metro.tokyo.jp/gijiroku/honkaigi/2003-2/d5123314.htm