{"id":14945,"date":"2022-08-15T20:05:36","date_gmt":"2022-08-15T11:05:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=14945"},"modified":"2022-08-15T20:16:39","modified_gmt":"2022-08-15T11:16:39","slug":"20220815-14945","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/20220815-14945\/","title":{"rendered":"Japanese politician apologizes for saying kids would get bored of video games after 3 hours"},"content":{"rendered":"\n



Ken Akamatsu<\/strong>, who became a member of Japan\u2019s House of Councillors in July, caused a stir on Twitter when saying, children would lose interest after playing a game for 3 hours in a day. At a glance, the statement looks to belittle gaming culture and drew heavy criticism, with Akamatsu later giving an apology for the remark. However, the intent of the entire statement seems more to do with Akamatsu\u2019s concern about video games being made out to be the bad guy when it comes to children\u2019s education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ken Akamatsu is the manga artist behind works such as Love Hina<\/em> and Negima! Magister Negi Magi<\/em>. Alongside his work as a manga artist, he\u2019s also been an active voice against government censorship and was recently elected to Japan\u2019s House of Councillors, the first manga artist in Japan to be voted into such a position. With his platform on freedom of expression for creators, he received 528,053 votes, and given his platform and background, was likely strongly supported by manga, anime, and video game fans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Akamatsu recently made a statement that caused quite a stir online. The impetus for the statement was the result of Japan\u2019s national achievement test which was held in April (related article<\/a>). The test was taken by students in their sixth year of elementary school and third year of middle school, combining for a total of over two million students from across the country. A survey is also given alongside the test, and the results of this survey were used by Japan\u2019s National Institute for Educational Policy Research to report that there\u2019s a trend of \u201clonger times spent playing games equating to lower test scores.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On August 11 (JST), Akamatsu took to his personal Twitter account to talk about the above report, also saying<\/a> that he held a discussion with the members of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. When he asked them, \u201cDo you believe that if game time is reduced test results will improve?\u201d they reportedly responded \u201cNo.\u201d The ministry is likely of the opinion that game time alone isn\u2019t the only factor for low test scores. Of course, even if one reduces their time spent playing games, if they don\u2019t study, it\u2019s hard to say their scores would improve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Akamatsu continued<\/a> by questioning the survey results regarding the average time a child spends playing video games each day. According to the survey, 30% of elementary school and middle school children said they play video games for more than 3 hours per day on weekdays. Akamatsu appears to find this doubtful and stated, \u201c30% of elementary school and middle school students answering they play more than 3 hours a day is too high. They would get bored of playing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was this remark that Twitter users were quick to jump on. While some did share the opinion that 30% seemed high, most of the responses were opposed to Akamatsu\u2019s statement. For example, users pointed out that \u201cNowadays, playing a game for more than 3 hours isn\u2019t that rare,\u201d and, \u201cThey aren\u2019t necessarily only playing one game.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, more than a few Twitter users took \u201cThey would get bored of playing\u201d as dismissing gaming culture and the appeal of gaming. Many responses directly opposed Akamatsu saying he\u2019s against gaming content, doesn\u2019t stand on the side of otaku, and that games are appealing enough to play for that long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Akamatsu soon made a tweet apologizing for the remark, calling it \u201cexcessive.\u201d Despite this, some are still saying that Akamatsu\u2019s true feelings on games are that he doesn\u2019t take them seriously.
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\u300c\u5168\u56fd\u306e\u5c0f\u4e2d\u5b66\u751f\u306e30\uff05\u304c\u3001\u672c\u5f53\u306b\u5e73\u65e5\u306e\u6708\uff5e\u91d1\u66dc\u306e\u6bce\u65e5\u3001\u4e00\u65e5\uff13\u6642\u9593\u4ee5\u4e0a\u30b2\u30fc\u30e0\u3057\u3066\u3044\u308b\u306e\u304b\u3002\u5150\u7ae5\u3078\u306e\u8cea\u554f\u306e\u56de\u7b54\u3060\u3051\u3092\u5206\u6790\u306e\u6839\u62e0\u306b\u3057\u3066\u5927\u4e08\u592b\u306a\u306e\u304b\u300d\u306e\u610f\u3067\u3057\u305f\u304c\u3001\u300c\u98fd\u304d\u308b\u3060\u308d\u300d\u306f\u4f59\u8a08\u306a\u4e00\u8a00\u3067\u3057\u305f\u3002\u4ee5\u5f8c\u6c17\u3092\u4ed8\u3051\u307e\u3059\u3002<\/p>— \u8d64\u677e \u5065 \u22c8\uff08\u53c2\u8b70\u9662\u8b70\u54e1\u30fb\u5168\u56fd\u6bd4\u4f8b\uff09 (@KenAkamatsu) August 12, 2022<\/a><\/blockquote>