“I Won’t Give In to Slander That I’m ‘Being Manipulated’!” A 15-Year-Old Reporter for the *Japan Junior High School Newspaper* Speaks Out on “Adults’ Deception and Discrimination Against Children”

An Unprecedented Move by the Publisher

On May 15, ’26, Kashiwa Shobo posted a statement on its website.

“Regarding Defamation and Slander Against Mr. Daiji Kawanaka, Author of *This Is the Japan Junior High School Newspaper*.”

The company had published the book in March. The author is an active reporter who launched *The Japan Junior High School Student Newspaper* in ’23 and has covered the Osaka-Kansai Expo, IR casinos, the Hyogo Prefectural gubernatorial election, and the Moritomo Gakuen scandal—a 15-year-old who graduated from junior high school this spring and has just started high school.

The statement expressed grave concern over the continued stream of posts on social media and video platforms that undermine Mr. Kawanaka’s character and dignity, and listed specific examples of such content. These include baseless assertions about his family background and parent-child relationships, as well as claims that he is “being manipulated.”Furthermore, there are claims that “minors lack sufficient capacity for self-determination” and that “the human rights of minors cannot be considered on the same level as those of adults.”

The statement reaffirmed the principle that minors are individuals with their own personalities and rights, concluding that such discourse is not merely a personal issue for Ms. Kawanaka but risks stifling the very act of children thinking critically about society and speaking out for themselves. It is unusual for a publisher to take such decisive action to protect an author, and the statement garnered widespread support.

Prompted by this statement, I spoke with him again. My previous interview took place on March 31, the day before he entered high school. A little over two months have passed since then. When he appeared on screen, he spoke not so much about the defamation itself, but about the underlying issues—discrimination against children and the current state of public discourse.

“Even 32 years after Japan ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, discrimination against children still hasn’t received much attention. While discrimination against women has come under the spotlight, the same cannot be said for discrimination against children,” said Mr. Kawanaka (hereinafter the same).

Opening with this remark, he identified the imposition of “childlikeness” as the core of the problem.

“Many adults unconsciously try to pigeonhole children. I feel they’re creating an image of children that suits adults’ convenience. I see this not just as a problem on social media, but as an issue affecting Japanese society as a whole.”

When he posts about politics, he receives comments calling him “manipulated” or “brainwashed.” He says some even go so far as to label him a “pawn of the Chinese Communist Party.” While this is quite a stretch of the imagination, he pays it no mind and counters as follows:

“It’s taken for granted that children are supposed to be obsessed with baseball or soccer. But I just happened to get hooked on politics. It’s the same as kids who get hooked on baseball or soccer. Yet people try to box me in by assuming, ‘Most kids are like this.’ Even adults would hate it if they were bound by preconceptions or ideals, wouldn’t they?”

They don’t believe that children act of their own free will—that very distrust is the true nature of the “box” he speaks of. Such boxes exist within families as well.

“Sometimes parents force their children to join a club. ‘Join either the swim team or the track team—choose one,’ they say. Since the child didn’t choose to join on their own, they struggle, and because they lack motivation, they get scolded by the coach. Even to quit, they need their parents’ permission.”

A parent’s concern for their child’s future eventually turns into “You must do this.”

“I feel this is also an imposition of ‘parental love,’ and that the child’s autonomy isn’t being valued.”  

He says that while visible forms of discrimination, such as corporal punishment, have decreased, the underlying issues remain, albeit in different forms.

“I actually think discrimination against children has become even more widespread than it was in the past.”  

Adults’ “concern” is a way to shirk responsibility

The same distrust can sometimes come disguised as “concern” rather than an outright attack.

“Even though you’re the one who ultimately bears the responsibility, I think it’s deceptive, in a sense, to put on a show of being ‘concerned.’”  

He cited his experience surrounding Governor Saito of Hyogo Prefecture’s press conference.

“Even when I applied to attend a regular press conference, I was told, ‘There might be slander or defamation,’ and I was forced to sign a written agreement with the Hyogo Prefectural Government Press Club stating that I would take responsibility if anything happened. Even though that was just a way for the organizers to shirk responsibility, they presented it as if they were genuinely concerned.”

He says the difference between them and those who genuinely care is clear.

“People who are genuinely concerned will say, ‘Be careful—there have been incidents like this recently,’ speaking from their own personal experience. But those who try to impose their views on me say, ‘Because things like this happen, you mustn’t engage in activities like that.’ It’s the difference between preserving freedom and taking it away.”  

It’s not just malicious slander; interventions disguised as goodwill also narrow children’s freedom.

The contradiction of shouting “anti-discrimination” while excluding others

His concerns extend beyond discrimination against children.

“I feel there’s a very strong tendency these days to reject people with different ways of thinking—to say, ‘That person is no good because they’re different.’ I think it’s truly dangerous to assume that something is right simply because it aligns with one’s own ideology.”

He continues:

“While claiming to be ‘against discrimination,’ we’ve somehow ended up adopting attitudes similar to those of the very people we’re trying to exclude.”  

When you take the side of those who condemn others, it’s hard to realize that you’re doing the same thing yourself. In the current social media landscape, where differing opinions are routinely dismissed, this 15-year-old’s observation hits the nail on the head.

As a way to embrace differences, he cites the need to introduce direct democracy.

“We need to acknowledge and respect differences in perspective. Even if the outcome isn’t what we hoped for, we should take it seriously and learn from it. I believe that’s what Japan needs right now. I think it’s simply arrogant to insist that your own proposal is the best while refusing to accept proposals from people with different viewpoints.”  

He is proposing the “School Democratization Initiative,” which would introduce direct democracy into the educational setting. The idea is that by giving students the right to propose amendments to school rules, they will feel more committed and gain a sense of accomplishment as sovereign citizens. He explains that the national equivalent of this is the “citizen-initiated referendum” system.

“Right now, penlight demonstrations are taking place across the country, but if a system of direct democracy is established, we’ll have a new means of conveying those voices to the political sphere. The public will be able to participate in shaping the nation’s rules with greater autonomy. Under the citizens’ initiative system, a referendum can be held by collecting a certain number of legally required signatures and submitting them to the Diet.”  

Looking at examples of “citizen-initiated referendums” around the world, in Italy, a referendum was held on whether to reinstate a ban on divorce after it had been legalized; the proposal was rejected by about 60 percent of voters, and divorce remained legal.In Taiwan, a proposal to enshrine the rights of same-sex couples in the Civil Code was rejected, and those rights were ultimately guaranteed through a special law proposed by the opposition.

“This is the result of people thinking about and engaging with each issue as if it were their own.”

“Citizens aren’t stupid.”

The same is true here in Osaka.

“Whenever citizens gather to discuss the introduction of a citizens’ initiative system, you almost always hear people say, ‘It’s dangerous to let people who haven’t studied the issue make the decision.’ It is precisely this kind of thinking that is eroding democracy.

In fact, during the referendums on the Osaka Metropolis Plan—both when Mr. Hashimoto was popular and when Mr. Yoshimura was popular—citizens rejected the proposal twice after studying the issue and giving it careful thought. Citizens aren’t stupid. When presented with a policy, they think it through properly as the ones directly affected.”

Furthermore, discrimination against children and the rigidity of the public discourse are fundamentally linked. The distrust that citizens harbor toward one another closely resembles the condescending attitude that “children don’t understand.”Overprotective, distrustful of others, prone to blaming others, and determined to remain mere bystanders—this attitude is directed equally toward children and toward citizens as sovereigns. When I posed this to him, he nodded deeply.

“You’re absolutely right.”

There are also facts that underscore the discrimination against children in this country.Since ratifying the Convention in 1994, Japan has repeatedly received recommendations from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. The “excessively competitive education system” is having a negative impact on children’s physical and mental well-being, and children’s right to express their views on matters affecting them is not being respected—both of these are observations that touch on the very core of the Convention.

“I think there are really a lot of adults who don’t know that Japan has received recommendations from the UN,”

he says. Signs of change are also reaching him. He has begun receiving inquiries from peers who learned about the Convention on the Rights of the Child through his books and activities. To a friend who claimed to have been treated unfairly by a teacher who served as an advisor, he told them, citing the Convention , “It’s okay to say something is wrong; you shouldn’t just swallow your grievances and give up.”

“That, too, is one of a child’s rights to speak out,”

A 15-Year-Old’s Counterattack Against Abusive Adults

So why is he able to remain undaunted? When asked if he ever feels like giving up or taking a break, he answers immediately, “No, not at all.” What supports him at his core is his family.

To commemorate the book’s release, a talk event titled “Nana-Gei Spirit” was held on March 29 at the Seventh Art Theater (Nana-Gei), a small cinema in Juso, Osaka, and his mother also took the stage. The moderator was journalist Hajime Imai. In this episode, which is still available in the archive, his mother spoke about her son’s “resolve.”

“It’s precisely because we were able to discuss things as a family and because they trusted me enough to let me take charge that I’m able to do what I’m doing now.”

While children’s political participation is often met with suspicion that they are “being forced by their parents,” the picture he paints is the exact opposite—that of a child treated as an independent individual and trusted.

In fact, he says it is not he who is hurt.

“I’m mentally stronger than most people, so I don’t get hurt very often. I think my parents are the ones who are actually hurt.”

Slander can sometimes hurt those around the person more deeply than the person themselves.

Even so, he won’t back down.

“Why should the target of slander have to hold back? That would just play right into the other person’s hands. I’m just doing what I love, so I’ll keep speaking out. If anything, I’m actually worried that those who are slandering me might end up having their own words come back to haunt them.”  

This is how he interprets the statement from Kashiwa Shobo mentioned at the beginning.

“I believe it also contains a wish for us to cherish children’s freedom of choice. It’s a message that says, ‘It’s okay to do what you love, and society will protect you’—I hope that courage reaches every child.”  

Rather than simply protecting children as victims, it’s about safeguarding the very space for them to think and speak freely. Through his own experience, this 15-year-old reporter sheds light on the ideals of a convention that, even 32 years after its ratification, have yet to take root.

“Children need to know that they, too, have rights.”

An environment where children aren’t just overwhelmed by schoolwork but can also pursue what they “like” and ask “why”—that wish isn’t just for his own sake.

▼Daiji Kawanaka: Born in Osaka City in 2010.Reporter for the *Japan Junior High School Newspaper*. He developed an interest in politics in the third grade of elementary school and launched the *Japan Junior High School Newspaper* in 2023. With the motto “I want to write what I want to write without holding back for anyone,” he has covered topics ranging from elections to the Osaka-Kansai Expo, integrated resort (IR) casinos, and the Moritomo Gakuen scandal, sharing his reports on social media and YouTube.He has also contributed numerous articles to magazines and online media. He serves as the interviewer on the program “Junior High School Reporter Daiji’s Interview Club” on TV Osaka’s official YouTube channel, “Osaka NEWS [TV Osaka News].” In March, he published his book *This Is the Japan Junior High School Newspaper* (Kashiwa Shobo).