Walking Child on a Lead? New Nurturing Trends in Japan

Ten men, ten minds, yes, but what would you say to the "idea" of walking your child on a lead? It looks as though the idea is winning support of more young child-rearing mothers here in the heart of Tokyo .

Of course, we are talking about kids in age groups of, say, 2-2.5 years, anxious to walk but not quite by themselves. Bystanders have contrasting views of this new tradition. Some agree that it's safer and less work on mothers; while others say it's awful to treat your kids like dogs.

A 37-years-old mother in Setagaya, Tokyo, was spotted walking her 2-year-old child, her second son, on a lead to a nearby grocery store. The boy was about his mother's waist high and had a rucksack on his back on which the lead was hooked. The mother held the other end of the lead in her right hand. She said she would often walk him that way when not using a stroller. The lead is adjustable lengthwise. That day she had the lead about 85cm long.

"At this length, I can stop him right away", she said.

A near-accident she had witnessed on the street one day involving a mother with two children prompted her to use a lead to control her child. The mother on the street had a baby in the stroller and the other walking along. The moment she bent to cradle the baby the walking child dashed into the road. She panicked and screamed at the top of her head. The car barely stopped an inch away from the child. "I thought I ought to use whatever available to protect my child", she said to herself.

Now, it seems the idea of walking a child on a lead is widespread in the rest of the world and nothing to make any issue out of. But, the point is how it survives in Japan. Ours is a highly tradition-oriented culture where invisible and yet rigid "principles" prevail. Walking on a lead happens to be one applicable to "four-legged animals" and traditionalists are quite adamant about it.

That said, data speak in favor of its growing demand. It boils down to the cold reality that Japan is undergoing a subtle process of transfiguration.

News Source: Asahi Shinbum