According to a report released by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's National Institute of Population and Social Security Research on 30 January 2002, the Total Fertility Rate for Japanese women*1 was 1.36 in the year 2000. It is predicted to fall to 1.31 in 2007 and then stabilise long term at 1.39 from 2030. This is a marked reduction in the figures since the last long-term birth rate forecast of 1.61 issued in 1997. The number of babies born in 2000 was 1.19 million, however it will fall below the million mark in 2014 and it is estimated it will be 667,000 in 2050, when the total population will fall to 100,590,000.

The government felt a sense of crisis and took urgent measures to deal with the declining birth rate in the year following 1993, when the birth rate fell to a record low of 1.46. The number of babies born in Japan in 1993 was 1,180,000, less than half the 2,680,000 babies born in 1947 immediately after the war. In December 1994 the 'Angel Plan' ('The Fundamental Plan for Child Rearing Support') was put into place by agreement between the then Ministries of Education, Health and Welfare and Construction. Further, as part of the implementation of the Plan, the 'Basic Proposal for Urgent Child Care Measures' (Urgent Child Care Five Year Project) was established by agreement between the Ministers of Finance, Health and Welfare and Home Affairs as a plan for the promotion of the Angel Plan. The aim of the Angel Plan was to respond to the increase in the number of households where both parents work and, in relation to the nuclear family:

Following the initial 'Angel Plan' the six Ministers for Finance, Education, Health and Welfare, Labour, Construction and Home Affairs agreed in December 1999 at the 'Declining Birth Rate Measures Promotion Ministerial Conference' on important measures for concrete implementation based on the 'Declining Birth Rate Measures Promotion Basic Plan' and these implementation measures became known as the 'New Angel Plan'. The main points of the new plan were:

The government's plan is to focus on increasing the number of children by:

Japan has in place the Child Welfare Law in relation to the nurturing and welfare of the children who hold the future in their hands. This Child Welfare Law set out the principles of child welfare in Article 1:

In relation to the responsibility for nurturing children Article 2 states, 'The national and local governments shall, together with the guardians of children, bear the responsibility for ensuring that children are raised healthy in body and mind'. In these articles of legislation the next generation's children are guaranteed by law birth, nurturing, quality of life and loving protection that are 'healthy in body and mind'. The difficulty is to define the content of 'healthy in body and mind'. It is not possible to find any concrete document or government opinion analysing or explaining the content of the term. This definitional issue is of vital concern.

My personal view is that if children are nurtured and protected from the following standpoint they will have principles and a philosophy appropriate to the times and a global, international perspective. In other words, these are the prerequisites with which the next generation of Japanese citizens should be furnished. 'Body and mind' indicates both mental and physical aspects. The physical aspect means the fulfilment of physical strength and vitality appropriate to the stage of growth, being 'fit as a fiddle'. This is something that can be studied comparatively from statistics for Japan and also in an international context. Accordingly it is not difficult to discover the current level of physical health of Japan's children. The difficulty lies in the mental 'health' area. There are differing opinions concerning the standpoint and fields one should use in analysing mental health. However support can be gained at least in relation to the definition from the perspective of the legislation. It may be that legislation is the citizens' set of minimum rules, since they involve coercion and this is the departure point for my argument. My point is that 'healthy' children can be defined in the following way according to position of Japanese citizens under the Japanese constitution.

Firstly, there is no argument concerning the fact that Japan's citizens aim at the ideal human characteristics that modern developed countries pursue. This is based on the notion that the roots of all values are in the human character. It is embodied in Article 13 of the Constitution, which has as its purpose respect for the individual. It emphasizes the idea that one's own character and another's character are of equal value, and that to pursue self expression ceaselessly is always something done in consideration of the conflict that might occur with others' interests, so that it is never appropriate to seek one's own gain at another's expense. In other words this is the antithesis of the culture of blaming others when an impediment occurs when one is doing what one wants to do. In current social conditions it is embarrassing to even say the expressions 'apply oneself diligently to one's studies' and 'perseverance and determination' and 'comeback from a defeat with renewed vigour'. It used to be a virtue within Japan's cultural identity to overcome whatever challenges lay in one's path, treating them as the nourishment of one's improvement. The reality is that this traditional Japanese culture is contained within the individualism and individual responsibility found in the 'respect for the individual' in Article 13.

Secondly, modern international society is both internally and externally constructed on the foundation of the sovereignty of the citizens. Internally this means the power structure (separation of powers) guarantees the citizens' pursuit of happiness; externally it means the justification for the right to assert the sovereignty of the nation state itself (external independence) is the substance of the citizens' sovereignty. The next generation of children who will be Japan's citizens must master this dual faceted principle. Internally speaking, we the people are the main actors of the nation and must use the formation and expression of responsible political opinions with the aim of realising the principles of democracy and freedom. In an external sense we must become aware of the right to assert Japan's independence and peace (the national interest) to other countries (the problem of the right of self-defence).

Thirdly, modern global society is a collection of numerous countries that each asserts national sovereignty. The 189 countries of the United Nations assert their own country's interests whilst making allowances for the interests of others, with the aim of leading a peaceful existence. It will be necessary for the children who will be the next generation of Japanese citizens to make efforts to understand the legal tenets of international relations without sacrificing other countries or taking Japan's peace or interests lightly and ensuring that national sovereignty is realised with equality (the problem of collective self-defence). This concept is stated in the preamble to the Japanese Constitution as one to which 'obedience...is incumbent upon all nations who would sustain their own sovereignty and justify their sovereign relationship with other nations'

By defining nurturing and welfare that is 'healthy in body and mind' in this way the policies that form the 'New Angel Plan' become clear in a concrete sense. In other words the 'New Angel Plan' is carried out as various measures under the policies in order to achieve the goal of putting into place nurturing and welfare that is 'healthy in body and mind' through child care for children from birth to school age (including those of pre-school age) and for children of school age. The key point in this context is that parents, child care workers and pre-school teachers have the primary responsibility for children's healthy nurturing and welfare from the mental aspect (the 'citizen's right to education') and that this duty is an extremely important one. It must be understood that this duty is actually of more significance than secondary education and reform of tertiary education, as it impacts the fate of Japan's citizenry. Government policy assumes that this educational duty incumbent on parents, child care workers and pre-school teachers will be carried out and at best limits itself to improving the nurturing and welfare environment and financial support. The point of concern is that there are currently problems with the running of child care centres. Firstly, in relation to management itself, within currently approved child care centres there are public child care centres run by local governments and private child care centres approved at a prefectural level which meet standards set by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (operated by social welfare bodies). In the former case local government public servants provide the childcare itself and private childcare centres also follow this pattern. It is more appropriate to allow them to be operated privately. The certified childcare to be put into place by the Tokyo municipality from fiscal 2002*2 is a desirable format in this sense. Secondly, having local governments provide operating conditions such as facilities and operating expenses should not breach Article 89 of the Constitution if it is done in accordance with the purport of Articles 25 and 26.

What kind of conditions should parents, childcare workers and pre-school teachers who bear responsibility as carers of children fulfil? What kind of attributes and strengths should they be trained in and what kind of nurturing methods should they use in order to have children enjoy 'nurturing and welfare that is healthy in body and mind'?

The role of parents should be considered firstly. All parents should have unlimited love for their own children. The love of a parent for a child is the expression of a basic instinct that does not rely on calculation or logic and is an emotion common to almost all animals. However examples of deficiency in this parental love towards a child, which should be instinctive, do appear and are broadcast by the mass media. It is a matter of grave importance if there is a cause and effect relationship between the speedy development of material civilisation, which is an important means by which human beings pursue happiness and the phenomena of deficient parental love. Modern parents cannot live without enjoying the fruits of material civilisation but as carers responsible for nurturing children they cannot allow themselves to be drowned in those sweet fruits. The fruits of modern science have brought abundance in food, clothing and shelter to mankind, but to the marked detriment of our original animal instincts. In order to repair the damage we must resolve the problem by the study of the theory of modern science, assessing its merits and demerits with firm resolve. Simply reminiscing about the sound child rearing practices of the past will not bring those days back.

Secondly the role of childcare workers and pre-school teachers must also be examined. The government revised the Child Welfare Law in the temporary Diet session of autumn 2001 elevating childcare worker to a nationally accredited qualification.*3 If the importance of the next generation is considered the question of how to put into effect the necessary skills for these workers becomes urgent. Beginning with the 'Best 30' plan tertiary education reform appears daily in the newspapers under the catch phrases 'Nation of Excellence in Human Resources' and 'Intellectual Property Nation'. However, the 'Human Resources Abundant in Creativity' referred to earlier are more important for the future of the nation.