November 3, 2019

Japanese Communist Party Vice Chair Tamura Tomoko on November 2 attended an event held on the campus of Waseda University, and discussed ways to promote young people’s political participation with other parliamentarians and students.

In the event which took place as part of the 2019 Waseda Festival, a male senior at a private high school said that students in his school are required to gain school permission to engage in political activities.

Tamura said that the Education Ministry has long pressured high schools to prevent their students from conducting political activities in schools. Citing that the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child puts importance on children’s right to freedom of opinion, the JCP vice chair said, “The current educational situation in Japan should be changed so that young people can express their political opinions more freely.”

Tamura stressed the need to establish a system enabling young people to participate in a decision-making process for tuition fees and scholarship programs.

In response to an argument that many young people appear to show a lack of interest in politics, Tamura said, “I don’t think so. I believe they have much interest in political issues that affect them,” and expressed her determination to increase her efforts to have opportunities to talk with young people about their concerns and questions about the current political situation.

Along with Tamura, parliamentarians from the Liberal Democratic Party, the Komei Party, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, and the Nippon Ishin no Kai party took part in the event.