Discussions on the establishment of the "Ministry of Child", which is in charge of child-rearing support policies, are increasing, centered on young members of the Liberal Democratic Party. This is to solve various problems such as declining birthrate, childcare, abuse, education, health, bullying, and poverty. It has been pointed out that there is a delay in responding due to the harmful effects of the "vertically divided administration" shared by several ministries and agencies. Behind the establishment of the Children's Agency this time is the aim of unifying these vertical division problems.

Certainly, in the current Kasumigaseki system, the "Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare" is in charge of child illness, but the "Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries" is in charge of food poisoning and food safety. The "Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology" is in charge of school education, but the "Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism" is in charge of road maintenance for going to and from school, the "Metropolitan Police Department" is involved in the event of an accident on the way, and the "Ministry of Justice" is involved in the case of bullying. The problem of children is left to the "Ministry of Foreign Affairs".  In addition, the "Ministry of Finance" controls the overall budget allocation, the "Consumer Affairs Agency" has the responsible for products for children, the "Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry" has the authority to produce them, and the "Ministry of the Environment" has the sustainable manage the future global environment. In this system, the responsibilities are distributed and unknown.

   Closer to home, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is in charge of nursery schools, and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology is in charge of kindergartens. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology once set the standard for suspension of kindergarten children as "two days after fever reduction" in the School Health and Safety Law. However, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has extended the standard for stopping nursery school children to "5 days after onset and 3 days after fever has disappeared" in the Influenza Guideline 2009. 

Given that the Children's Office was set up this time, how would we unify this complicated and mysterious vertically divided administration into skewers from the side? That's what I want to ask.  

As a precedent for a similar child policy, the "Minister of State for Special Missions (in charge of declining birthrate)" was established in the first Abe remodeling cabinet in 2007. It received a lot of attention when it was first launched, and although 22 ministers have been posted to replace it for the past 13 years, Japan's total fertility rate has not yet improved. There is much to be learned from the policies of France and Sweden, which have already overcome the problem of declining birthrate. 

The proposal of the Ministry of Child should not be merely the popularity of young members of the Diet or the addition of one ministerial post.