Filed a lawsuit against the whole province for limited playing time, the teenager was supported by her mother

Japan has passed a lot of ordinances on restricting gaming in order to reduce the unwanted consequences caused by too game addiction caused, especially in children and adolescents. For example, the Kagawa prefectural government recently issued a decree that only allows children to play games for 1 hour a day and 90 minutes on weekends. In addition, teenagers aged 12-15 are prohibited from using smartphones after 9pm, and 15-18 years old will only be allowed to play games until 10pm. Obviously, this law was controversial, a teenager, with the help of his mother and lawyer, even filed a lawsuit against the provincial government to express his firm opposition.
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After the law began to be enforced, Wataru – a 17-year-old boy living in Kagawa filed a lawsuit against the prefectural government to reclaim his freedom to play games for hours. Surprisingly, Wataru was wholeheartedly supported by his mother. She and her lawyer even helped him find “loopholes” in the law to fight this decree.

Wataru argues that the gaming time restrictions in the recently enacted legislation lack scientific evidence. Moreover, there is no clear reward and punishment for violators. The Kagawa Prefectural Government accuses video games of having an adverse effect on children and young people, causing them to skip school to play games. However, no one knows that truant students are often the ones who face many other pressures from family and society, and only playing games can help them relieve stress.
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In fact, even in the drafting phase, more than 600 people agreed to sign the petition against this ordinance earlier this year. But contrary to the expectations of most teenagers in Kagawa Prefecture, the law was still put into effect in March. According to Wataru’s lawyer, restricting children from playing games violates the Japanese constitution in terms of guarantee the right of human self-determination. In addition, it also seriously affects children’s right to freedom of play and entertainment.​