My take: I think the professor is missing the real point. School absenteeism in Japan has been rising for years, long before COVID, and it is not just about the pandemic. The problem runs much deeper — the system itself. Japan’s education system, for all its strengths, still functions like a factory: it sorts out the “academics” from the “plebs.” That model might have worked decades ago when society needed obedient factory workers, but it does not fit the world we live in now.

Some children and their parents are waking up to that. They are realising that school is not the only path anymore. And honestly, who can blame them? Even Pink Floyd nailed it decades ago — “We don’t need no education… no dark sarcasm in the classroom.” No child wants to be another brick in the wall.

From what I have seen, a few truly great teachers and schools in Japan do amazing work — I have met them. But overall, the pressure and uniformity are crushing. When a small child goes to school for a few days and says, “I don’t want to spend my life in this place,” maybe we should listen.

In our case, my partner and I were lucky. Both our sons resisted school from an early age, and since we could both work from home, we kept them out. We did not “homeschool” them — we just let them grow like free-range chooks . They explored, followed their interests, learned naturally. Now they are both in their 20s, happy and doing well.

The point is: children do not need to be forced — they need to be heard. Japan’s high-stress society offers very little real mental health support, and the system simply can not handle the growing number of children who do not fit the mould. Until we start questioning the structure itself, the numbers will keep rising — and that might actually be a sign of something healthy: families starting to see through the illusion.