There's a boy in our building who doesn't go to school. Ever. Nine-year-old Kenji missed 40 days of school last year, then refused to go back at all after the spring break. He says that he "can't breathe" at school and that his stomach hurts whenever he's in the building.
Staying home isn't easy for Kenji either. His older brother goes to school. His younger sister goes to school. Every other child in the neighborhood goes to school. "I'm no good," Kenji said to his mother the other day. "Everyone goes to school but me."
Kenji may feel alone, but there are a lot of children like him. A growing number of Japanese children are unable or unwilling to attend school. The problem of toko kyohi (school refusal), or futoko (non-attendance), is confounding parents and educators, and may force small changes in the Japanese education system.