2009/11/20
Glimpses of Japan（外国人から見た日本）
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Glimpses of Japan (外国人から見た日本)
vol.266 Strolling Safely
2009.11.20
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I was disappointed to see that Mizuho Fukushima, the Consumer Affairs
Minister, told reporters Wednesday, after reports of a product recall
*in the US* due to safety concerns, “I have heard that [a British-made
brand of stroller, what the Japanese call 'baby cars'] are popular in
Japan as well. I would like to request that people refrain from using
them”.
As far as I can determine, that brand of stroller hasn't been involved
in any notable accidents here in Japan, even though 170,000 of them
have been sold here since 2002. According to officials of the Japanese
import agent for the strollers, there have been just four reports of
children getting their fingers caught in the hinges when they were opened
or folded. It's worth noticing that it's the *importer* saying that, not
a government or consumer affairs organization, from whom I have seen no
reports so far.
I don't see Ms. Fukushima requesting Japanese people to refrain from buying
Toyota automobiles, even though they have been involved in *fatal* accidents
in the US and the company recently announced that it will recall *3.8 million*
cars because of it…after customers had been complaining for years.
Aside from the Consumer Affairs Minister's extraordinary over-reaction to
the stroller safety issue (or her under-reaction to the car safety issue,
depending on your point of view), and the political issues involved, I have
other thoughts on these so-called "baby cars".
Back in the mid-70s, such strollers were small, light-weight, and folded
up easily into a very portable package not much bigger than a folded umbrella.
They were admirably suited for their purpose: moving infants and small
children over relatively short distances without having to carry them.
They were good for short shopping trips or excursions to the neighborhood
park, and if really necessary they could be folded up and *carried* along
with the child onto trains for longer journeys.
Now they have become huge, heavy, unwieldy vehicles which even folded are
enormous in comparison with their predecessors. They are frequently getting
caught in train and elevator doors. It has become a common sight to see
parents (mostly mothers) struggling with getting them up and down escalators,
and then pushing and shoving these miniature versions of Juggernaut's carriage
into crowded trains. I saw *three* of them in one Yamanote Line car during
the morning rush hour recently, complete with wailing children and mothers
oblivious to the hundreds of glares they were receiving from the other
passengers whom they had squashed even more than usual into the packed train.
Similar cases of anti-social behavior can be seen in department stores, book
shops, restaurants,
and so on.
I'm told that there is even a sort of brand consciousness, a social competition
like that for hand bags, among many young mothers. One has to be seen with the
right (i.e., expensive) "baby car" or one is hopelessly out of fashion.
On the stupidity scale, where more stupid is higher, I rank stroller fashion
even above designer clothes for infants and toddlers, and clothing for dogs.
I'm not suggesting that parents should return to the old days, when children
were carried strapped to the mother's or father's back…although that might
be a good idea for some of the parents I see: they look as if they could use
the exercise. Nor am I seriously suggesting that small children shouldn't be
taken along on long-distance shopping trips unless the parent is prepared to
carry them when appropriate rather than roll them everywhere. That's somewhat
extreme, I guess. I do think, however, that it would be a good idea to reconsider
those handy, light-weight, truly collapsible strollers of yore. They did the
job, they were much easier to manage, and they were a lot cheaper, too.
Oh, and before I end this, I have one more thing to say about strollers.
I don't believe that kids getting their fingers caught in the hinges when
the strollers are folded and unfolded is a *stroller* safety issue. That's
a *parent* safety issue, and I believe it's irresponsible for the Consumer
Affairs Minister, or anybody else, to encourage careless parents by putting
the blame on the stroller. If they were spontaneously collapsing or something
of the sort, I'd thing differently. But failing to keep the kid's fingers
out of the hinges is the parent's fault, not the stroller's.
Glimpses of Japan vol.266
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