VOX POPULI: Warning: Parents can abuse child allowances

Tokugawa Ienari (1773-1841), the 11th shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate, was known to have fathered more than 50 children.

Mounting child-care costs, dowries for children who were adopted out or got married, and splurging in the ooku inner castle where women connected to the shogun lived, all weighed heavily on the already strained government budget. From around that time, the feudal system under the Tokugawa Shogunate started to decline.

Two centuries have passed since Ienari's day, when he kept as many as 40 concubines. Now, once again, the government, which is in dire financial straits, is squeezing out child allowances. I have no objection to the idea of society as a whole supporting child care. But it seems too generous to make payments for foreign residents' children who live overseas.

Last week, a South Korean man living in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, applied for child allowances worth about 86 million yen ($920,000) a year, telling the city government he is the adoptive father of 554 children living in religious houses and orphanages in Thailand, his wife's home country.

Critics had warned about possible "abuse" of the system. But the case is so preposterous that it is refreshing. Naturally, the city turned down the request.

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare had informed local governments in advance that "payments shall not be made, for example, to a foreigner who claims to have adopted 50 orphans."

The man in Amagasaki has a big "family" that far outnumbers Ienari's. If he is indeed a man of benevolence, I want to ask him if he can identify the names and faces of all of his 554 adoptive children.

According to the government, even if parents do not live with their children, as long as they are looking after, disciplining and financially supporting their children, they are eligible for the allowance. But such vagueness will continue to cause confusion.

Not all parents are kind and caring; some even regard their children as a source of income. Rather than making cash handouts, and expecting parents to spend the money for the benefit of their children, I want the government to focus on steady support in the form of building day-care centers, among other things.

Ienari not only had more than 50 children, but he remained in power for 50 years, which made him the longest-serving shogun. As history shows, it is a tragedy for a country to be under the rule of incompetent leaders who stay on the job too long.

A leader who is too trusting and policies that are too generous both jeopardize a nation and hard-earned taxpayers' money.

--The Asahi Shimbun, April 27

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.