TOKYO - Changes are emerging within PTAs that support children's school lives as growing numbers of dual-income households make it increasingly difficult for parents to participate in traditional school activities.
At 7:30 a.m., standing at a crosswalk holding a yellow safety flag to watch over children on their way to school was Tetsu Urabe, 39, chairman of the PTA at Ichinoe Elementary School in Tokyo's Edogawa Ward.
"I want people to first understand that these activities are for the safety of the children," Urabe said.
As he continues working closely with parents and students, Urabe says he faces a growing challenge.
"Nowadays there are more dual-income households, and in many homes the parents leave before the children do. Many parents simply cannot participate in these activities," he explained.
As lifestyles have diversified in recent years, more families have found it difficult to take part in PTA duties such as supervising school routes with safety flags.
People interviewed on the street expressed mixed feelings about PTAs. Some said they wanted to participate in activities supporting school life, with comments such as, "I like helping organize events, so I'd like to try it," and "I'd actively participate because my child is adorable."
Others questioned whether PTAs still fit modern society. "When I was young, being a full-time housewife was normal, but now almost everyone works. I wonder what people are supposed to do about their jobs during those activity hours," one person said. Another added, "Times have changed a lot, so maybe PTAs are no longer necessary."
A woman who once served as a PTA chairperson recalled the burden of balancing work and PTA responsibilities.
"I had to handle both my job and PTA work. When there were meetings, I had to leave work early and go to the school," she said.
The decline in PTA participation is spreading across Japan, prompting schools and parents to experiment with new approaches better suited to modern life.
What emerged from the reporting was a growing movement among parents to reform PTAs by creating more flexible and manageable systems.
Urabe, who joined the PTA four years ago, said participation in safety flag duty had previously been mandatory, with schedules decided by PTA executives.
As a result, some parents failed to appear on assigned days, while others lodged complaints.
Against this backdrop, Urabe became PTA chairman in 2025. Although he had originally considered dissolving the PTA entirely to reduce the burden on parents, his perspective changed after taking the position.
"I actually joined thinking I would disband the PTA," Urabe said. "But once I got involved, I realized PTAs do many good things. If we change the way they operate, they can become very beneficial. We shifted to a more flexible approach where everyone contributes when they can."
The previously mandatory flag duty was changed to a voluntary system. Drawing on his experience as a systems engineer, Urabe also developed a web application himself.
The app displays locations lacking volunteers as "empty," while filled positions are marked with a circle. Parents who wish to participate can choose dates and locations that fit their schedules.
A year after the system was introduced, Urabe said parents have responded positively to the app.
Even so, participation remains limited.
"There are about 150 registered accounts, but only around 10 people are actually helping regularly," he said. "I think many people still believe these activities are unnecessary."
Going forward, Urabe hopes to secure more volunteers not only from parents but also from local residents.
"I'd like to work together with the community so that everyone can watch over the children," he said.
Meanwhile, at Obata Elementary School in Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture, making PTA membership voluntary led to a dramatic collapse in participation. Membership, once around 400 people, fell to just nine full members for the 2026 school year.
PTA chairman Takuya Kageyama, 54, decided to abolish one long-standing activity: the Bellmark campaign.
Bellmarks are collected from snacks, stationery, and other products, then sent to the Bellmark Foundation, where each point is converted into one yen that can be used to purchase school supplies such as unicycles and dodgeballs or to support special-needs schools.
On this day, Kageyama was carrying out the final tally of Bellmarks collected before the activity was discontinued in 2025.
"People worked hard collecting them, so this is our final task. We want to turn what's left into something useful for everyone," Kageyama said.
The process involved sorting the marks by company, then further separating them according to point values before calculating the final totals and packaging them into special envelopes.
Parents responsible for the Bellmark program had previously gathered at the school on available days and spent as long as seven hours completing the work. Yet over the course of a year, the effort only generated around 20,000 yen worth of school supplies, including dodgeballs and blackboard eraser cleaners.
Some parents even took the work home regularly to finish it.
Seeing the strain this placed on families, Kageyama decided to abolish the program in 2025, though he admits he still struggles with the decision.
"Everyone participated because they wanted to do something for the children, so I don't think abolishing it was necessarily completely right," he said. "I still feel conflicted about it."
The debate continues over whether reducing the burden on parents should take priority over enriching children's school environments.
"Both fathers and mothers are working now," Kageyama said. "We need to consider how much activity is realistically possible while balancing the educational environment, and within that balance decide whether PTA activities are truly necessary."
Source: FNN
