Taiwan's Pingtung County and Kawasaki City Foster Japan-Taiwan Exchange on 'Children's Play Policy'
TOKYO PLAY, a general incorporated association, coordinated an exchange session on children's play policy between Taiwan's Pingtung County and Kawasaki City from April 20-25, 2026. Pingtung County, advocating for a 'Capital of Play,' and Kawasaki City, with its adventure playgrounds based on Japan's first children's rights ordinance, shared advanced practices, fostering international knowledge exchange between Japan and Taiwan.
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- 📰 Published: May 8, 2026 at 17:00
- 🔍 Collected: May 8, 2026 at 08:31
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TOKYO PLAY (Representative Director: Hitoshi Shimamura, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo), a general incorporated association, coordinated an exchange session between officials from Pingtung County Social Affairs Department and the private organization "Beyond Playmaking," which promotes the creation of children's play environments, who visited Japan from Taiwan from April 20-25, 2026. The 23-member delegation was invited to Kawasaki Children's Dream Park, where they engaged in discussions with Kawasaki City officials.
This exchange provided an opportunity for cutting-edge practices in East Asia to meet: Taiwan's Pingtung County, which has been promoting itself as the "Capital of Play" since 2019 and is working to create play environments for children throughout the entire county, and Kawasaki City, which has facilities combining an adventure playground (play park) and a free space, created based on the philosophy of Japan's first children's rights ordinance.
■ Pingtung County as the Capital of Play
Pingtung County, located at the southernmost tip of Taiwan, is an advanced local government that advocates for the brand "Capital of Play." It views children's right to play not as an optional leisure activity, but as a fundamental right to survival, as important as eating, sleeping, and breathing, and is working to develop play environments throughout the entire county.
The background to this initiative was the perspective that "to address serious protection cases in social work, prevention from infancy is necessary, not just reactive measures."
For over 10 years, Pingtung County has mandated "holding workshops to listen to children's voices when designing all new parks," in addition to organizing 14 play events annually across the county and deploying mobile playgrounds to remote areas and isolated islands to raise awareness about the importance of free play. In recent years, events titled "Hijacking the County Government" have been held, where children and county officials create play experiences.
■ Background of the Delegation
The current delegation consisted of 23 members, including officials from the Pingtung County Social Affairs Department (Social Welfare Division), the County Governor's Secretary's Office, an assistant professor from National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, and members of Beyond Playmaking, who have supported the development of play environments in Pingtung County. Beyond Playmaking is a professional group established in 2014, aiming to realize a society where children are empowered through play, valuing children's perspectives and focusing on play. Its predecessor was a parent group formed to change the uniform park designs in Taiwan.
TOKYO PLAY has had exchanges with Ms. Yu-Hua Lee, representative of Beyond Playmaking, since 2018 through international conferences and project visits. In 2024, TOKYO PLAY was invited to New Taipei City, Taiwan, which led to the first screening in Taiwan of the film "Yumepa no Jikan" (Time at Yumepa), set at Kawasaki Children's Dream Park, the venue for this exchange.
Visiting Kawasaki Children's Dream Park, the setting of the film "Yumepa no Jikan"
■ Exchange Session on the Day
In the morning, Mr. Hiroyuki Nishino, Chairman of the NPO Freespace Tamariba, which operates Kawasaki Children's Dream Park, explained the history of the facility, which was born from Kawasaki City's adoption of Japan's first children's rights ordinance, as well as the free space "En" that accepts children who refuse to attend school, and the permanent adventure playground (play park) where children can play freely. Afterwards, the delegation toured the park, expressing admiration for the wide range of play environments for infants to junior and senior high school students, including a music studio, handmade play equipment, and a mud area.
In the afternoon, the session was held in a discussion format, starting with TOKYO PLAY's introduction to the current state of play environments in Japan, followed by an introduction of initiatives by Kawasaki City officials, and then a report on activities from the Pingtung County side.
TOKYO PLAY presented its emergency policy recommendation (Play Manifesto) produced in 2023. In contrast to the excellent and well-equipped environment of Kawasaki Children's Dream Park, data showed that "the amount of play space in natural areas has decreased by 1/1000" and "78% of children do not play outside on weekdays," sharing the reality of the impoverishment of children's play environments across Japan.
Kawasaki City introduced its children's council based on the children's rights ordinance and the initiatives of children's cultural centers located throughout the city.
Play equipment in the play park area of Kawasaki Children's Dream Park. Mr. Shimamura of TOKYO PLAY introduces the "Play Manifesto."
■ Pingtung County's Challenge: Making Children the Main Characters of Public Policy
Pingtung County's stance of positioning children's right to play as a "fundamental right to survival, like eating and sleeping" provided significant insights for policymakers in Japanese local governments where the establishment of children's rights ordinances is spreading. Furthermore, beyond that, there were practices not yet seen in Japan.
The "Hijack the County Government! Children as the Main Characters" event held in 2025 was a play event using the county government building. This idea was not unilaterally proposed by adults, but rather emerged from initiatives to listen to children's voices. It was...
This exchange provided an opportunity for cutting-edge practices in East Asia to meet: Taiwan's Pingtung County, which has been promoting itself as the "Capital of Play" since 2019 and is working to create play environments for children throughout the entire county, and Kawasaki City, which has facilities combining an adventure playground (play park) and a free space, created based on the philosophy of Japan's first children's rights ordinance.
■ Pingtung County as the Capital of Play
Pingtung County, located at the southernmost tip of Taiwan, is an advanced local government that advocates for the brand "Capital of Play." It views children's right to play not as an optional leisure activity, but as a fundamental right to survival, as important as eating, sleeping, and breathing, and is working to develop play environments throughout the entire county.
The background to this initiative was the perspective that "to address serious protection cases in social work, prevention from infancy is necessary, not just reactive measures."
For over 10 years, Pingtung County has mandated "holding workshops to listen to children's voices when designing all new parks," in addition to organizing 14 play events annually across the county and deploying mobile playgrounds to remote areas and isolated islands to raise awareness about the importance of free play. In recent years, events titled "Hijacking the County Government" have been held, where children and county officials create play experiences.
■ Background of the Delegation
The current delegation consisted of 23 members, including officials from the Pingtung County Social Affairs Department (Social Welfare Division), the County Governor's Secretary's Office, an assistant professor from National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, and members of Beyond Playmaking, who have supported the development of play environments in Pingtung County. Beyond Playmaking is a professional group established in 2014, aiming to realize a society where children are empowered through play, valuing children's perspectives and focusing on play. Its predecessor was a parent group formed to change the uniform park designs in Taiwan.
TOKYO PLAY has had exchanges with Ms. Yu-Hua Lee, representative of Beyond Playmaking, since 2018 through international conferences and project visits. In 2024, TOKYO PLAY was invited to New Taipei City, Taiwan, which led to the first screening in Taiwan of the film "Yumepa no Jikan" (Time at Yumepa), set at Kawasaki Children's Dream Park, the venue for this exchange.
Visiting Kawasaki Children's Dream Park, the setting of the film "Yumepa no Jikan"
■ Exchange Session on the Day
In the morning, Mr. Hiroyuki Nishino, Chairman of the NPO Freespace Tamariba, which operates Kawasaki Children's Dream Park, explained the history of the facility, which was born from Kawasaki City's adoption of Japan's first children's rights ordinance, as well as the free space "En" that accepts children who refuse to attend school, and the permanent adventure playground (play park) where children can play freely. Afterwards, the delegation toured the park, expressing admiration for the wide range of play environments for infants to junior and senior high school students, including a music studio, handmade play equipment, and a mud area.
In the afternoon, the session was held in a discussion format, starting with TOKYO PLAY's introduction to the current state of play environments in Japan, followed by an introduction of initiatives by Kawasaki City officials, and then a report on activities from the Pingtung County side.
TOKYO PLAY presented its emergency policy recommendation (Play Manifesto) produced in 2023. In contrast to the excellent and well-equipped environment of Kawasaki Children's Dream Park, data showed that "the amount of play space in natural areas has decreased by 1/1000" and "78% of children do not play outside on weekdays," sharing the reality of the impoverishment of children's play environments across Japan.
Kawasaki City introduced its children's council based on the children's rights ordinance and the initiatives of children's cultural centers located throughout the city.
Play equipment in the play park area of Kawasaki Children's Dream Park. Mr. Shimamura of TOKYO PLAY introduces the "Play Manifesto."
■ Pingtung County's Challenge: Making Children the Main Characters of Public Policy
Pingtung County's stance of positioning children's right to play as a "fundamental right to survival, like eating and sleeping" provided significant insights for policymakers in Japanese local governments where the establishment of children's rights ordinances is spreading. Furthermore, beyond that, there were practices not yet seen in Japan.
The "Hijack the County Government! Children as the Main Characters" event held in 2025 was a play event using the county government building. This idea was not unilaterally proposed by adults, but rather emerged from initiatives to listen to children's voices. It was...