Children shouting 'Shorinji!' at police boxes across Japan, a report says.
3
agree votes in total for the 34 calling it a harmless prank
3,175 comments read to the bottom · every number is below
The most-agreed comment
This is where an education ends up when nobody can discipline children strictly, or scold children even after a wrong. In the Showa era, doing wrong meant being yelled at or hit, and it was burned into the heart never to do it again. Not that everything about Showa was good, of course. These are not pets; telling wrong from right is not beyond children. Children know that adults will not get very angry - that even with the police, being caught does not mean prison, just a warning at most. It is done knowing it is wrong, so that once the dare is completed it can be bragged about as a heroic tale. Children these days are no longer all the kind who understand once talked to, or once reasoned with. Some of the old Showa strictness may be needed once again.
Show original Japanese
子供に対して誰も厳しく躾ができない、間違ったことをしても叱れない教育の末路だな。
昭和は間違ったことをしたら怒鳴られたり叩かれたりして、もう二度としないと心に焼き付けられた。
もちろん昭和の全てが良かったとは言わないが。
相手はペットじゃないんだから、悪いことすら判断がつかない訳ではない。
子供は大人が大して怒らない、たとえ警察相手でも捕まって刑務所に行く訳じゃない、せいぜい注意だけというのを分かってるんだよ。
根性試しで完遂したら武勇伝として自慢げに話すために悪いことと分かってやっている。
もはや今時の子供は話せば分かる諭せば分かるという相手ばかりじゃない。
今一度昭和流の厳しさも必要かと思う。My lady's reading
This is what my lady thought, before looking at this comment section.
Such a heart-warming story.
It's fun, it's the vibe, friends, everyone's doing it.
So heart-warming - the kind of thing only children do.
The parents don't seem to know what's wrong with it either. Heh.
Education really matters, doesn't it.
That is my lady's reading.
Some of this can be counted. How many comments in this thread called it a harmless prank? How many agree presses went to comments on friends and "everyone's doing it", or on parents and education? First, though, what the story does not say.
The news
At 6:00am on 7 November 2026, Kansai TV published a story on Yahoo! News.
A nuisance called "Shorinji Racing" - shouting "Shorinji!" in front of a police box and running off - is spreading across Japan. Videos of it keep appearing on social media, some showing a 110 emergency call from a public phone with the same shout, the story says.
According to the story, Osaka prefectural police counted about 280 cases between mid-September and the end of October and arrested or took into protective guidance about 50 youths aged 7 to 16; some were arrested. The youngest was a first-grader of 7. Hyogo police had dealt with 25, including primary school children, by late October. Questioned by police, youths said: "I did it to make my school friends laugh" and "I saw videos on social media and thought teasing police officers looked fun."
A third-grader of 8 who had been invited to join said: "The fourth-grade class is where it's most popular. Almost all the boys ride bikes to the police station after school." The child turned down an older pupil's invitation because an older sister had said no. A graduate-school professor put it this way: "If everyone is doing it, it must be fine for me too." A lawyer said: "It is not just a bit of fun at all."
Context for readers outside Japan
Yahoo! News is Japan's biggest news site, and each story has a comment section where readers press "agree", "insightful" or "disagree" on each other's comments. A koban is a small neighbourhood police box, found on street corners across Japan. "Hodo" - protective guidance - is how Japanese police handle minors who misbehave: stopping, questioning and warning the young person, and contacting the family. The Showa era ran from 1926 to 1989; comments often use it as shorthand for a time when adults, including teachers, scolded and sometimes hit children.
What the story does not say
The story says about 50 youths were arrested or taken into guidance, the youngest aged 7. It does not say how many were arrested and how many were given guidance, or how many were of which age.
Japan's Penal Code says: "An act of a person under fourteen years of age is not punishable" (Article 41). Children aged 7 to 13 receive no criminal penalty for any act; such cases are handled through police guidance, referral to a child guidance centre, or in some cases a family court hearing. The lawyer in the story says that "it becomes obstruction of public duty, a real crime with up to three years' imprisonment" - but imprisonment can only be imposed from 14, not on the primary school children in the story. The story does not mention this.
96 to 4: 3,175 comments, twenty-three and a half hours in
I read all 3,175 parent comments, as they stood between 5:30am and 5:36am on 8 November, about twenty-three and a half hours after publication. The site showed 3,188 parent comments, so 13 did not come through. The article showed 3,971 comments in total at about 5:30am.
The buttons came to 59,962 agree, 2,107 insightful and 2,732 disagree. Presses for, against presses pushing back: 96 to 4.
The votes lean hard toward the top: the first comment alone holds 39.1% of the agree presses, the top 3 57.5% and the top 5 67.4%. The first comment also drew the most insightful and disagree presses in the thread, 507 and 763.
The comment my lady shared: 1st
(This is the most-agreed comment, shown at the top of this page.)
1st by agree presses: 23,458 agree, 507 insightful, 763 disagree, and 421 replies. 1st in the site's recommended order too. It holds 39.1% of the thread's agree presses - 3.6 times the 2nd.
It calls this the end result of an education that cannot scold, recalls being yelled at and hit in the Showa era until the lesson was burned in, says children know adults will not get very angry and do it knowing it is wrong, and ends by saying some of the old Showa strictness may be needed again.
Discipline, parents or schools: 73.5%
Comments saying children are no longer disciplined or scolded, blaming the parents, or mentioning schools and teachers number 1,454 together, or 45.8% of the thread, holding 73.5% of the agree presses, 64.6% of insightful and 64.4% of disagree. Even without the first comment, 56.4%.
The most pressed within them said children are not disciplined or scolded any more, or that children used to be scolded or hit: 768 comments, with 52.7%. Almost all of that is the first comment, though; without it, 22.4%. The 4th said that since the rules on "corporal punishment" and "abuse" tightened, it has become hard to warn children, and that scolding firmly, even shouting, after a wrong matters.
Comments blaming the parents' upbringing or responsibility number 944, a full 29.7% of the thread. Yet they hold only 13.6% of the agree presses, and 22.4% of disagree. Many comments, few near the top. The highest is the 7th (1,720 agree), which saw a lack of guidance at home and at school, and said parents should teach rules and responsibility day to day.
Comments mentioning schools or teachers number 288, with 16.9% - 6.9% without the 2nd.
Punish firmly: 33.6%. "Children or not" came 2nd
Comments calling for firm punishment - arrests, revising the juvenile law, fines on parents - number 1,140, or 35.9% of the thread; taken one category at a time, the most numerous. They hold 33.6% of the agree presses, 25.6% without the 2nd.
The 2nd (6,446 agree) said that, children or not, a nuisance like this must be answered for, and called for a firm response such as police going to the school to give guidance.
Comments explaining the law - that this is obstruction, that under-14s cannot be punished, and so on - number 292, with 5.4%. The 6th (1,989 agree) said the rule that under-14s are not punished has become widely known, and that the age of criminal responsibility should be reviewed.
Friends and "everyone does it": 9.6%, mostly the 3rd
Comments blaming social media or video sites, or wanting limits on children's use, number 386, with 18.6% - 11.8% without the 3rd. Comments on friends, peers and "everyone does it" number 152, with 9.6% - almost all the 3rd; without it, 2.1%.
The 3rd (4,580 agree) said police rushing over is itself a "reward" for the children: moving the police means bragging rights with friends, and posting the video brings attention. The same comment warned that when someone truly needs help, that officer may be busy with the children's "play". The comments on wasted police time (264, 9.0%) and those shocked at the age of 7 (102, 7.9%) are also almost all this one comment.
Comments saying the media spreads the prank or treats it as entertainment number 59, with 6.1%. The 5th (2,883 agree) asked whether the programme was mostly presenting an unusual prank as entertainment.
A harmless prank: 34 comments, 3 agree presses
Comments calling it a harmless prank, cute, or an overreaction number 34, with 3 agree presses between them and 31 disagree. Comments saying such pranks are nothing new - just like ding-dong-ditch - number 229, with 4.2%, but the higher ones went on to say that, unlike then, it now spreads on social media, and a price should be paid.
Comments saying strictness alone will not fix it number 6, with 21 agree presses between them. This is the clearest example.
Many comments blame parents who do not discipline children strictly, and there is something to that. But look at the number (and rate) of juvenile crimes in the heyday of spartan education: spartan education did not mean less juvenile crime. If anything, the data show far more of it back then. What matters, it seems, is not forcing children down with "no means no", but an education that clearly teaches the reasons why something is wrong.
子供を厳しく躾けない親の責任を問うコメントが多いが、それも一理あると思う。一方で、スパルタ教育全盛だった頃の少年犯罪数（率）を見れば、スパルタ教育だから少年犯罪が少ないわけでもない。寧ろ、データ上は昔の方が圧倒的に多い。
駄目なことは駄目なんだと力任せに押さえつけるのではなく、なぜ駄目なのか?を理由付けて明確に教え込む教育が大切なのだと感じる。100th by agree presses: 11 agree, 0 insightful, 25 disagree, and no replies. Its disagree presses are more than double its agree. Of the comments that openly took issue with the first comment's "Showa strictness", this is the highest.
Checking my lady's reading
My lady said: such a heart-warming story; so heart-warming, the kind of thing only children do.
In this thread, comments that genuinely called it a harmless prank, cute, or an overreaction number 34, with 3 agree presses between them. There were also 39 comments written as sarcasm, with 21. This thread did not joke; it blamed, plainly. The view closest to "only children do this" is the 4.2% saying such pranks are nothing new - but the higher of those went on to say not "so let it go", but "now a price should be paid".
My lady also said: it's fun, it's the vibe, friends, everyone's doing it. Those words match the story's own. The youths told police it was "to make my school friends laugh" and that it "looked fun", and the professor's analysis was "if everyone is doing it, it must be fine for me too". In the thread, comments on friends and "everyone does it" hold 9.6%, and those on social media 18.6% - but in both, the 3rd comment weighs heavily, and without it the figures are 2.1% and 11.8%. This thread wrote less about why children do it than about what adults should do.
My lady also said the parents don't seem to know what's wrong either. Comments blaming the parents number 944, nearly 3 in 10 comments in the thread, but hold 13.6% of the agree presses. What parents understand is not something I can count. In the story, the mother of the child who said no says the internet is frightening, and that the children do not understand the danger.
My lady also said: education really matters. Comments saying children are no longer disciplined or scolded hold 52.7%, and with those on parents and schools, 73.5% - the most pressed part of this thread. The 1st, the comment my lady shared, is exactly that: the end result of an education that cannot scold. Whether that education should include hitting, or should mean teaching why something is wrong, splits the thread too - and the second view has 6 comments and 21 agree presses.
What I have not checked
This thread is as it stood about twenty-three and a half hours after publication. Comments added later are not in these figures. The site showed 3,188 parent comments, and 13 did not come through.
The 100th comment's claim that juvenile crime was far higher in the days of spartan education I have not checked. Nor have I checked the 1st comment's view that children know being caught means a warning at most; it appears only in the comments. How many of the roughly 50 youths were under 14 is not in the story, and I do not know.
I read the top 200 comments one by one myself; the remaining 2,975 were sorted using the same categories. Treat the figures as approximate. There were 348 comments using words that put people down, 153 remarking on Osaka as a place, and 133 mentioning foreign countries or foreigners; they are counted but not quoted.
In closing
My lady said: heart-warming; fun, the vibe, friends, everyone's doing it; the parents don't seem to know what's wrong either; education really matters.
In this thread, comments on discipline, parents or schools hold 73.5% of the agree presses, and those calling for firm punishment 33.6%. The 34 calling it a harmless prank drew 3 agree presses. That children aged 7 to 13 cannot be punished under the Penal Code is not in the story; in the thread, the 6th raised it.
That is as far as the counting goes.
The top five comments by vote
Ranked by upvotes. Left of the slash is agree, right is disagree. This is where the resentment actually sits.
- 1st 23458 ∕ 763 The comment my lady shared. This is where an education that cannot discipline or scold children ends up. In the Showa era, doing wrong meant being yelled at or hit, and the lesson was burned in. Children know adults will not get very angry, and do it knowing it is wrong. Some of the old Showa strictness is needed again.
- 2nd 6446 ∕ 86 Children or not, a nuisance like this must be answered for. Without a firm response - police going to the school to give guidance - what was wrong may never sink in. As a warning to others too, strict guidance early on is needed.
- 3rd 4580 ∕ 75 Police rushing over is itself a 'reward' for the children. Moving the police means bragging rights with friends; posting the video brings attention. When someone truly needs help, that officer may be busy with children's 'play'.
- 4th 3041 ∕ 79 Since the rules on 'corporal punishment' and 'abuse' tightened, it has become hard to warn children. Getting angry without reason is out of the question, but scolding firmly, even shouting, after a wrong matters; without it, children grow up unable to tell right from wrong.
- 5th 2883 ∕ 48 About 280 cases in Osaka alone, yet the programme seems mostly to present an unusual prank as entertainment, focusing on the children's accounts and feelings while barely touching responsibility or illegality. The problem and the responsibility should be reported instead.
Every number from this thread
I read all 3,175 parent comments, as they stood between 5:30am and 5:36am on 8 November 2026, about twenty-three and a half hours after publication. The site showed 3,188 parent comments at the time, so 13 did not come through. The article showed 3,971 comments in total at about 5:30am, and the parent comments carried 779 replies. The buttons came to 59,962 agree, 2,107 insightful and 2,732 disagree - 96 to 4. Agree against disagree alone: 21.9 to 1. The votes lean hard toward the top: the first comment alone holds 39.1% of the agree presses, the top 2 49.9%, the top 3 57.5%, the top 5 67.4%, the top 10 78.8% and the top 20 88.0%. The first comment also drew the most insightful and disagree presses in the thread, 507 and 763. Of the 3,175, 1,619 drew no agree press at all and 1,367 drew no press of any kind. The 166 comments with more disagree than agree hold 19.8% of the thread's disagree presses. The average comment is 76.4 characters; the 1,277 under 40 characters hold 1.7% of the agree presses, the 826 of 100 characters or more 95.7%. Of the 779 replies, 474 went to the top 2 comments, and 3,117 of the 3,175 drew no reply. Here is what the comments said. Comments saying children are no longer disciplined or scolded, blaming the parents, or mentioning schools and teachers number 1,454 together, or 45.8%, holding 73.5% of agree, 64.6% of insightful and 64.4% of disagree - 56.4% even without the first comment. Within them, comments saying children are not disciplined or scolded any more, or that children used to be scolded or hit, number 768, with 52.7% - 22.4% without the first comment. Comments blaming the parents' upbringing or responsibility number 944, or 29.7%, holding 13.6% of agree and 22.4% of disagree. Comments mentioning schools or teachers number 288, with 16.9% - 6.9% without the 2nd. Comments calling for firm punishment - arrests, revising the juvenile law, fines on parents - number 1,140, or 35.9%, with 33.6%; 25.6% without the 2nd. Comments blaming social media or video sites, or wanting limits on children's use, number 386, with 18.6% - 11.8% without the 3rd. Comments on friends, peers and 'everyone does it' number 152, with 9.6% - 2.1% without the 3rd. Comments on wasted police time or delayed emergencies number 264, with 9.0%, and comments shocked at the age of 7-year-olds and first-graders 102, with 7.9% - both mostly the 3rd; without it, 1.5% and 0.3%. Comments saying the media spreads the prank or treats it as entertainment number 59, with 6.1%; comments explaining the law 292, with 5.4%; comments saying such pranks are nothing new 229, with 4.2%; comments worried about the children's future 351, with 2.3%; comments on the name 'Shorinji' 195, with 1.8%. On the other side, comments calling it a harmless prank, cute, or an overreaction number 34, with 3 agree presses between them and 31 disagree. Comments written as sarcasm number 39, with 21 agree presses between them. Comments saying strictness alone will not fix it, or that juvenile crime was higher in the old days, number 6, with 21 agree and 29 disagree. There were 348 comments using words that put people down, 153 remarking on Osaka as a place, and 133 mentioning foreign countries or foreigners; they are counted but not quoted. I read the top 200 comments one by one myself; the remaining 2,975 were sorted using the same categories, so treat the figures as approximate. The comment my lady shared is 1st by agree presses, with 23,458.
Comments are quoted verbatim in the original Japanese, with the source linked, commenter names withheld, and quoted only as far as the commentary requires. Translations are mine. Source articles may expire (retrieval dates noted). The substance of this piece is the author's commentary.
