Boys need to prove to themselves that they are valuable people. No one can give them this feeling, it is something they have to earn as they grow up. In the days of the Samurai and wild west this warrior spirit was at the forefront of society, an external demonstration of what an ideal man could be.

As time has progressed these days are long gone and we now live in a world which is presumed unsafe. We don't want our boys to take risks and so we have engineered environments which are risk free. This environment is now robbing young boys of their ability to take risks and win.

Gone is the old playground equipment that was risky to play on. Remember the spinning roundabout and monkey bars? Many of todays playgrounds are super safe but largely uninspiring for a young boys sense of adventure. A video game is not good enough, boys need to take risks, get hurt and learn from their mistakes.

Of course daycare for the very young needs to be risk free however at kindergarten (whether it be a bilingual kindergarten or not) and preschool the risks need not be overly great but they should still be enough to be challenging for boys. Adventure playgrounds such as those found at Koganei park near Musashisakai in Musashino offer a variety of risk taking activities for young boys (and girls) and is very popular on summer weekends.

Getting your young boys involved in sports like soccer and Karate at an early age is an important and fulfilling long term way to engage your sons need to fulfill his sense of self worth. Team work and personal wins are an all important aspect of this. The Musashino area, including Mitaka and Kichijoji offers a wide variety of top level sports related activities that boys can engage in from as young as five years of age. Yokogawa soccer club in Mitaka and Shitokai karate club in Musashisakai are well known for their high standards in this regard and are highly recommended.