Somewhere in Japan this spring, a child who could easily read the blackboard in first grade began squinting at it by third grade. In just two years, the child’s myopia had roughly tripled. We have come to treat this as an ordinary part of childhood — a visit to the optician, a first pair of glasses, and life goes on.
Myopia is a disease, and much of it is preventable. A career in ophthalmology and medical research has meant watching this epidemic advance in slow motion while arguing — in a book, newspaper articles and peer-reviewed research — that its seriousness has been badly underestimated. But this summer, for the first time in the nation’s history, the government acknowledged the problem.
Japan’s Basic Policy for 2026, the blueprint guiding the country’s economic and fiscal course, now includes language on preventing childhood myopia. After years of advocacy, that is a genuine milestone.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
