Are you suffering from bullying, hiding your feelings and continuing to go to school, and spend your days worrying?
There are words that I want to deliver to you.
Comedy duo Kazuhiro Fujiwara's words.
Mr. Fujiwara said that he was bullied in junior high school, saying,
"It's okay to run away, but if you lose , you won't."
What matters is how you spend your life after that.
(Chihiro Hirai, Reporter, Social Affairs Department)
"I was bullied when I was in 1st grade."
"I was bullied when I was in the first year of middle school. Even now, when I talk about this, it hits me hard, and honestly, there are some things I haven't overcome."
Kazuhiro Fujiwara, a comedy duo with 26 years of experience in the entertainment industry.
Mr. (45)
On January 21, 124 children from all over the country gathered and gave a lecture at an event to announce efforts to eliminate bullying.
He is 180 centimeters tall and has a good physique, and participated in the inter-high school karate in high school.
He currently works as a comedian on various stages and on television.
At first glance, it seems that he is far from bullying, but he was bullied by his classmates and others when he was in the first year of junior high school.
Unable to confide in teachers or parents
It is said that the bullying started suddenly one day without warning.
"Children from another class, so-called 'yankees', come to my class during break time and start beating me or another A-kun. They suddenly punch me in the stomach from behind. I was kicked in the buttocks, punched in the back, etc. At that time, my body was small.I was only 148 cm in 1st grade.I always felt that I didn't want to go to school, so when I was in school, I was walking towards school, but I was walking thinking that it would be nice if I didn't get there."
Fearing retaliation from the bullying side, I couldn't ask the teacher for help.
I couldn't even confide in my parents.
It was out of compassion for my parents.
"My family was very close. I didn't want the father and mother to know that 'Your child is being bullied at school.' I didn't want my parents to feel bad. At home, I thought it would be fine if I just went to school.”
Even the friends who encouraged each other...
While I couldn't tell anyone, I encouraged each other with Mr. A, who was bullied at the same time, saying, "Let's help each other."
However, one day, when I was with A, only Mr. Fujiwara was bullied.
At that time, when he looked at Mr. A, he said that he was watching with other students and laughing.
"Now that I'm an adult, I think A was scared too, but at the time it was a shock and I thought there was no one to help me. Even my classmates were just ignoring me. I felt like I was touching a boil.Everyone didn't step in.I didn't talk either, and it became a negative chain more and more.My world was only a school or a house, so it was hard."
After escaping bullying...
When I was in my second year of junior high school, I moved from Niigata Prefecture to Nara Prefecture due to my parents' job transfer.
It was there that he met karate, his partner, and comedy, which changed his life for the better.
Formed a duo with Takashi Imoto, who was a classmate in high school, and has been active in the stage and TV.
At the same time, I wanted to send a message to children based on my experience of being bullied.
Then, I published a picture book in 2020 by collecting funds through crowdfunding.
The title is "Gero
Haitayo" The main character of the picture book, "I", is bullied such as throwing away his shoes in a box, and begins to repeatedly vomit.
Even when I consulted with my teacher, he didn't believe me, and I ended up living at home watching only TV and the Internet.
The father's harsh words pierce the defiant "I" who says, "I just need to stay still."
And the picture book ends when “I” worry about the meaning of the word.
"If the 'I' in the picture book ran away and didn't do anything, it would be a life where I would have been completely defeated by bullying. I put my desire to have it in. It's not in the words (of the picture book), but it means that there is such a future."
"You can run away, but if you lose, it's bad"
At the event on January 21, Mr. Fujiwara talked about his own painful experience and life after that, and then addressed the children as follows.
"You can run away, but if you lose, it's bad"
“I want you to make a new life for yourself after running away, and I want you to know that school is not everything. I think it feels like a long time.But when I look back now as an adult, it's really very short.And it's a very small world.I hope you don't lose everything because you were bullied in this small world of 12 years.There are many things in the world. There's a world out there.It's a big world.There's a place to
go.I
hope you won't be defeated by just one bullying or just one bad feeling."
In addition, the number of cases of bullying using the Internet such as SNS reached 21,900, the highest ever.
Bullying can happen to anyone, so I would like you to remember Mr. Fujiwara's words when you are having a hard time.
Your future belongs only to you.