Osaka gives a DS to every school pupil

There are several reasons why living in Great Britain is dire. Amongst them are the weather, obesity, poor academic achievement, the BNP, the Countryside Alliance, the exorbitant cost of living, the monarchy, binge drinking, and, once again for emphasis, the weather.

Now, thanks to a generous and progressive scheme in Japan, we can add another relative hardship to that list: no free DSs for school children.

Ten schools in Osaka intend to hand out a DS and educational software to every student, which means at some point after next January - when the scheme begins - kids will start openly playing video games during lessons while the rest of the world’s young look on in frank astonishment.

The scheme is not without its detractors, who object to taxpayers' money being spent on things children actually want, but the DS has long boasted a library of brain-swelling software so it makes perfect sense to make that available to children.

Unless, of course, you're amongst the people who think Dr Kawashima is a charlatan.