Saddest Thing I Have Ever Read

"In the 1970s a Japanese photographer, Keiki Haginoya, undertook what was to be a lifelong project to compile a photo documentary of children’s play on the streets of Tokyo. He gave up the project in 1996, noting that the spontaneous play and laughter that once filled the city’s streets, alleys and vacant lots had utterly vanished"

From "Playtime Is Over" by David Elkind
New York Times Op-Ed March 26th, 2010