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July 03, 2026
 

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CHILDREN

Police officers search for 11-year-old Yuki Adachi in Nantan, Kyoto Prefecture, on March 30.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 10, 2026
Police are left with few clues as search for missing boy in Kyoto continues
Yuki Adachi, 11, went missing on the morning of March 23 after his father dropped him off at his elementary school in the rural city of Nantan.
Carla Joyce Espino at her home with her child in Hagonoy, Bulacan, Philippines, on April 2. Espino says she was surprised when her son managed to move up to Grade 2 without being able to read.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Apr 8, 2026
Kids who can’t read risk Philippines’ status as call center hub
Companies are noticing gaps in comprehension, grammar and vocabulary among job applicants.
Corporate support for employees raising children is gaining momentum, as companies face growing pressure to better accommodate the diverse needs of employees.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 8, 2026
More Japanese firms providing benefits for parents with sick children
An increasing number of employees returning from parental leave are struggling to find care if their children fall ill.
Areas near the home of a missing 11-year-old boy in the city of Nantan, Kyoto Prefecture, are sealed off on Tuesday as police continue their search for him.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2026
Police scour Kyoto mountains in ongoing search for missing 11-year-old boy
The elementary school sixth grader went missing on the morning of March 23, according to prefectural police.
Digital textbooks let students check pronunciation and practice instruments with videos, but some worry about potential effects on children's eyesight.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2026
Japanese government passes bill to make digital textbooks official
Digital textbooks are expected to be used as official learning materials from as early as fiscal 2030 after government screenings in fiscal 2028.
Minato, a third-year junior high school student in Miyagi Prefecture, stopped attending school in the winter of his second year.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Apr 6, 2026
Why are more children in Japan staying away from school?
More than 25% of elementary and junior high students who took part in a survey said bullying was the initial cause for wanting to stop attending school.
The Children and Families Agency has established a subsidy system to make it easier to secure child support payments from former spouses.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 4, 2026
Japan to subsidize costs to seize salaries and assets for child support
The subsidy system was created in line with the revised Civil Code, which entered into force Wednesday.
A month after Australia's social media ban took effect, the government reported in mid-January that 4.7 million suspected underage ⁠accounts had been deactivated.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Apr 3, 2026
Under global spotlight, Australia plays hardball on social media ban
The Australian government is pleased with the overseas interest in the ban, but is also keen ‌to counter the news that many teens are still scrolling on their phones, experts say.
More than 200 children’s specialists, advocacy groups and schools sent a letter raising concerns about what they view as a lack of substance in AI-generated YouTube videos.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 2, 2026
Google faces calls to prohibit AI videos for kids on YouTube
More than 200 children’s specialists, advocacy groups and schools sent a letter raising concerns about what they view as a lack of substance in AI-generated YouTube videos.
The maternal uncle of Bissan, who was evacuated as a premature baby during the two-year Israeli offensive for treatment in Egypt, plays with her after she returned to Gaza as her Palestinian mother Sundus al-Kurd reaches her arms out, in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, on Tuesday.
WORLD
Apr 2, 2026
Babies evacuated from Gaza two years ago returned to their overjoyed parents
Eleven children, now toddlers, were reunited with their families in Gaza as part of ​a U.N.-organized mission that brought tears of joy and celebration.
Russia approved new guidelines in February recommending that health professionals send women who do not want children to a psychotherapist, a move critics say could be damaging to their psychological health.
WORLD / Society
Apr 1, 2026
Russian women decry therapy plan to get them to have children
Russia is in the midst of a demographic crisis, with fertility rates at 1.4 children per woman.
Norihide Fukushima, a cardiovascular surgeon and director of the Japan Critical Care Jet Network, speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2026
‘Doctor jet’ transportation service for critically ill children seeks support amid funding shortfall
The Japan Critical Care Jet Network, based in Osaka Prefecture, is seeking to raise ¥200 million ($1.25 million) to maintain its service for severely ill pediatric patients.
Japan's rollout of a new joint custody system for divorcing couples has drawn mixed reactions from the public, with some abuse survivors voicing concerns over continued contact with or interference from former partners while proponents welcomed the move because it puts the country more in line with international standards.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 31, 2026
Japan rolls out new joint custody system
The change ends the country’s long-standing sole custody framework, under which only one parent could retain parental rights following a divorce.
Starting Wednesday, Japan will launch a program to allow any child to enroll in nursery facilities regardless of whether or not their parents work.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 31, 2026
Japan to broaden nursery access through expanded child aid program
The program will be funded by a child-rearing support fund, with fees collected on top of public medical insurance premiums from all households.
Online searches for "toys for girls" overwhelmingly return pink-themed products like beads and makeup sets, surrounding girls with pink objects from an early age before they are even aware of gender expectations.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Mar 31, 2026
Calls for more variety as girls still bombarded with gender-coded pink products
There are growing efforts in Japan to move away from color stereotypes, with products such as toy kitchen sets and dolls now more often offered in neutral tones.
From Wednesday, vaccines to prevent respiratory syncytial virus will be administered to women in their 28th to 36th weeks of pregnancy in Japan to protect their unborn children from the virus.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 30, 2026
Japan to begin RSV vaccinations during pregnancy to protect infants
The vaccine will be administered to women in their 28th to 36th weeks of pregnancy to immunize their babies, with costs primarily covered by public funds.
A displaced Lebanese woman sits with a child, overseeing his online studies on a mobile phone, at a public school converted into a shelter in the town of Dekwaneh, north of Beirut, on March 25.
WORLD / Society
Mar 30, 2026
Lebanon kids struggle to keep up studies as war slams school doors shut
As war in Lebanon shuts schools and displaces families, students are studying from shelters, sharing devices and relying on patchy online lessons.
When reducing labor pain with epidural anesthetic and other drugs, the method of continuously administering drugs was commonly adopted in the past.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 26, 2026
Babies’ health not affected by epidurals, study says
The results offer the choice of “painless delivery with peace of mind,” the doctor leading the study said.
Japan is set to impose a "singles tax" next month as part of financing for measures to boost fertility rates.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 26, 2026
Japan’s ‘singles tax’ is just one battle after another
The plan has attracted vitriol due to its name and the fact that it burdens single-person households, which are now the most common type of household in Japan.
Haiku and paintings on the theme of cherry blossoms by elementary school students from Japan and the U.S. are displayed in Washington on Monday.
JAPAN
Mar 24, 2026
Cherry blossom haiku and art by Japanese and U.S. children on show in Washington
The exhibition marks Japan’s gifting of 250 cherry blossom trees to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States’ founding this year.
Japan triples departure tax in push to combat overtourism
Tourists in Yanaka Ginza, Tokyo, on Wednesday. Japan tripled its International Tourist Tax (departure tax) to ¥3,000 from ¥1,000 on Wednesday for all travelers leaving Japan, regardless of nationality.
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
More facilities in Japan placing sanitary bins in men’s restrooms
A sanitary bin with an awareness sticker placed in a men's restroom in the Nagasaki Municipal Government building
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
Why is the yen so weak and what can Japan do about it?
Japan spent ¥11.7 trillion ($73 billion) between late April and late May to prop up the weak yen.
Six of the best: rikishi of note in each sumo division
Kazuma (right) faces off against future <i>yokozuna</i> Onosato during the All Japan Amateur Sumo Championships at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo in December 2020.
Some startups see opportunity in an aging Japan
Yasmin Baba, CTO of Amilis, wins the Grand Prize at the Pitch2Tokyo Grand Final on Feb. 19.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
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