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July 04, 2026
 

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SCHOOLS

Education ministry officials announce the findings of an investigation into the fatal boat accident in March off the coast of Henoko, in Okinawa Prefecture, at a news conference in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 23, 2026
Government finds school program violated law in wake of deadly Okinawa boat accident
It was the first time since the current basic education law was enacted that the education ministry has found a case in violation of the law on the grounds of political neutrality.
Koji Terao, the Hokuetsu High School teacher in charge of supervising the school's soft tennis team, speaks at a news conference in Niigata on Sunday.
JAPAN
May 11, 2026
High school in Niigata had arranged buses through local firm before fatal crash
A microbus carrying 20 students of the soft tennis club of Hokuetsu High School in the city of Niigata crashed into a guardrail on Wednesday, leaving one student dead.
Kanata Konoe, 7, writes kanji characters on a whiteboard as his teacher, Sachiko Shimabukuro, watches over him at Nakadomari Elementary School in the village of Onna, Okinawa Prefecture, in March.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Okinawa
May 11, 2026
Okinawan schoolboy deals with hearing loss with speed and cheerfulness
At the tender age of 7, Kanata Konoe has already come to terms with the fact that everyone is born different, and that’s alright.
Students from the Hiroshima Institute of Technology Senior High School's dance club learn from each other's dance styles.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
May 11, 2026
More Hiroshima schools opt for coeducation to keep student numbers up
The private secondary schools adopting the measure in the face of falling student numbers are seeing both merits and challenges to the transition.
The central government plans to launch a new subsidy program from fiscal 2027 onward to support public high schools nationwide.
JAPAN
May 7, 2026
Public high schools to receive more aid after private tuition made free
The initiative comes amid concerns full funding of private high school tuition from April could reduce applications to public high schools.
Students at Sakashita Elementary School in Kasugai, Aichi Prefecture, bid farewell to Shiro, a guinea pig lent out to the school by a veterinary association, on March 12.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Chubu
May 4, 2026
Aichi veterinarians loan guinea pigs to schools for hands-on life lessons
With more schools opting not to keep classroom pets, vets are reducing the burden on schools by lending out guinea pigs for short-term stays.
The school's flag is returned to the city during a closing ceremony at Shimoibano Elementary School in Osaki, Miyagi Prefecture, on Feb. 14.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Tohoku
May 4, 2026
Shrinking city in Miyagi Prefecture braces for uncertain future
Faced with school closures and declining births, the city of Osaki is struggling to find a way forward.
A parent and child visit a school backpack section in Yokohama on March 26.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 22, 2026
Durability key in school backpack sales in Japan
More makers and retailers are highlighting products featuring durability and designs that do not easily lose appeal.
A classroom at Ozu Junior High School in Izumiotsu, Osaka Prefecture, looks more like a cafe, and students can sit wherever they want during social studies class.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Apr 20, 2026
At a unique state school in Osaka Prefecture, students take the lead
At Ozu Junior High School, students have determined the look of their uniform, the design of a library and classroom, and even the school’s guidelines.
Two boats that capsized — leaving two people dead, including a high school student from Kyoto — in the Henoko district of Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, on March 20
JAPAN
Apr 16, 2026
Probe into fatal Okinawa boat incident continues one month on
At the time of the incident, wind speeds of up to 4 meters per second were recorded around the site, and a wave advisory was in place.
Investigators from the Japan Coast Guard seize materials from the office of a civic group in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, which operated boats that capsized in a deadly accident last month during a study trip of students from the Doshisha International Senior High School.
JAPAN
Apr 13, 2026
School operator to face probe over fatal boat accident in Okinawa
Two vessels carrying students from Doshisha International Senior High School capsized while viewing land reclamation work for the planned transfer a U.S. military base.
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.
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.
Asahikawa Mayor Hirosuke Imazu holds a news conference following the settlement on Thursday in Asahikawa, Hokkaido.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 27, 2026
Hokkaido city reaches settlement over death of bullied girl
The family of the victim had sought about ¥115 million in damages, claiming the city failed to respond appropriately.
Haruo Obata maintains mountain trails on Mount Yufu in Yufu, Oita Prefecture, on March 17.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 27, 2026
86-year-old ‘super volunteer’ excited for return to school
“Life is a never-ending learning process,” said Haruo Obata, who will attend a night junior high school.
Many high school textbooks to be used from fiscal 2027 have descriptions about generative AI.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 2026
High school textbooks to teach various aspects of generative AI
A total of 220 textbooks for 11 subjects have passed the second round of screenings conducted under the current curriculum guidelines.
The education ministry found that 111, or about 14%, of all universities in Japan offering teacher training courses do not provide classes on sexual violence prevention as required by law.
JAPAN
Mar 16, 2026
Education ministry aims for stricter curbs against teacher voyeurism
Last year, authorities uncovered an incident in which seven teachers secretly shared videos of female students in a social media group chat.
Koji Yamaguchi, a teacher at Rokko Gakuin Junior and Senior High School in Kobe, shows in January a picture of a beach in Shichigahama, Miyagi Prefecture, which was affected by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2026
Teacher in Japan who experienced two disasters works to pass down memories
The Kobe teacher’s central message to his students is the importance of “everyday life before the disaster.”
Homeroom teacher Yoko Hirota in a classroom set up at Fukuoka Children's Hospital in Fukuoka. Hirota is now in her sixth year of teaching in a hospital classroom.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Mar 9, 2026
Fukuoka’s in-hospital classes help students keep up with school
Despite the burden of treatment, students are striving to learn, and some even take their high school entrance exams in their hospital rooms.
The education ministry noted that schools are struggling to find nonregular teachers to replace young regular teachers leaving for illness, pregnancy, childbirth or other reasons.
JAPAN
Mar 5, 2026
3,827 teacher positions unfilled across Japan: 2025 survey
The figure jumped from 2,065 in the previous survey four years earlier, reflecting the country’s worsening teacher shortage.
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
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.
Japanese-language education is at a turning point
The country is gradually transforming Japanese-language education from a volunteer-driven system into a professional, government-supported network to better serve its growing foreign population. 
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
Japan plans to sharply raise fees for residence permits from October
Foreign tourists walk on the path leading to the Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in May.
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
By Alex K.T. Martin

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