Much of what the mainstream media in Japan (and elsewhere) seems to do is reformat press releases. But when these are government announcements describing "new" problems and proposing solutions, they should be taken with a grain of salt.
Example: In October, a Kyodo wire service story appeared on the front page of this paper bearing a shocking headline: "Poverty, isolation push Japan's child abuse cases to record high."
The article cites an official survey, and government sources do paint a similar picture: The header topping a 2011 Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare Web page plainly states, "Child abuse is increasing." Both web page and article have graphs showing a frighteningly steep surge in incidents — from a mere thousand in 1990 to 55,000 in 2010, and almost 89,000 in 2014!