The Children and Families Agency is working to have local government officials get more actively involved in efforts to eliminate school bullying.

The agency has launched a pilot program to create a mechanism in which local governments will help resolve bullying cases through consultation involving experts.

The effort comes as the number of school bullying cases recognized in the country stood at 732,568 in fiscal 2023, which ended last March, hitting a record high for the third consecutive year.

"It's necessary to solve the problem in local communities rather than leaving it to schools," a senior agency official said.

The city government of Yao, Osaka Prefecture, set up a division in charge of bullying in fiscal 2020 to provide a consultation service by phone or letter. In fiscal 2022, 78 people used the service.

In fiscal 2023, Yao became the country's first municipality to introduce a bullying consultation app as part of the agency's pilot program. Users can consult anonymously through chat, and the contents of the consultations are not reported to schools in principle. In the first four months of fiscal 2024, 159 people used the app.

Under Yao's service, psychologists and other experts give advice on a wide range of issues, including family relations.

"There are various factors behind bullying, including financial and family matters, such as wearing the same clothes every day," a Yao city government official said. The involvement by a city government can lead to the welfare support that schools alone cannot offer, the official said.

For a year starting October 2023, the city government of Kumamoto teamed up with a kodomo shokudo cafeteria that provides meals mainly to needy children for free or at low prices. Cafeteria staff heard from children and referred cases for outside support if needed. There were 56 consultation cases under the program.

The Kumamoto city government did not report the cases to schools, except those involving self-harm behavior.

The cafeteria staff received lectures from child welfare experts on how to speak to children.

The lectures are part of efforts to train people who can care for children's concerns. The Kumamoto Municipal Government aims to expand the initiative to the whole city in the future.