A survey by Yomiuri Shimbun found that 11 prefectures and three cities have banned middle and high school teachers from all communication with students through e-mail, messaging apps or phones after local boards of education found an increase in the number of teachers instigating obscene acts with students.
The prefectures of Fukushima, Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, Gifu, Okayama, Hiroshima, Kagawa, Kochi, Saga and Oita as well as the cities of Kyoto, Okayama and Hiroshima all have bans apparently intended to prevent such problems.
The Tokyo board of education has not yet officially banned online contact, but it has suggested that teachers notify their supervisors when they contact students privately and try to avoid one-on-one contact by using group messages.