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November 25, 2025
 

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CHILDREN

Malaysian Communication Minister Fahmi Fadzil speaks during an interview at Kuala Lumpur in 2023.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 24, 2025
Malaysia says it plans to ban social media for users under 16 from 2026
Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil cited a need to protect youths from online harms such as cyberbullying, financial scams, and child sexual abuse.
Twitch will be forced to remove all users under the age of 16 when Australia's strict social media laws take effect next month.
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 21, 2025
Livestream giant Twitch to ban under-16s in Australia
The eSafety Commissioner said that the U.S. company — which started out as a platform for gaming streamers — met its criteria to be banned.
A drone explodes during a Russian drone strike in Kyiv on Nov. 14.
WORLD / Society
Nov 20, 2025
Explosive weapons killed most children on record in 2024: NGO
Save the Children U.K. attributed the surge to conflicts taking place more and more in urban areas.
The Liberal Democratic Party is planning to add ¥20,000 to child allowances as part of an economic package, LDP policy chief Takayuki Kobayashi has said.
JAPAN
Nov 19, 2025
LDP eyes adding ¥20,000 to child allowances
The addition is expected to require funds totaling ¥400 billion, according to Liberal Democratic Party policy chief Takayuki Kobayashi.
A view of Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward at night. Last year in Japan, 66 people were put in protective custody as victims of human trafficking. Among them, 58 — including all 41 minors — were Japanese nationals. International pressure to act on human trafficking led Japan to make efforts to crack down on the crime, such as a tightening of conditions in 2005 for entertainer visas.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Nov 19, 2025
The reality of human trafficking in Japan
Its shifting nature, as well as the ever-changing demographics of potential victims, make it hard for authorities to crack down on trafficking.
A growing bipartisan movement — backed by educators, researchers and parents — is pushing to ban smartphones in U.S. classrooms, citing evidence that doing so boosts learning, cuts bullying and helps students reconnect in real life.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 19, 2025
Want students to thrive? Lock up their phones.
A growing bipartisan push to ban smartphones in U.S. classrooms is showing early signs of boosting learning, cutting bullying and helping students reconnect in real life.
The Children and Families Agency will launch a model project for the provision of after-school care for elementary students at companies, aiming to reduce waiting lists for gakudō hoiku facilities.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 18, 2025
Eyeing waiting lists, Japan plans model project for after-school care at firms
The Children and Families Agency is aiming to help reduce the length of waiting lists for gakudō hoiku after-school care facilities and support working parents.
Child care space at the Yuarito Day private postnatal care facility, on Oct. 20 in Tokyo's Chuo Ward
JAPAN
Nov 18, 2025
Postnatal care shortages emerge in Japan as demand grows
Provided by midwives and trained caregivers, such services offer hands-on child care assistance or short-term newborn care so families can rest and recover.
A Saitama district court sentenced Deng Hongpeng, a Chinese national and demolition worker, to two years and six months in prison, suspended for four years, for hitting a group of elementary school children with his car and fleeing the scene while driving under the influence.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 13, 2025
Chinese national sentenced for hit-and-run that injured four children in Saitama
Demolition worker Deng Hongpeng was driving under the influence and struck a group of ten children, injuring four sixth-grade boys.
Palestinians carry aid supplies in Gaza. UNICEF said it faces serious challenges getting 1.6 million syringes and solar-powered fridges to store vaccine vials into Gaza.
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 12, 2025
UNICEF says Israel blocking 1 million syringes needed to vaccinate Gaza children
The blockage comes amid Israeli concerns that items such as syringes and refrigerators could be repurposed for military use.
New guidelines are addressing struggles by teachers to deal with the burden of parents who make irrational complaints that go beyond what is considered socially acceptable, often referred to as "monster parents," which is overwhelming their workload.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 10, 2025
Tokyo looks to keep ‘monster parents’ at bay with new protocols
Measures from limiting the duration of meetings to having a lawyer handle complaints aim to protect teachers from irrational requests and abusive behaviors.
Caroline Stage, Danish Minister for Digitalization and representatives from the agreement parties attend a news conference about a new political agreement for better protection of children and young people online, in Copenhagen, on Friday.
WORLD
Nov 8, 2025
Denmark set to ban social media platforms for children under 15
Denmark follows the likes of Australia, which last year imposed a ban on social media for children under 16.
Parents in Japan consider everything from kanji meaning, sound and total strokes when choosing names for their newborns.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 8, 2025
‘Deep Blue,’ ‘Morning Sun,’ ‘Clear Sky’: Japan’s top baby names for 2025
Single-kanji names jumped in popularity this year, possibly in reaction to a new law aiming to crack down on overly creative ”kira kira” names.
Financially struggling families are burdened with educational expenses, as many schools require students to purchase designated uniforms and digital devices, according to a survey.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 7, 2025
Educational expenses for schoolchildren on the rise, survey finds
The average cost of uniforms for first-year junior high and high school students has risen by about ¥10,000 this year.
Police have arrested an elementary school teacher in Okayama Prefecture, the seventh and final suspect related to a group of teachers who allegedly shared voyeuristic videos of school girls on social media.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 7, 2025
Final suspect held in case of teachers accused of sharing child sexual abuse images
It was the seventh arrest related to a group of teachers who allegedly shared voyeuristic videos of school girls on social media.
Police have arrested Masayuki Hosono, the operator of a private-room massage parlor in Bunkyo Ward, after he allegedly forced a 12-year-old Thai girl to perform sexual services for customers.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 6, 2025
Massage parlor operator arrested for forcing 12-year-old Thai girl into sex work
Police are investigating the case as human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation of a child.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara (center) and other ministers prior to a Cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office on Friday
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 31, 2025
Japan to introduce joint child custody system in April 2026
A system of statutory child support will also be introduced on the same date.
According to the education ministry, an increase in nonattendance at elementary and junior high schools may have reflected, in part, widespread views on the need for children to take time off.
JAPAN
Oct 29, 2025
Elementary and junior high schools see record nonattendance figure
The figure of 353,970, in an education ministry survey, marked the 12th straight year of increase.
The Children and Families Agency plans to launch a system in December 2026 that would allow employers to verify whether job seekers who will work with children have a sexual offense record.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 27, 2025
Japan faces gaps in new system to track teachers with sex offense records
The new system excludes offenses such as stalking, as well as cases that end without indictment because the crime is deemed minor or a settlement is reached with the victim.
Serial child sexual abuse cases in Australian day care centers have spurred a rush to close security gaps that let predators through the door.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Oct 26, 2025
Predators 'slip through the cracks' in Australian child care
Analysts say regulations have failed to keep up with the expansion of the sector.
Americans with four-year degrees now comprise a record 25% of unemployed workers
A job fair in Fletcher, North Carolina. The unemployment rate for bachelor’s degree-holders in the U.S. rose to 2.8% in September, up a half-percentage point from a year earlier.
Japan on track to deploy missiles to island near Taiwan, Koizumi says
Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi speaks to reporters after inspecting the Ground Self-Defense Force garrison on Yonaguni Island, Okinawa Prefecture, on Sunday.
War refugee Aonishiki becomes first Ukrainian to win sumo tournament
Ukrainian sumo wrestler Aonishiki receives the Prime Minister's Cup from Takahiro Inoue, an adviser to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, on Sunday in Fukuoka after becoming the first from his nation to win a tournament in the traditional Japanese sport.
Top Chinese diplomat weighs in on Takaichi’s ‘shocking’ Taiwan remarks
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi delivers delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the Lanting Forum in Beijing on Oct. 27.
Japan blasts China’s ‘entirely baseless’ claims after U.N. letter
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attends a meeting on Ukraine on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit in Johannesburg on Saturday.
TV icon Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's memoir paints a life of both war and glamour
“Totto” in “Totto-chan, the Little Girl at the Window: The Sequel” was the nickname young Tetsuko Kuroyanagi gave herself as a child, mispronouncing her first name.
The secret to 'Last Samurai Standing'? Treating live action like anime.
“Last Samurai Standing” centers on a mysterious fighting event in which participants must hack and slash their opponents apart to collect enough wooden tags to win a big-money prize.
‘Tampopo’ lives on in bowls of ramen around the world
Juzo Itami's 1985 movie "Tampopo" has inspired many restaurateurs around the world to open their own ramen shop with the same name, such as this establishment in Auckland, New Zealand.
All systems Go for upstart Machida Zelvia after landmark Emperor’s Cup triumph
Machida manager Go Kuroda lifts the trophy as the club celebrates its victory over Vissel Kobe in the Emperor’s Cup final at National Stadium on Saturday.
Japan plans higher visa fees for foreign residents
Along with planned higher fees for foreign residents to stay, Japan is looking to raise the ¥3,000 single-entry visa fee for inbound tourists to Western standards in the next fiscal year.

Podcast

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

Longform

Juzo Itami’s “Tampopo” was released Nov. 23, 1985, and though it wasn’t a hit at the time, it has gained a cult following in the years since.
Eat, slurp, love: 'Tampopo' turns 40
By Weiwen Lin

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