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July 08, 2025
 

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CHILDREN

A layer of smog hangs over Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia.
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Mar 13, 2025
Mongolia's children choke in toxic pollution
The toxic smog that settles over the Mongolian capital every winter has been a suffocating problem for more than a decade.
Hiroko Nagano, a former member of the assembly of Tokyo's Toshima Ward, speaks during an interview in Tokyo in January.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 7, 2025
Female assembly members with children seeing better work conditions
As of July 2024, there were 5,187 female municipal assembly members in the country, or only 17.9% of the total, however.
A sign shows directions to a public toilet. Saitama police have arrested a nursery school director for urinating in a student’s water bottle.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 6, 2025
Saitama nursery school staff arrested for urinating in student's water bottle
School director Toshifumi Miura, 24, said he was “trying to scare the boy into obeying” him.
Clinic director Oleksandr Feskov poses for a photo in one of the operating rooms at the Feskov clinic in Kharkiv on Feb. 17. Many more Ukrainian civilians are freezing their sperm and eggs — procedures that were rare before the war — with demand rising every time the war takes a turn for the worse.
WORLD / Society
Mar 6, 2025
Ukrainians waiting for peace before having children
New legislation means that Ukrainian soldiers can freeze their sperm for free, and many clinics are already offering the service.
Fertility rates remain low across much of Asia, with past policies to curb population growth proving difficult to reverse, while governments explore adaptation strategies like immigration and AI.
COMMENTARY
Mar 5, 2025
It’s time we adapt to low fertility rates
South Korea’s fertility rate saw a slight increase, but experts doubt it signals a long-term reversal. Similar trends are seen in Singapore and Japan.
Noonoo, a chihuahua dressed in a T-shirt that reads "BRAT," takes part in the Halloween Dog Parade in New York last year.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 28, 2025
Brats, rebels and rascals: Finding the right word for mischievous kids
Charli XCX’s idea of “brat” doesn’t translate neatly into Japanese, but there are other words for playful rebellion.
The number of newborns in 2024 fell 5% from the previous year to 720,988, extending a nine-year streak of declines, according to preliminary population data released Thursday by the health ministry.
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2025
Japan records fewest births on record, deepening demographic crisis
The number of newborns in 2024 fell 5% from the previous year to 720,988, extending a nine-year streak of declines.
Girls take care of their baby brother before leaving for school in Seoul. South Korea just recorded its first rise in fertility rates in nearly a decade.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Feb 26, 2025
South Korea's policy push springs to life as world's lowest birth rate rises
That shift in societal norms could prove pivotal in a country that has seen its birth rate plummet to the lowest in the world.
Misako Yoshimura looks for a photograph of her father from among several kept in a closet at her home in the town of Yonabaru, Okinawa Prefecture.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Feb 24, 2025
Remembering a father who stopped smiling after the war
Misako Yoshimura hated her stern-faced father, but when she learned of what he lost during the Pacific War, the resentment disappeared.
Children do exercises in a hall during a break between classes in an underground school in Zaporizhzhia on Jan. 27.
WORLD / Society
Feb 24, 2025
Ukraine's underground schools helping children feel safe
Such schools allow students to return to in-person learning and socialize with their classmates while keeping them safe from attacks.
Miku Sawada of Gakken, who was in charge of editing the book "Bokura wa Senso wo Shiranai", on Feb. 7 in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward
JAPAN
Feb 21, 2025
War book for students gaining attention in Japan
The 136-page book explains what wars are and why they occur, using Russia's invasion of Ukraine as an example.
About 80% of children in Australia between the ages of 8 and 12 used at least one social media platform in 2024.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Feb 21, 2025
Underage social media users show large Australian breaches
About 80% of children in Australia between 8 and 12 used at least one platform in 2024, a watchdog report has found.
Australia's spy chief, Mike Burgess, called for a greater effort to tackle the threat from extremism, especially among young people.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Feb 20, 2025
Australian spy chief warns of rising role of minors in terror
Almost all foiled terrorist attacks in Australia over the past year involved the radicalization of children, according to the spy chief's annual assessment.
The Osaka District Court sentenced former hospital employee Tomoya Yanagimoto, 28, to life in prison on Tuesday for raping and injuring 10 girls between the ages of 8 and 12 over a six-year period from March 2016.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 19, 2025
Osaka court jails former hospital employee for life for raping 10 girls
Tomoya Yanagimoto, 28, raped and injured the girls — who were 8 to 12 years of age — between March 2016 and May 2022.
Cadets of the Russian patriotic movement Youth Army hold trench candles at a school museum in the town of Istra in the Moscow region on Jan. 24.
WORLD / Society
Feb 17, 2025
Berets, boots and flags: Russia teaches young children to revere army
One pro-military youth group's agenda covers everything from sports competitions to how to handle a Kalashnikov rifle.
One-third of elementary school students in Japan do not like learning English, according to a 2021 poll, an 8% rise since 2013. The pressure of taking proficiency tests is eroding children's engagement with studying English and its benefits.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 17, 2025
Japan’s English-language education doesn’t pass the test
An excessive focus on testing students' English ability is turning language learning into a chore, depriving children of the joy and opportunities of intercultural communication.
The city of Settsu in Osaka Prefecture, which has distributed "randoseru" to elementary schoolchildren for free for 50 years, marked the milestone with a redesign of the school backpack.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 16, 2025
City marks 50 years of free school bag project
The city redesigned the traditional backpack for the first time, increasing its capacity, in the fiscal year that started in April 2024.
Tokyo’s Kabukicho entertainment district. Masayuki Makino, a representative of a volunteer group that operated in Kabukicho, is suspected of committing indecent acts against a 17-year-old girl at a hotel in Kawagoe, Saitama Prefecture, on Oct. 15, 2023.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 14, 2025
Tokyo volunteer group's former rep held over indecent acts against teen
Masayuki Makino, who was part of a volunteer group that operated in the Kabukicho entertainment district, allegedly committed the acts against a 17-year-old girl.
The proportion of children with tooth cavities in Japan in fiscal 2024 hit the lowest level since the survey began in fiscal 1948.
JAPAN
Feb 12, 2025
Children with tooth cavities at record low in Japan
The cavity rate stood at 20.74% at kindergartens, 32.89% at elementary schools, 26.50% at junior high schools and 34.70% at high schools.
The ruling coalition has put forward a plan to make public school tuition free, with costs of up to ¥118,800 yearly subsidized for all families regardless of income.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 6, 2025
Recent talks on education funding for all might be missing the point
As the government works to pass its budget without a majority, the issue of free education for all has become key to negotiations for support in parliament.
Heatstroke alert issued for 19 prefectures as Japan enters 'once-in-a-decade' heat wave
Japan will experience a heat wave through mid-July on a “level only seen once in a decade,” the Meteorological Agency said on June 30.
Japan braces for more quakes as authorities dismiss doomsday hype
Evacuees from Akuseki Island, located in the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima Prefecuture, arrive at Kagoshima Port on Friday.
Foreign nationals' presence in Japan emerges as key issue in Upper House poll
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers a campaign speech next to a Liberal Democratic Party candidate for the Upper House (top center left) in Yokohama on Sunday.
Hidden AI prompts in academic papers spark concern about research integrity
Waseda University is one of 14 institutions in eight countries found to have used hidden prompts in research papers.
China’s housing crisis is worse than it seems
Residential buildings under construction in Shanghai in July 2022. The Chinese government risks long-term decline by repeating Japan’s policy mistakes in handling its real estate and demographic crises.
Ainu land rights in crosshairs as Hokkaido communities debate nuclear waste
A street in Suttsu, Hokkaido, with a sign put up by an anti-nuclear organization. The small community is considering hosting a facility that would hold nuclear waste.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Flag football facing challenges and opportunities ahead
Japan’s women’s flag football team at the 2025 International Bowl in Los Angeles in June. The sport is enjoying continued growth in the country.
From Hokusai’s Great Wave, shinkansen to One Piece: a cultural treasure box for Lego Japan
Michael Ebbesen, general manager of Lego Japan, says Lego bricks based on Japanese culture have a rich global appeal and are sellable around the world.

Podcast

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

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji
By Alex K.T. Martin

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