Tag - children

 
Menu
Search
 
September 06, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

CHILDREN

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.
Only couples experiencing infertility would be eligible to access assisted reproductive technology, while those in de facto marriages and same-sex couples will be excluded.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 6, 2025
Assisted reproductive tech bill submitted to Upper House
The proposed legislation is aimed at guaranteeing the right of people born through the use of such technology to know their origins.
Orphans and children separated from their parents in Kadugli gather to eat boiled leaves at a camp within the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North controlled area in Boram County, Sudan, on June 22, 2024.
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 4, 2025
Millions of malnourished children face lifelong health woes
Famines and other food crises can leave an entire generation with physical and cognitive deficits, experts warn.
The day care room for younger children at a multipurpose facility on Tonaki Island, Okinawa Prefecture, has never been used since its establishment in 2019.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Feb 3, 2025
The harsh reality of migration outflow on Okinawa’s least populated island
Since Tonaki Island established its only day care center in 2019, not a single child has set foot inside.
Eme-Ima Kitchen is one of over 10,000 kodomo shokudō in Japan. A term first used in 2012 to describe makeshift eateries offering free or cheap meals to disadvantaged kids, it now refers to a diverse range of individuals, groups and organizations working to provide not only food but a sense of belonging to both children and adults.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Feb 3, 2025
Japan’s ‘children’s cafeterias’ are booming — but is that a good thing?
They're no substitute for policy, but by providing food and belonging, these safe spaces are filling in the cracks of the nation's fraying communities.
A volunteer responds an incoming call at a suicide hotline center in Tokyo. While the number of people who killed themselves in Japan marked the second-lowest level since 2019, such deaths among elementary, junior high and high school students were at their highest level since records began in 1980.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 29, 2025
Suicides among school children in Japan at highest level since 1980
The total number of people who killed themselves in the country fell for the second straight year to the second-lowest level since 2019, the health ministry said.
Parents and municipal staff share their concerns during a workshop held by volunteer group Cotohana in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Jan 27, 2025
Towns near Fukushima plant struggle to attract families with children
Futaba County, home to the Fukushima No.1 nuclear plant, has seen a drastic reduction in the number of children in the area.
Schoolchildren in El Bosque, Mexico. Education is one of the services most frequently disrupted by climate hazards, UNICEF's executive director Catherine Russell said.
WORLD / Society
Jan 24, 2025
Climate shocks in 2024 disrupted 242 million children's schooling: UNICEF
Heat waves had the biggest impact, with at least 171 million children affected by them last year.
A student takes unified university entrance examinations in Tokyo on Saturday. According to a survey on struggling households with children of high school age or older, 87% responded that they strongly feel their economic situations will affect their children's university applications and education choices.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2025
98% say poverty will impact their child's education path, survey finds
Many survey respondents called for subsidies or exemptions for examination fees, as well as financial aid for out-of-school lesson tuition.
A Chinese district court is set to sentence a man next week over a knife attack in June last year, in which a Japanese woman and her child, and a Chinese woman were attacked in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 18, 2025
China court to sentence man over Japanese school bus stabbings
In the sentencing hearing, attention will likely be paid to how the court will mention the attacker's motive as well as the severity of the sentence.
Epidurals during childbirth have long been uncommon in Japan, though they have been growing more popular in recent years.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jan 14, 2025
Tokyo plans to subsidize epidurals, but are hospitals ready?
If all goes to plan, Tokyo will be the first to offer prefecture-level financial support for epidurals.
Children play mahjong during a class held at Satsukigaoka community center in the city of Hiroshima.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Chugoku
Jan 14, 2025
Mahjong enjoys new wave of players that spans generations
Once associated with gambling, mahjong is becoming a popular pursuit for all ages, boosted by pro leagues, apps and "healthy mahjong" for cognitive and social benefits.
Beauty salon Dione, which has over 100 branches nationwide, offers hair removal treatments for children as young as 3 years old. It uses hair removal equipment that emits a special light heated to around 38 degrees Celsius, unlike conventional equipment that involves temperatures of 60 to 80 C.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 9, 2025
Hair removal for kids — boosting confidence or preying on insecurities?
Hair removal treatments are increasingly being extended to children as young as three years old in Japan, raising concerns over the risks.
A subsidy for epidural childbirths was one of Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike's campaign promises when she ran for her position last year.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 7, 2025
Tokyo looks to ease the pain — both physical and financial — of childbirth
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is looking to begin offering a subsidy for epidural childbirths in fiscal 2025.
Runaway youths have recently been gathering in areas such as the Toyoko area of the Kabukicho entertainment district in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward, where they often get into trouble.
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2025
Japan to allow youths to stay at shelters without parental consent
Those under the age of 18 will be able to use shelters even if obtaining prior consent from those with parental authority is expected to be difficult.
Children at a traditional festival in the city of Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Thursday. A forecast made by Tohoku University professor Hiroshi Yoshida estimates that Japan will be left with just one child on Jan. 5, 2720, based on current birthrate trends.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 6, 2025
2720 — the year when Japan is left with just one child
An expert on the graying of society has warned that the nation will be left with just one child age 14 and below in 695 years if its birthrate continues to decline.
Some local governments are launching initiatives outside schools to support children who are bullied at school.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 30, 2024
Japan working to address school bullying through local support
"It's necessary to solve the problem in local communities rather than leaving it to schools," a senior official said.
Keisuke Oma closes his eyes as he talks about memories with his family, in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Dec. 7
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2024
One year after Ishikawa quake, a mourning father tries to persevere
As Keisuke Oma tries to cope with losing his wife and three children, he finds comfort in the family motto: "If we try, we can certainly do it."
Bangladesh is a South Asian time bomb
Many Bangladeshis hoped that the overthrow of long-time leader Sheikh Hasina last year would revitalize the country’s democracy after an authoritarian lurch under the “iron lady.” Instead it has led to proliferating human-rights abuses, intensifying repression and widespread Islamist violence.
Tropical Storm Peipah brings heavy rain to parts of western Japan
Tropical Storm Peipah made landfall in western Japan on Friday, prompting the Japan Meteorological Agency to issue warnings of landslides and other disasters due to heavy rainfall in several areas.
Trump signs order reducing tariffs on Japanese autos
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, shake hands.
Tamagotchi hatches 100 million shipments worldwide thanks to ’90s nostalgia
The latest version of Tamagotchi, called Tamagotchi Paradise, is awarded the best digital toy at Tokyo Toy Show on Aug. 28.
Japan alerting consumers to cash-on-delivery problems
In fiscal 2024 through March this year, the National Consumers Affairs Center received inquiries and gave advice on problems associated with cash-on-delivery services.
London’s calling and sumo’s top division — along with Hello Kitty — are ready to answer
Yokozuna Hoshoryu and Hello Kitty, an ambassador for sumo's upcoming tour to London, at Tokyo's Kokugikan on Tuesday
Resonac creates 27-member consortium to pursue advanced chip developments
Representatives from member companies of JOINT3, a consortium working together on semiconductor-related developments announced by Resonac, pose for a photo in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Haru Nemuri’s radical new album refuses easy listening
Musician Haruna Kimishima, better known as Haru Nemuri, confronts Japan’s politics, nationalism and censorship on her recent output.
Overseas sluggers step up to bat in small-town Hokkaido
The Betsukai Pilot Spirits welcomed new players (left to right) Yuta Yamanaka, Roman Guthrie, Scott Bellina and Leo Jiminian this year, pictured here with Yassir Lachkar of the Ishikari Red Phoenix.
Xi — joined by Kim and Putin — delivers stark warning at military parade
Chinese leader Xi Jinping walks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un before a military parade marking the 80th anniversary of victory over Japan and the end of World War II, in Beijing on Wednesday.

Podcast

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

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.
We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER