National Dec 17, 2020
Japan to downsize elementary school classes to 35 students by 2025
The reduction in class sizes will be implemented gradually, starting from lower grades.
National | Regional voices: Chubu Oct 23, 2020
Japanese schools struggle with sports days in the age of COVID-19
The need to maintain social distancing and enforce sanitizing measures has seen numerous changes to the traditional event.
National | Regional voices: Chubu Apr 3, 2020
Aichi schools' field trip plans upended by spread of COVID-19
As the number of COVID-19 infections surge, especially in the Tokyo metropolitan area, many junior high schools in Aichi Prefecture have been forced to change their school trip schedules, which are typically held in the spring with third-year students traveling to the Kanto region, ...
National Mar 18, 2020
Free school lunches to start year early in Osaka due to coronavirus
by Eric Johnston
Osaka city approved a plan Wednesday that will make it the first major city in Japan to offer free school lunches to all students at municipal elementary and junior high schools, as part of its economic measures to ease the burden on parents in ...
National Mar 5, 2020
Experts raise doubts that Japan school closures will curb coronavirus
by Magdalena Osumi and Enzo Degregorio
Public health experts are concerned the move may turn out to be counterproductive.
National Dec 23, 2019
Japan to hire 1,726 more teachers in 2020 for elementary and junior high schools
The government will increase its employment quota for teachers at public elementary and junior high schools by 1,726 in fiscal 2020. The measure, included in the fiscal 2020 budget that was approved Friday, is designed to promote work-style reforms for teachers and better respond to ...
National | Regional voices: Chubu Dec 13, 2019
Aichi city hires non-Japanese assistants to support foreign children at elementary schools
During a recent math class at an elementary school in Aichi Prefecture, Kamila Tamy Tida Miyamoto, 31, a Brazilian school assistant, pointed to the textbooks of Aika and Ayumi, second-grade Brazilian students who enrolled this year, as she explained concepts to them in Portuguese. Currently, ...
Sumo Aug 27, 2019
Girls wrestle in the Wanpaku sumo ring for the first time ever
by John Gunning
It was a historic weekend for sumo in Japan as the first-ever Wanpaku national championships for elementary school-age girls took place at Okudo Sogo Sports Center in Tokyo’s Katsushika Ward on Sunday. Previously, girls who had won through regional qualifying events were unable to take ...
National Feb 20, 2019
Education ministry to review smartphone ban for elementary and junior high school students
The education ministry will consider reviewing a ban on elementary and junior high school students carrying smartphones and other mobile phones at school, education minister Masahiko Shibayama said Tuesday. "We'll consider reviewing the notice (that included the smartphone ban) in the light of changes in ...
National | Regional voices: Chubu Mar 19, 2018
Teaching materials for third-year students who attended Kokumin Gakko (equivalent to a modern-day elementary school) in Aichi Prefecture during the Pacific War have been discovered in Aisai, Aichi Prefecture. Believed to have been used for summer homework, the materials recommend students visit injured soldiers, pay ...
National Mar 13, 2018
Native English speakers in demand as Japanese teachers hone their language skills for new curricula
More and more elementary school teachers in Japan are turning to English language schools with native speakers, as they seek to gain confidence in teaching the language before it is formally added to their curricula in the academic year starting April 2020. Many teachers admit ...
National Nov 20, 2017
Olympic organizers send details on mascot contest to elementary schools nationwide
The Tokyo Olympics organizing committee distributed information to the nation's elementary schools on Monday ahead of the vote for the official mascot. Postcards were sent to over 21,000 schools with details about the voting process so children can participate in the process beginning next month. The ...