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July 30, 2025
 

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MEXT

A recent case involving teachers sharing voyeuristic images of schoolgirls has sparked national outrage.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Jul 16, 2025
Teachers sharing illicit student images raises question of systemic failure
Japan’s sluggish policy response and deep-rooted cultural resistance to the concept of consent sets it apart from other countries.
The correct answer rate for the Japanese language section on a national test dropped to 67.0% from 67.8% the previous year among elementary school sixth-graders.
JAPAN
Jul 14, 2025
Students in Japan struggle with Japanese language and math sections on national exam
The correct answer rate for the Japanese language section for junior high school third-graders fell to its lowest since the current question format was introduced in fiscal 2019.
According to the education ministry survey for fiscal 2024, the English proficiency of public junior high school and senior high school students in Japan continues to improve.
JAPAN
Jun 24, 2025
Japanese students' English proficiency keeps improving
The city of Saitama marked the highest figure for junior high school third graders with Grade 3 or higher Eiken levels, at 89.2%.
Demonstrators hold signs during a protest in support of international students at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
May 28, 2025
Japanese universities urged to open doors to students blocked from Harvard
The education ministry has asked universities nationwide to support students affected by the White House's push against foreign enrollments at Harvard.
Eight national and private universities have applied for grants from the government's ¥10 trillion university fund, aimed at promoting world-class research projects, in the second-round selection process, according to the education ministry.
JAPAN
May 20, 2025
Eight universities apply for Japan's ¥10 trillion research grant program
The applications for the grants under Japan's Universities for International Research Excellence program will be screened from July through the winter.
The Suirokaku Aqueduct at Nanzenji Temple in the city of Kyoto
JAPAN
May 18, 2025
Lake Biwa canal facilities recommended for national treasure designation
Lake Biwa canal facilities not only played key roles in water infrastructure and power generation, but also in irrigation and waterway transportation.
A USB-type charging connector of a laptop was burned during charging due to foreign objects also being in the charging port.
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2025
Technology institute warns of digital device accidents amid a series of fires
The warning comes as some students interact with electronic devices for the first time under the "giga school" initiative of distributing information devices to every student.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and others attend a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday at the Prime Minister's Office.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 27, 2025
Opposition urges LDP to reinvestigate ties with Unification Church
The move comes following a court order to strip the group of its religious corporation status.
Tatsuo Hashida (second from right), head of a group representing victims who suffered from having given large donations to the Unification Church in Kochi Prefecture, speaks during a news conference in Kochi on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 26, 2025
Unification Church victims voice joy over stripping of group's legal status
The Tokyo District Court stripped the controversial group of its religious corporation status on Tuesday.
Textbooks carrying QR codes that link to websites with video and audio learning aid materials
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2025
Most Japanese high school textbooks to include QR codes
In response to the rapid progress of digitalization, many of the textbooks include descriptions on information ethics and generative AI.
Nobuya Fukumoto (far left), a lawyer for the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, known as the Unification Church, is surrounded by the media at the Tokyo District Court on Tuesday after it ordered the group to be stripped of its religious corporation status.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 25, 2025
Tokyo court strips Unification Church of religious corporation status
The order against the group, heavily criticized for its coercive tactics in soliciting donations, removes its tax-exempt status.
The Tokyo District Court is expected to present its decision regarding the dissolution the Unification Church on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 23, 2025
Tokyo court may decide on Unification Church dissolution on Tuesday
The fatal shooting of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shed light on the Unification Church's controversial practices.
On Jan. 22 last year, the education ministry called on prefectural boards of education across the country to instruct schools to conduct annual checkups by, in principle, having students wear gym clothes or underwear during examinations and holding them separately for boys and girls under the supervision of teachers of the same gender.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2025
School doctors still risk complaints from parents over health checkups
A survey shows many physicians do not want to be involved in schools' annual checkups out of concern that parents do not want their children's bodies to be shown to doctors.
Elementary and junior high school students study online at Free School Mirai in the city of Nagano.
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Mar 17, 2025
Schools face challenges in evaluating students not attending classes
There is concern that assessing students through grades may run counter to supporting those who cannot attend school.
A woman who works at a private university in Fukuoka Prefecture as a part-time lecturer is still negotiating with the university over a cut in the number of classes she teaches.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Mar 10, 2025
'Highly educated working poor': Part-time lecturers lament stagnant wages
Many worry that raising their voices could lead to a reduction in classes, which impacts pay, or even dismissal.
The education ministry hopes that creating a system in which people can obtain licenses without completing a training course at the undergraduate level would help midcareer professionals enter the field of teaching.
JAPAN
Feb 16, 2025
Japan to review teaching license system to help midcareer aspirants
It is currently impossible to obtain a license with credits from only graduate schools.
The share of university students who accepted job offers as of Dec. 1 dipped 1.7 percentage points from a year earlier, the first decrease in four years.
BUSINESS
Jan 24, 2025
Share of university students in Japan who accepted job offers falls
It is the first decrease in four years, as some students who received job offers from several companies apparently hesitated to pick one.
Experts in Japan emphasize the importance of supplementing a new legal framework with expanded opportunities for drug education targeted at young people.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 21, 2025
Many in Japan advocate for drug education to combat cannabis abuse
More than 80% of cannabis-related cases detected in Osaka in 2023 involved people in their 20s or younger, according to the Osaka prefectural police department.
The competition rate of employment examinations for public school teachers in Japan hit the lowest levels for all of elementary, junior high and high schools since data began being compiled in fiscal 1979.
JAPAN
Dec 27, 2024
Japan sees record low competition rate for becoming school teachers
The decline reflected the mass departure of teachers who reached retirement age, which led to increased demand for new recruits, as well as a decrease in the number of applicants.
Education costs for children who attend private schools from kindergarten through high school have hit a record high of approximately ¥19.76 million, according to a survey released by the education ministry.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 26, 2024
Cost of private education through high school hits record high in Japan
Total education costs for children who attend private schools from kindergarten through high school, including tuition and cram school fees, are approximately ¥19.76 million.
Japan on edge but prepared for tsunami after huge Kamchatka earthquake
Police officers ask a man to evacuate from an empty beach following a tsunami warning, in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Wednesday.
Japan to start new residency system for foreign workers
Students hoping to work in Japan attend a Japanese class at a job placement company in Hanoi in October 2022.
Last soldiers of Imperial Japanese Army have a warning for younger generations
Kunshiro Kiyozumi, 97, who was the youngest crew member of the Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-58 in World War II, on his way to a restaurant to have lunch in Matsuyama, Japan, on April 29.
Japan to regularly accept assistant language teachers from India
Indian assistant language teachers pose for a photo with Japanese Ambassador Keiichi Ono (center) at the Japanese Embassy in New Delhi on Friday.
At LDP’s post-election meeting, calls intensify for Ishiba’s resignation
Prime Minister and Liberal Democratic Party President Shigeru Ishiba, flanked by LDP Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama (left) and LDP Vice President Yoshihide Suga, speaks at a meeting of party lawmakers and executives at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Monday.
Why Ishiba refuses to quit even amid intense pressure for him to go
Supporters of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba take part in a rally across the street from the Prime Minister's Office on Friday.
Behind the scenes at the Baseball Hall of Fame's new Yakyu/Baseball exhibit
“Yakyu / Baseball: The Transpacific Exchange of the Game” is set to remain on display in Cooperstown for at least five to 10 years — and possibly indefinitely.
Boys’ love dramas from Thailand make waves in Japan
Wakana, a Japanese fan of Thai BL, visits a temple in Thon Buri, Bangkok featured in the Thai adaptation of the Japanese series “Cherry Magic.” Her media consumption kindled an interest in Thai culture and language, and ultimately led her to relocate to Thailand. “I fell in love with the whole country,” she says.
Amid fossil fuel shift in U.S., hope emerges for India and Japan tie-up on solar
A technician works on the assembly line at a solar panel manufacturing hub on the outskirts of New Delhi last October.
Traditional Japanese swordsmanship — with modern matches
This year marked the eighth annual championship put on by the Hogyokukai school of traditional Japanese swordsmanship.

Podcast

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

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear
By Jason Coskrey

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