Tag - schools

 
 

SCHOOLS

The students at Mitaka Municipal No. 7 Junior High School have access to various cooling devices for when they play sports.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / Boiling Point
Jul 26, 2024
Japan's extreme heat is causing a rethink of school sports
At risk of sunburns and heatstroke, principals across Japan are trying to protect students' health as well as their athletic opportunities.
Clinical psychologist Shinpei Hirota speaks in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, earlier this month about how he offers counseling to students in quake-hit areas.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 26, 2024
Mental health support continues in schools affected by Noto quake
Since the disaster, over 160 counselors have visited the Okunoto region, lending an empathetic ear to those grappling with insomnia and distressing thoughts.
Issei Yamauchi, a skateboard buyer for Murasaki Sports, shows a board with foot placements printed on it.
JAPAN
Jul 25, 2024
Skateboarding gains traction in Japanese schools
Some local governments are also taking steps to support the growth and popularity of the sport.
Experts are advising students to drink plenty of water, as a survey revealed more than half of them are not sufficiently hydrated during the day.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 24, 2024
Over half of students in Japan are not well hydrated, study finds
Urine osmolality, which goes up as water intake declines, was at levels considered to indicate insufficient hydration.
Boxes of canned quail eggs are piled up at a warehouse in Toyokawa, Aichi Prefecture, earlier this month.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 23, 2024
Quail egg farmers struggle after schools remove item from lunches
A fatal choking incident in February involving a canned quail egg at a Fukuoka elementary school led schools nationwide to remove the item from their lunches.
The number of teachers in their 20s on leave due to mental conditions has risen, highlighting the need to reduce burdens on young teachers.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 17, 2024
Japan to boost support for young teachers to secure staff
The package addresses concerns about a decline in interest in teaching jobs among young people and aims to reduce teachers' overtime work to 20 hours per month.
High school students were taken to hospital in Tokyo on Tuesday after eating "super spicy" potato chips.
JAPAN
Jul 16, 2024
'Super spicy' potato chips land Japan students in hospital
According to the manufacturer's website, those under 18 are "banned" from eating the chips, which are "so spicy that they might cause you pain."
Junior high school students taking entrance exams for public high schools enter a venue in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, in March.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 12, 2024
Japan to test digital high school admissions
The Digital Agency estimates digital procedures will cut administrative work by 30-90 hours in junior high schools and 20-80 hours in high schools.
Many second-generation Indian migrants decide to leave Japan for higher education — with Indians making up less than 1% of the country’s student population — but there is evidence that this cohort’s interest in attending Japanese universities is growing.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 10, 2024
Do university-bound Indian migrants actually stay in Japan?
Can Japan retain second-generation Indian migrants who are seeking a college education? The evidence is mixed, showing an uptick that still has a long way to grow.
Elementary school students take a nationwide achievement test in April. The education ministry has said such tests will go fully online in fiscal 2027.
JAPAN
Jul 9, 2024
Japan's nationwide school achievement tests to go fully online from fiscal '27
The education ministry will make an official decision as early as autumn after hearing opinions from schools and boards of education.
The government aims to increase the number of foreign students in Japan to 400,000 by 2033, despite a recent Justice Ministry ordinance that puts in place tougher rules on accepting overseas applicants.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 8, 2024
Can Japan boost its foreign student count to 400,000?
The government recently tightened rules for accepting overseas applicants, though it hasn't lost sight of its lofty goal of increasing foreign student numbers.
Nearly 90% of Japanese high schoolers who responded to a survey said their hobbies and interests had grown thanks to social media, with 55.9% also saying they now have a greater interest in society as well.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 3, 2024
Japanese high schoolers use social media mostly for hobbies, survey finds
Nearly 1 in 2 also make friends online, and many of them go on to meet up in person.
While the health ministry has been distributing educational material on blood donation to high school students since fiscal 1990, this will be the first time the campaign is extended to middle school students.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 2, 2024
Health ministry aims to educate middle schoolers in bid to raise blood donation rate
The ministry aims to have educational material on blood donation ready for middle schoolers in fiscal 2025 to encourage students to be future donors.
Naoki Ogi (second from left), head of a committee set up by the city of Asahikawa, Hokkaido, to reinvestigate the death of a 14-year-old junior high school girl reports the results to Asahikawa Mayor Hirosuke Imazu (left) in Asahikawa on Sunday.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 1, 2024
Reinvestigation finds Hokkaido girl's suicide caused by bullying
The reinvestigation committee said the girl, who was found frozen at a park in Asahikawa in March 2021, developed post-traumatic stress disorder from the bullying.
Occupational therapist Mitsuyoshi Okutsu interacts with children at Kamioka Elementary School in Hida, Gifu Prefecture.
JAPAN / Society / Regional voices: Chubu
Jul 1, 2024
Occupational therapists join the ranks of staff at Gifu schools
It is estimated that there are around 110,000 occupational therapists in Japan, working mainly at hospitals and welfare facilities.
Members of Onomichi High School's baseball team (back) have longer hair than members of teams that stick to traditional buzz cuts.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Jul 1, 2024
High school baseball gets a makeover as buzz cut rules are no more
What was once seen as a symbol of fighting spirit is getting a rethink as coaches try to be mindful of students' mental states and preferences.
A bus stop in Suzhou in China's Jiangsu Province where a Japanese woman and her child was believed to have been attacked
JAPAN
Jun 26, 2024
Suzhou knife attack shocks Japanese firms in China
The site of the attack is in an area where many Japanese live, and is close to a Japanese school.
A bill to require facilities for children to check whether workers have criminal records for sex crimes is approved unanimously at a plenary meeting of the Upper House on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 19, 2024
Bill enacted to create sex crime screening system for work involving children
Records that can be checked will include those on nonconsensual sexual intercourse and violations of prefectural ordinances banning molesting and voyeurism.
While the education ministry recently introduced a new subject called “logic and expression” in its new curriculum guidelines, experts say that many teachers, in practice, are still focusing on grammar acquisition.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 19, 2024
Japan study downplays complex grammar in improving English writing skills
English learners are better off focusing on making good arguments, according to the Kobe University research.
The education ministry in Tokyo's Kasumigaseki district
JAPAN / Society
Jun 19, 2024
Revised guidelines drafted for investigating serious cases of school bullying
The education ministry plans to seek public comments on the draft guidelines and finalize revisions in August, before notifying schools.

Longform

Traditional folk rituals like Mizudome-no-mai (dance to stop the rain) provide a sense of agency to a population that feels largely powerless in the face of the climate crisis.
As climate extremes intensify, Japan embraces ancient weather rituals