All posts tagged "News"

  • Saitama prefecture to introduce a new ordinance against leaving kids at home alone.

    Although leaving kids home alone is viewed as a form of abuse in many developed countries, it is legally permitted in Japan. The practice is perhaps due to Japan’s relatively safe communities. But Saitama Prefecture is poised...

    • Posted October 5, 2023
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  • Weariness and anxiety – top reasons why Japanese children refuse to go to school

    In 2019, there were 612,496 reported bullying cases in public and private elementary, junior high, and high schools in Japan. That number rose by 68,563 from the previous year. In the latest 2022 annual report, that number...

    • Posted October 4, 2023
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  • Angels Star Ohtani Wins Home Run Title

    Los Angeles Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani became the first-ever Japanese major leaguer to win a home run title on Sunday. The 29-year-old Ohtani won the title with 44 home runs, the most in the American League. The...

    • Posted October 2, 2023
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  • Aeon lowers price of 31 food items and other essentials

    Despite Japan having one of the lowest inflation rates in the world, its core consumer prices have increased by 3.1% from August last year, going beyond the 2% inflation target set by the Bank of Japan. As...

    • Posted September 27, 2023
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  • 2023 Christmas Market at the Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse

      Yokohama’s Red Brick warehouse (Akarenga), the family’s favorite festive destination every holiday season, is gearing up for its 14th German style Christmas market. This year marks the return of the 50-meter high illumination roof after a...

    • Posted September 26, 2023
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  • Tokyo Governor: Surge in flu case counts could lead to outbreak in the next four weeks.

    According to Japan’s health ministry, the number of new flu cases reported by about 5,000 medical institutions across Japan in the week to Sunday was 34,665, a 1.57 times increase compared to the previous week. Tokyo Governor...

    • Posted September 23, 2023
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  • The new iPhone 15 goes on sale

    Apple Inc.’s four new iPhone 15 smartphone series hit Japan store shelves today. While the prices of the new models are higher than the previous series due partly to a weaker yen, the standard iPhone 15 model,...

    • Posted September 22, 2023
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  • Japan: Get your updated Covid booster shots now before the flu season.

    An updated COVID-19 vaccine effective against the XBB.1.5 subvariant of Coronavirus’s omicron strain became available today in anticipation of a potential surge in infections around the flu season. The XBB.1.5 subvariant known for mutations that evade the...

    • Posted September 20, 2023
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  • Seventeen-year-old student speaks at the Children’s World Peace Summit

    In spring this year, the Children’s World Peace Summit supported by Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, called on children of different nationalities aged 10 – 19 to come together and submit their ideas that will promote world...

    • Posted September 16, 2023
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  • TELL Launches 2023 “Move for Mental Health Campaign” Raising Awareness about Mental Health and Suicide Prevention in Japan

    In 2022, the number of suicides in Japan was 21,881. Alarmingly, 514 of these deaths were elementary, middle, and high school-aged children, the highest on record. In Japan, suicide remains the leading cause of death by people...

    • Posted September 16, 2023
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  • Price cut on rice balls and bento packs at Lawson

    Japanese convenience store operator Lawson Inc. has announced price cuts for two rice ball and four bento products. The company said Monday that all Lawson stores nationwide except for the Lawson 100 chain have started to slash...

    • Posted September 13, 2023
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  • Eleven-year old girl from Kofu , Japan, reaches Mount Kilimanjaro peak

    Rei Banno, an 11-year-old Japanese girl has successfully climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain. The youngest person ever to climb the Kilimanjaro summit was Coaltan Tanner of Albuquerque, New Mexico, at age 6.1 in October 2018.  In...

    • Posted September 12, 2023
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  • Making Scents Of It All on Koh Samui

    Banyan Tree Samui, a luxury beachfront resort in southern Thailand, has in recent years enhanced its status as a holistic destination by allocating a division of its 88 pool villas to cater to “Wellbeing Sanctuary” visitors —...

    • Posted August 31, 2023
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  • 5 Major Japan Banks to Raise Housing Loan Rates in September

    Five major Japanese banks – MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Mizuho Bank and Resona Bank- said Thursday that they will raise their 10-year fixed housing loan rates for the second straight month...

    • Posted August 31, 2023
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  • Joint Child Custody option in the works

    Japan’s sole custody laws have been widely criticized for being the cause of child abduction but the system may be about to change. Japan’s Justice Ministry on Tuesday presented a working draft giving divorced parents the option...

    • Posted August 30, 2023
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  • Free admission to outdoor screening of family-friendly movie classics

    Japan’s autumn season officially starts around mid September but for those of us in Tokyo, the autumnal vibes will not be felt until the second half of November. This gives families a time to experience the quintessential...

    • Posted August 29, 2023
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  • The 1923 Tokyo Quake photos in color on exhibit in September

    A professor at University of Tokyo is working on a project to colorize photographs of the major earthquake that struck the Japanese capital and surrounding areas a century ago and create a 3D map of the quake-hit...

    • Posted August 21, 2023
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  • Japan to Grant Special Residence Permission to Foreign children

    The Japanese government plans to give special residence permission to foreign children who were born and raised in Japan but do not qualify as residents of the country, Justice Minister Ken Saito said Friday. The children will...

    • Posted August 7, 2023
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  • Junior high school students underperform in English oral test

    At Japan’s nationwide English-speaking test, third year junior high school students got only 12.4 percent of the questions right while 60 percent of students scored zero. The result of the National Assessment of Academic Ability conducted in...

    • Posted August 2, 2023
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  • Japan To Trim Excess Classroom Hours

    Japan’s education ministry is planning to ask public elementary and junior high schools with class hours significantly above state standards to free up teachers’ workload starting in 2024. Some schools have more staff assisting teachers in routine...

    • Posted July 31, 2023
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  • Japan spends 300 billion yen in financial aid to boost science education

    Schools with few faculties of science are reportedly not keeping up with the goals of the National Institution for Academic Degrees and Quality Enhancement of Higher Education. In keeping with its goal of encouraging educational institutions for...

    • Posted July 25, 2023
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  • Exposure to Covid-19 pandemic linked to developmental delay in 5-year olds

    A Japanese research finds developmental delay by an average 4.39 months in 5-year old children was linked to the COVID-19 pandemic. A developmental delay happens when your child doesn’t reach their developmental milestones as expected. What this...

    • Posted July 11, 2023
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  • Alma Named ‘Best Family Resort in Vietnam’

    Alma Resort, a 30-hectare oceanfront property on the Cam Ranh peninsula in southern Vietnam, was named the No. 1 family resort in Vietnam by the influential Australian-based Holidays with Kids magazine. The resort’s 12 “beautiful” swimming pools...

    • Posted July 10, 2023
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  • The number of Japanese people raising families dwindles

    A government survey reveals Japan had 9.91 million households with any child under 18 last year, falling below 10 million for the first time since the statistics began in 1986. Meanwhile, single-person households accounted for 32.9 percent...

    • Posted July 7, 2023
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  • Handpicked Japanese schools to start Generative AI Use on trial basis

    Only selected Japanese schools well-prepared to handle various risks will introduce Generative AI tools (ChatGPT, etc.)  to students on trial basis, says the education ministry Tuesday. To minimize the potential risks regarding exposure of personal information and...

    • Posted July 4, 2023
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  • First ‘Children’s Smile Spot’ opens at Ueno Okachimachi station

    You could be forgiven for thinking it’s a children’s dental clinic. It’s not. It is Tokyo’s first subway station amenity set to open on July 7 at Ueno Okachimachi station, designed to make things a little better...

    • Posted July 3, 2023
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  • “Many schoolchildren wear masks against their will,” expert believes

    The decision of whether to mask or not in Physical Education classes is one that many parents in Japan are facing as they try to keep their children protected from the new variants of Covid-19, while also...

    • Posted July 3, 2023
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  • Tokyo food guide: Yummy Chiffon cake here is gluten-free

    For those with celiac disease and gluten intolerance, Tokyo can be a haven for things they can’t eat. So we scoured the internet to find the bakery items that have found their way to the hearts and...

    • Posted June 30, 2023
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  • Japan to ban sex crime teachers and nursery workers from schools

    Japan’s Children and Families Agency held the first meeting Tuesday of an expert panel to discuss a system barring people with sex crime records from becoming school teachers and nursery workers. Under the system dubbed as the...

    • Posted June 28, 2023
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  • Japan’s education ministry to release school guidelines calling for limited use of AI tools

    The Japanese education ministry’s guidelines on the use of generative artificial intelligence in elementary, junior high and high schools will call for limited use of AI tools for the time being, according to media reports Tuesday. Generative...

    • Posted June 28, 2023
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