Tag - children

 
 

CHILDREN

The Kabukicho area in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward, where Toyoko, the area next to Toho Cinemas cinema complex where lonely young people flock, is located.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 6, 2024
'Ex-King of Toyoko' held for alleged indecent acts with 11-year-old
The 21-year-old university student has remained silent on the allegations against him, according to police.
An amended law on government assistance for young people providing daily care for family members passes the parliament on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jun 6, 2024
Law amended to stipulate central government support for young caregivers
The previous law did not specify that central government would assist young caregivers, with some local governments providing support under ordinances.
Doctors and staff from UNICEF treat a malnourished child in Port Sudan, Sudan, on April 17.
WORLD / Society
Jun 6, 2024
Over 1 in 4 children under age 5 live in 'severe' food poverty, UNICEF says
Malnutrition due to limited access to a variety of foods can lead to emaciation, a state of being abnormally thin that can be fatal.
To qualify for the advance payment offered by the city of Saitama, the single parent must reside in the city and fulfill several other criteria.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 6, 2024
Saitama aids single parents with advance child support payments
The city will offer a maximum amount of ¥50,000 per month per child to the affected parent for up to three months, and seek reimbursement from the former spouse.
Japan’s birth rate has been in decline for decades as more women choose to get married and start a family later in life.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 5, 2024
Japan’s birth rate hit new low in 2023
The latest figure of 1.20 is 0.06 point down from the previous year in 2022 and the lowest since the government started keeping records in 1947.
Legislation on measures to support child-rearing passes during the Upper House plenary session on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 5, 2024
Japan enacts bill to expand measures for tackling low birth rate
To pay for the changes, extra fees will be added to public medical insurance premiums.
Hyappu Ishikawa (left) attends to children at the "Karafuru" Japanese language school in Nishio, Aichi Prefecture, in April.
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2024
How one Japanese city supports foreign students through community education
In the city of Nishio, public and private sectors collaborate with schools to support foreign students in Japanese language education and raise their school enrollment rates.
The Supreme Court in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward. This case will mark the first time for the Supreme Court to rule on a parent-child relationship in a case in which the biological father has a child after transitioning to a woman.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 31, 2024
Top court to rule on recognizing post-transition woman as parent
The Tokyo Family Court rejected the woman's petition in 2022, stating that she did not fit the definitions of a father or a birth-giving mother under the Civil Code.
Schoolchildren cross a wooden bridge in Zabul province, Afghanistan on Tuesday.
WORLD
May 29, 2024
Mines and unexploded ordnance a daily menace for Afghanistan's children
Nearly 900 people were killed or wounded by leftover munitions from January 2023 to April this year alone, most of them children, according to UN figures.
Language support groups in Fukushima Prefecture are calling for the creation of a better environment for foreign children to learn Japanese.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Fukushima
May 27, 2024
With more foreign children, Fukushima struggles with language support
A number of children attending schools in the prefecture in fiscal 2023 were unable to fully understand Japanese.
The Japanese government updated its English education guidelines in 2017 to emphasize communication over grammar and memorization. Public school teachers are incredibly busy, however, which means schools haven’t been able to implement changes uniformly. Private and alternative schools are attempting to remedy this.
LIFE / Language / Longform
May 27, 2024
The language of opportunity: Bilingual education is on the rise in Japan
Stuck with a reputation for poor English, Japan is pushing its next generation to be bilingual. Privately run schools are seeing the benefits.
Legislation was enacted Friday to offer more support to workers raising young children.
JAPAN
May 24, 2024
Japan passes law on flexible work for parents with young children
Firms will be obliged to allow employees with preschoolers age 3 and older to choose from at least two working options, such as remote work or shorter hours.
A bill on checking sex crime records of people seeking jobs involving contacts with children passes the Lower House on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 23, 2024
Lower House OKs bill to create Japanese version of DBS
The bill aimed at preventing sexual offenses against children was approved unanimously at a plenary meeting.
A building in Tokyo housing the Metropolitan Police Department
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 22, 2024
Young girl dies after neck gets caught in car window in Tokyo
The death of the 2-year-old girl underscores ongoing concerns about the safety of children in vehicles.
Kuniko Takahashi, whose 24-year-old son Kotaro has cerebral palsy, had not worked for about 30 years before she joined Cafe de Chill Mill in Sendai. She now happily tells her husband that she is going to work whenever he asks her about her plans.
JAPAN / Society
May 20, 2024
Sendai cafe offers work to families of children with medical needs
Staffers at the cafe work when their children are receiving care or attending schools for special educational needs.
The proportion of recent graduates in Japan who have worked as interns have experienced sexual harassment during their internship was 30.1%, according to a labor ministry survey, up 4.6 percentage points from the previous survey in fiscal 2020.
JAPAN / Society
May 18, 2024
Japan survey finds 30% of student interns experience sexual harassment
The proportion of such respondents was 30.1%, up 4.6 percentage points from the previous survey in fiscal 2020.
Legislation that allows the option of joint custody of children after divorce is passed at the Upper House plenary session on Friday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 17, 2024
Japan changes law to allow joint custody after divorce
For decades in Japan, one parent — almost always the mother — has been granted legal custody when a marriage ends.
South Korea, with the world’s lowest total fertility rate, is is pondering a radical solution to fix the probelm — offering a baby bonus that is about twice the nation’s annual per-capita income.
COMMENTARY / World
May 16, 2024
Could a $70,000 baby bonus solve South Korea's fertility crisis?
Unfortunately, it’s impossible to say how much impact the South Korean baby subsidies would have, as there is no precedent.
Smoke billows following Israeli strikes on the Islamic University of Gaza (IUG) on October 11, 2023.
WORLD / Society
May 13, 2024
Gazans strive to study as war shatters education system
The U.N. estimates that 72.5% of schools in Gaza will need full reconstruction or major rehabilitation.
Japan’s custody system may soon change with the introduction of joint custody, though issues like a lack of protection against domestic violence and abuse must also be tackled.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 10, 2024
Joint custody alone won’t fix Japan’s flawed system
Japan could be on the verge of adopting joint custody. While to some this is a step in the right direction, it may not be enough to protect families.

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone. 
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan