Âé¶¹´«Ã½

Tag - children

 
 

CHILDREN

Kohei Nohara (right) speaks about his war experience to students as teacher Naoya Arakaki asks him questions at Shonan Elementary School in Haebaru, Okinawa Prefecture, in June.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Aug 10, 2026
Battle of Okinawa survivor conveys message of peace through the classroom
As a 14-year-old in May 1945, Kohei Nohara fled his hometown of Haebaru on Okinawa¡¯s main island with his relatives to seek refuge as the battle got closer and closer.
Cracks caused by a major earthquake last month are seen on the schoolyard of an elementary school in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture, on Thursday.
JAPAN
Aug 9, 2026
Play space for children set up at Kumamoto quake shelter
The act of play can help children process their emotions, a many often struggle to express their feelings in words.
Data from NTT Docomo¡¯s Mobile Society Research Institute released in June found that 55% of respondents across all age groups said they fiddled with their phones when they had nothing to do, even when another person was in front of them.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Aug 8, 2026
As countries ban social media for children, Japan mulls a different approach
A sociology professor warns a blanket ban could push children toward less visible online spaces or encourage them to lie about their age, making exploitation harder to detect.
Attendees at a conference in Mumbai in September 2023. More than 30 U.S. states are suing Meta over allegations related to alleged harms to children and mental health.
BUSINESS
Aug 7, 2026
Meta ordered to pay U.S. state $567 million over ¡®public nuisance¡¯ and child harm
Around three-quarters of the new $567 million fund is set to be used for mental health treatment, with the funds to be paid over five years.
The U.K. government said its social media plan is inspired by Australia's under-16 social media ban, which was introduced in December.
WORLD
Aug 7, 2026
Most U.K. teens to opt out of planned social media curfew, poll finds
Most teenagers would opt out of a U.K. government plan to impose social media curfews between midnight and 6 a.m. on older teenagers, according to a poll.
Japanese police have handled 123 cases of child sexual abuse deepfakes, or manipulated digital representations, in the first six months of this year.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 5, 2026
Child sexual abuse deepfakes more than double in Japan in first half of 2026
Police handled 123 such cases in the six months, exceeding both the 60 recorded a year earlier and the 114 logged in all of 2025.
A-bomb survivor Shingo Naito speaks during an interview in front of the Atomic Bomb Dome in the city of Hiroshima on July 17.
JAPAN
Aug 3, 2026
Organizers work to balance tone for Hiroshima A-bomb children¡¯s exhibit
The new exhibit will have selective materials for children to view amid a fear they could leave only thinking they saw something horrifying rather than thinking about peace.
Tomoko Sato, the chief of emergency medicine at Saiseikai Kumamoto Hospital, brought her two children to the hospital so she could continue treating patients following the Kumamoto earthquake.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 3, 2026
A pressing question on the front lines in Kumamoto: Who cares for the caregivers?
Emergency doctor Tomoko Sato found herself torn between two urgent demands: caring for a surge of incoming patients and protecting her own children.
Volunteer Vicky Parthasarathy (right) believes that people from various cultures can understand each other better through food.
COMMUNITY
Aug 2, 2026
This children¡¯s cafeteria in Shikoku serves up free meals and global perspectives
As immigration becomes an increasingly contentious issue in Japan, a children¡¯s cafeteria in Shikoku is bridging cultural gaps, one hot meal at a time.
Kobe Kita Police Station honors local heroes Yuito Kuroishi (left), Ruito Nagai (center) and Sakutaro Akutagawa during an award ceremony on July 24.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Aug 2, 2026
¡®Hey Siri, call 119¡¯: How three kids proved a smartphone can be a lifeline
The way fifth-graders responded to a recent medical emergency in Kobe prompts questions over whether smartphones are a dangerous distraction or an essential safety tool.
Around half of Australian children who retained their social media accounts after a ban for users under the age of 16 said platforms had not checked their age.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 31, 2026
Most Australian teens still on social media three months after under-16 ban began, study finds
In a recent study, eSafety found most children between the ages of?10 and 15 were using social media as frequently in March as ?they had ?before the ban.
Tokyo¡¯s metropolitan government offers subsidies of up to ?100,000 for epidural childbirth at designated medical institutions.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jul 31, 2026
Tokyo¡¯s subsidies for pain relief during childbirth see strong demand
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government received 12,059 applications in the six months through March for its subsidy program ¡ª well above its projection of about 9,500.
A new incentive program is under consideration to certify small and midsize businesses in rural areas of Japan that provide child care support for local communities.
JAPAN
Jul 28, 2026
Government to certify rural businesses that promote child care support
The new system will recognize efforts to develop products for raising children, establish nursing rooms and support operations of child-focused community cafeterias.
Saba Rabah, the top-ranked student in the science stream of the Palestinian national high school exams, celebrates with family at the Al Maghazi camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on Sunday.
WORLD / Society
Jul 27, 2026
Gaza teen triumphs in school despite war, loss and displacement
Saba Rabah, 18, emerged as the top-ranked student in the science stream of the Palestinian national high school exams.
Miyako Kudo addresses an Osaka fertility clinic during a speaking engagement on understanding and supporting women without children.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 25, 2026
Out of the shadows: Japanese women building a life beyond motherhood
One woman is leading the charge to build a community where a life without children ¡ª whether by choice or circumstance ¡ª is an accepted social norm.
French President Emmanuel Macron gestures during a joint press conference in Bruehl, Germany, on July 17.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 22, 2026
France passes bill to ban social media for children under 15
The move could risk straining relations with U.S. tech companies and President Donald Trump.
Yumiko Watanabe, the chairperson of nonprofit Kidsdoor, explains the results of a survey in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on July 1.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 21, 2026
Low-income families in Japan cut food and air conditioning during summer break
The financial strain is affecting parents¡¯ mental health, with 44% of survey respondents saying they always or often feel extremely depressed when thinking about summer vacation.
Shoko Kawata, the mayor of the city of Yawata in Kyoto Prefecture, during an interview at city hall on Friday
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 20, 2026
Japanese mayor makes history with maternity leave that caused a stir
Shoko Kawata, the mayor of Yawata in Kyoto Prefecture, ?became Âé¶¹´«Ã½ ?youngest female mayor in 2023 at the age of 33.
A municipal junior high school in the city of Kaizuka, Osaka Prefecture, where an unknown spray was released on Friday
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 17, 2026
23 injured after substance sprayed at Osaka junior high school
Fifteen students and eight school staff members said they were experiencing?sore throats and skin irritation after the incident, according to the city¡¯s board of education.
A new report from a California-based nonprofit says the artificial intelligence features built in to Alphabet¡¯s Google Search pose an "unacceptable risk¡± to children.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 17, 2026
Google Search AI poses ¡®unacceptable risk¡¯ to kids, report finds
The ubiquitous search engine¡¯s AI features failed to detect suicide risks, said an eating disorder symptom was normal, and provided instructions for creating deepfakes, it says.

Longform

Disaster relief workers Taichi Kato (left) and Seiji Yoshimura enter the collapsed living quarters at Kyuganji temple in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture.
What Kumamoto revealed about Âé¶¹´«Ã½ earthquake readiness

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