Director Hidetaka Inazuka, known for his documentary on the double atomic-bomb survivor, has completed a new film on three Japanese children fighting a very rare and little-known disease that has left them mostly immobile since birth. (Japan Times)

Japan's land ministry is considering turning a district in Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo, where residences of Meiji Restoration-related figures are located, into a memorial park to mark the 150th anniversary next year of the historical event, widely regarded as the start of the country's modernization, informed sources have said. (Jiji)

A first batch of 20 Syrian refugees will be admitted to graduate schools in Japan this autumn under a Japanese government initiative announced last year. (Jiji)

Japan saw the number of child abuse cases exceed 120,000 in fiscal 2016 to hit a new record for the 26th straight year, the welfare ministry said Thursday. (Jiji)

Incidents of "outing" of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students by teachers in Japan have been on the rise, discouraging other LGBT students from coming forward due to concerns about discrimination and confidentiality. (Japan Today)

Japan's education ministry on Monday announced a rule that will not allow in principle an increase in the enrollment limits at private universities in Tokyo's densely populated 23 wards, beginning in fiscal 2018 from next April. (Jiji)

A Japanese research group said Thursday it has found that chimpanzees have the ability to learn the rules of the rock-paper-scissors game. (Jiji)

A record number of employers accepting trainees from abroad under Japan's Technical Intern Training Program violated labor laws in 2016, the labor ministry said Wednesday. (Jiji)

One elementary school teacher from Aichi Prefecture was fired Tuesday for allegedly forcing indecent acts on students and another from the same central Japan area was effectively forced to quit his job for sending child pornography. (Japan Today)

Twelve window panes were found smashed at a junior high school in Yaita, Tochigi Prefecture, on Friday night, police said Saturday. It was the fifth such case of school vandalism in the prefecture since early July, Fuji TV reported. (Japan Today)

Japanese school lunches aren't synonymous with "mystery meat," but rather, shokuiku. It means "food and nutrition education," and it's a vital part of the Japanese child's early education. (businessinsider.com)

A German research group has handed over to representatives of Japan's Ainu ethnic group a skull that a German took secretly from a grave in Japan in 1879. (abcnews)

The Justice Ministry plans to introduce a new residency status for fourth-generation Japanese descendants living abroad that will enable them to work in Japan under certain conditions, such as acquiring a set level of Japanese language skills. (the-japan-news.com)

School officials in Toride, Ibaraki Prefecture, looking into the 2015 death of a 15-year-old schoolgirl concealed the fact that she committed suicide while surveying her classmates and parents, it has been learned. (Japan Times)

The Osaka District Court ordered the government on Friday to reverse its decision to exclude a pro-Pyongyang Korean school from its tuition-free program for high schools. (the-japan-news.com)

The average life expectancy of Japanese men and women in 2016 reached record highs, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said Thursday. (Jiji)

This August, a mobile phone service provider will release a smartphone that only works during daytime hours in an effort to restrict elementary school students' screen time, the company said Tuesday. (Japan Times)

The Japanese government said Tuesday it will aim to lower the country's suicide rate, currently the worst among the Group of Seven advanced nations, by at least 30 pct by 2026 to levels equivalent to those in its G-7 peers. (Jiji)

Hornets have stung a group of more than 20 kindergarten children in Tokyo. The victims have been rushed to hospital. (NHK)

Princess Kako, a granddaughter of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, will study at the University of Leeds in England from September to June next year, it was reported at a cabinet meeting on Friday. (Japan Today)