A groundbreaking ceremony was held in Kyoto City on September 15 for Ronald McDonald House Kyoto, a residential facility where children undergoing medical treatment will be able to stay together with their families. (News On Japan)

Elementary school students in Fukuoka got a hands-on lesson in the importance of taxes on September 11, lifting a 10-kilogram replica of 100 million yen as part of a class designed to show how public money supports society. (News On Japan)

Raccoons are increasingly appearing in urban areas of Japan, including residential neighborhoods near Shin-Osaka Station, raising concerns over disease, attacks on people and agricultural damage that reached about 700 million yen nationwide last year. (News On Japan)

Japanese 15-year-olds spend an average of 2.3 hours browsing social media during their weekday free time, the shortest amount among 24 countries surveyed, according to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. (News On Japan)

Renovation work has begun at a hospital in Izumisano, Osaka Prefecture, as the city prepares to introduce a baby hatch for parents unable to raise their children and a confidential birth system that allows pregnant women to give birth without publicly disclosing their identities. (News On Japan)

A disaster prevention experiment has shown how quickly a rain-soaked slope can collapse once visible cracks appear, highlighting the need for people in landslide-prone areas to evacuate before conditions become critical as the risk of disasters remains elevated through early next week. (News On Japan)

Nearly 60% of Japanese high school students consider learning about different cultures "very important," the highest proportion among Japan, the United States, China and South Korea, according to a survey released by the National Institution for Youth Education. (News On Japan)

The number of elderly people in Japan with no relatives to rely on is projected to rise to 4.48 million by 2050, or roughly one in nine seniors, prompting the government to create a new system under revised social welfare laws to support people with daily needs, hospitalization and arrangements after death. (News On Japan)

When you are trying to attract your best life, motivation is key. Visualizing your desired outcome is a particularly powerful way to increase your motivation and attract your best life. (News On Japan)

Have you ever taken a close look at a university diploma when it's sitting framed on someone’s wall? More than just the paper it was printed upon, it’s an object that has been carefully designed so that it looks as good as it feels to the person who achieved it. (News On Japan)

Japan's education ministry unveiled a draft of its new national curriculum guidelines on August 31, placing stronger information education for the AI era and greater flexibility in allocating classroom hours among the central pillars of the major overhaul carried out roughly once every decade. (News On Japan)

Wakayama Prefecture has conducted its first field exercise for emergency bear shooting, bringing together local government officials, police and hunters to practice responding to an Asiatic black bear remaining near a riverbank as sightings continue across Japan. (News On Japan)

Japan's expansion of effectively free high school tuition is giving families greater freedom to choose between public and private schools, but the policy is also accelerating a shift toward private education, leaving many public schools short of students and raising concerns that new forms of educational inequality are emerging. (News On Japan)

Tokyo's Adachi Ward will begin testing a digital screening system in September to identify students at risk of suicide, as schools strengthen prevention efforts during the period following the summer vacation, when child suicides are particularly high. (News On Japan)

A total of 348 recruits who joined the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force in April completed about five months of basic training in Maizuru and departed for units across Japan after a graduation ceremony. (News On Japan)

A series of cases involving foreign substances being placed in personal water bottles at workplaces and schools has raised concerns over drink safety in Japan, driving demand for bottles that can only be opened using a registered fingerprint and prompting schools to strengthen measures against tampering. (News On Japan)

A photo exhibition documenting the devastation caused by the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake and subsequent heavy rain disasters is being held in Osaka. (News On Japan)

An unofficial website that allows South Koreans to check whether their ancestors were considered collaborators during Japan's colonial rule is rapidly gaining users, fueling online scrutiny of family histories and attacks on descendants even as public sentiment toward Japan has reached its highest level since surveys began. (News On Japan)

A Japanese sister school of Britain's prestigious Gordonstoun School, whose alumni include King Charles III and his father Prince Philip, is scheduled to open in Wakayama city in September 2027 as a fully residential international school charging annual tuition of about 8 million to 10 million yen. (News On Japan)

As Japan's summer vacation enters its final weeks, concern is growing over an "experience gap" that leaves children from single-parent and financially struggling households with fewer opportunities for travel, leisure and other activities that can shape their development. (News On Japan)