244.940 primary and middle school students across Japan were absent for 30 or more days in FY2021, an increase of 24,9% from the previous year and marking highest level ever recorded, according to government data

Official campaigning for quadrennial unified local elections started, with the results likely to determine whether PM Kishida will decide to dissolve the lower house for a snap general election

The head of an upscale inn and onsen in Fukuoka apologised for only changing the water in its hot-spring bath every six months, allowing legionella bacteria to breed 3.700 times over the standard limit

A working group within the Ministry of Justice has proposed raising the age of consent from 13 to 16, part of a wider review of Japan's sex crime laws, after several rape acquittals in 2019 sparked protests