TOKYO - EF Education First, a global education organization, published this year’s English Proficiency Index on Wednesday, ranking nations worldwide. Japan’s ranking stood at 92nd among 116 countries and regions, continuing a 14-year trend of record lows.
Other countries in Asia have shown rapid improvements in English proficiency, contributing to Japan’s declining position.
Source: テレ東BIZ
Typhoon No. 25 was moving away from Japan over waters to the east on September 22, bringing an end to rainfall across the Kanto region while the extent of flooding and landslide damage left behind by the storm was becoming clearer.
Transport disruption from Typhoon No. 25 continued across Chiba Prefecture on September 22 even as flights and major highways returned toward normal, with entire sections of the JR network remaining suspended for the day and all Narita Express services canceled because of flooding, landslides and damage to railway infrastructure.
Japan collected another 12 medals on Day 3 of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on September 21, with 17-year-old swimmer Shin Ohashi and karateka Kakeru Nishiyama winning gold, while the host nation also advanced strongly in women's volleyball, baseball, soccer, handball and hockey.
People aged 65 and older accounted for a record 29.6% of Japan's population in 2026, the highest proportion among major countries worldwide, while the number of elderly people in employment also reached an all-time high as Japan marked Respect for the Aged Day on September 21.
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako watched Japan defeat Kazakhstan in a women’s basketball preliminary-round game at the 20th Asian Games in Nagoya.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
