Japan university exams begin with stricter rules to prevent cheating

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.