News On Japan

How Suzuki Method conquered the music world

TOKYO - Jan. 26 marks the 25th anniversary of the death of the violinist and teacher Shinichi Suzuki, whose approach to early childhood music education is widely known as the Suzuki Method.

His program has gained followers around the world and remains popular, with approximately 400,000 children globally learning to play instruments -- including violin, piano, cello, flute and guitar -- the Suzuki way.

The Suzuki Method is based on the idea that the attainment of musical skills can mimic the natural process of an infant acquiring a mother tongue. His approach strives to make music a part of the child's everyday environment, for instance by constantly playing recordings by masters at home while turning the seemingly daunting technical motions of music-making into fun activities. ...continue reading

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A tropical depression south of Japan is expected to develop into Typhoon No. 24 by September 1 and could approach the Japanese archipelago later in the week, raising the risk of renewed warning-level rainfall and widespread flooding in Hokuriku and heavy rain in the Kanto and Tokai regions.

Japan will lower the statutory speed limit on certain residential roads from 60 kilometers per hour to 30 km/h from September 1, with police in Hyogo Prefecture urging drivers to familiarize themselves with the new rules and drive more carefully in neighborhood areas.

A new large ferry linking Maizuru in Kyoto Prefecture with Otaru in Hokkaido has been unveiled ahead of its first voyage on September 1, offering spacious passenger facilities and a journey time of about 21 hours.

Residents in Fukui Prefecture began clearing flood-damaged homes early on August 31 as temperatures climbed sharply following record rainfall, prompting authorities to issue a heatstroke alert while recovery work continued in severe heat.

Drones were used to deliver food and daily necessities to an isolated mountain community in Himi City, Toyama Prefecture, on August 30 after torrential rain triggered a landslide that cut off road access, while volunteers continued flood recovery work in neighboring Ishikawa Prefecture.

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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.