News On Japan

Fewer students spell trouble for women's universities in Japan

KOBE - Japan's demographic decline has emerged as an existential threat to the country's universities for women, forcing them to consider options ranging from accepting male students to offering new technology-oriented majors in their struggle to maintain enrollment.

In April, Kobe Shinwa Women's University relaunched as Kobe Shinwa University, a coeducational institution. It welcomed a freshman class of around 460 students that month, significantly higher than the 243 it took in a year earlier. One-third of the freshmen are males ...continue reading

News On Japan
POPULAR NEWS

As of 9 p.m. on May 30th, Typhoon No. 6 (Chanthu) was continuing to strengthen as it moved northwest over waters east of the Philippines, with Okinawa expected to face the worst conditions from June 1st to June 2nd as the storm passes nearby at strong intensity, while heavy rain is also forecast across western and eastern Japan, particularly along Pacific coastal regions.

A social media dispute between a 17-year-old high school student from Tokyo's Itabashi Ward and a 16-year-old boy from Edogawa Ward escalated into a planned group fight involving around 30 youths, some of whom allegedly brought weapons including a rusty saw, iron pipes, a special baton and even a shovel.

Japan's population stood at 123.05 million in 2025, according to preliminary results from the national census released by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, marking a decline of 3.097 million people over the past five years.

Volleyball player Shunichiro Sato, a member of Japan’s men’s national team, was arrested by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department on suspicion of possessing marijuana after allegedly leaving a bag containing the drug at a pachinko parlor in Tokyo.

The “naphtha shortage” triggered by escalating tensions in the Middle East is now spreading into Japan’s housing industry, with shortages of paint, thinner, insulation materials and other building products forcing construction delays across the country.

MEDIA CHANNELS
         

MORE Education NEWS

Japan will begin rolling out a major overhaul of its disaster weather information system from the afternoon of May 28th, reorganizing warnings and advisories to make it easier for residents to understand when they should evacuate.

Two recent murder cases in Hokkaido, in which groups of young people were accused of taking the lives of a high school girl in Asahikawa and a male university student in Ebetsu, have drawn renewed attention to the psychology behind crimes committed by groups.

Education Minister Yohei Matsumoto said on May 22nd that Doshisha International High School's planning, on-site response and safety management during a study trip to Okinawa were "grossly inappropriate," placing extremely heavy responsibility on the school and its operator after two small boats carrying students capsized off Henoko in Nago, killing a student and a captain.

Elementary schools in Sapporo will begin their sports day season from this Saturday, and for children eager to run faster in footraces, a special lesson was held to teach the basic techniques that can make the difference.

A mother wild boar was filmed on a university campus leaving five piglets to scale a wall on their own, offering a rare glimpse of what one lecturer described as "Spartan" parenting in the wild as baby animals appear across Japan with the arrival of the season.

A former instructor at a major cram school chain has been arrested for allegedly taking the Eiken English proficiency test on behalf of a student and using the score fraudulently in a university entrance examination, with investigators revealing an elaborate scheme involving manipulated facial photographs.

Getting consistent Japanese speaking practice has historically meant enrolling in a class, hiring a tutor, or finding a native speaker willing to meet on a regular schedule.

A previously unidentified landform believed to be a "square earthen platform" has been discovered in the front section of the Daisen Kofun in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, the Imperial Household Agency revealed on May 17th, raising the possibility that the structure may have been used as a burial facility.