The panel has been compiling guidelines following revision of the child abuse prevention law in June in response to a number of fatal cases in which parents or guardians physically abused children in the process of disciplining them.
The seiza style -- in which a person kneels on the floor and sits back resting their buttocks on their heels with the tops of their feet flat on the floor -- is a traditional way of sitting on Japanese tatami mats, often practiced at formal ceremonies or when visiting temples, but it can be painful if continued for too long.
Under the new guidelines "punishments that inflict bodily pain or cause uneasiness" will be discouraged, regardless of how light they are or whether the parents believe them to be disciplinary.
Along with enforcing seiza for a long time, the guidelines also list beating or bottom spanking for such reasons as children failing to do homework as unacceptable punishments.
Ninety-one people at a high school in Shimane Prefecture have tested positive in recent days for the novel coronavirus in a cluster outbreak centered on the boys’ soccer team, according to local authorities. (Japan Times) 
Unreported World is in Japan to meet some of the country’s ‘Junior Idols’.
(Unreported World) 
Japan is Asia's first industrialised economy, yet it ranks 121, below Angola on the Gender Gap Index. (CNA) 
Teachers and education officials are calling for students to pay special heed to the risk of heat exhaustion this summer as schools across Japan shorten their summer holidays and hold more classes than usual to make up for closures caused by the coronavirus pandemic. (Japan Times) 
The population of Japan has fallen for the 11th straight year. The amount of the decline has set a record for six years in a row.
(NHK) 
NHK will reduce the number of its satellite television channels from the current four to two. The public broadcaster announced Tuesday it also plans to consolidate its two AM radio channels into one. (Japan Times) 
The government said Tuesday it has been allowing the entry of foreign nationals teaching at international schools and their families as exceptions to the travel ban imposed to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.
(Japan Times) 
The Ministry of Justice will update the English translations of Japan's business-related laws and regulations. (Nikkei) 
Students in Japan are having a much shorter summer break this year to make up for classes that were cancelled in the spring due to the coronavirus pandemic.
(NHK) 
Data compiled by Japan's welfare ministry shows the proportion of male workers who took paternity leave in 2019 edged up from the previous year but still remained low.
(NHK)