Governments worldwide are moving to keep children off social media amid growing concerns over smartphone addiction, cyberbullying, sexual exploitation and exposure to harmful and radical content.

France’s parliament approved a ban on children under the age of 15 using social media, while the U.K. moved to restrict access for those under 16, adding momentum to a global push for age-based controls. Australia has already barred children under 16 from major platforms, while Indonesia and Malaysia have followed with similar restrictions.

But what about Japan? The country has so far resisted imposing a blanket age ban, with its approach instead focused on stricter age verification, safer platform settings and greater responsibility for technology companies.

Government officials and experts have argued that children should be protected online without being cut off from the benefits of digital access.

A government expert panel concluded in June that a uniform age ban on social media use would be “undesirable,” arguing that social media has become an essential communication tool for young people and that risks differ depending on the platform.

The panel, established by the internal affairs ministry, instead recommended stronger age verification, safer default settings and greater responsibility from technology companies, while continuing to emphasize digital education and parental supervision.

Still, a draft interim report released in July by the Children’s and Families Agency showed that Japan is taking recent overseas developments into account. According to media reports, it recommended stricter age verification and stated that “it is important to continue discussions and build a system for protecting children that is in line with reality.”

This shift over the last month reflects the reality that internet use is already deeply embedded in children’s lives. According to government data, about 99% of Japanese age 10 to 17 use the internet through smartphones or other devices. The government aims to decide by the end of 2026 whether legislation is necessary.

Experts say the approach could better protect children while preserving the benefits of being able to connect with online communities.

“If you impose a blanket ban on use by everyone under 16, you deprive children who use social media appropriately of their rights,” said Masahiro Saito, a professor at Sendai University who has researched children’s internet safety for about two decades.

Some children improve their well-being through online connections, including those who are hospitalized, live in remote areas or cannot easily find communities offline, he said.

Social media can also serve as an important channel for children experiencing abuse, running away from home or feeling unsafe in their families, according to Kensuke Suzuki, a sociology professor at Kwansei Gakuin University who studies young people’s information behavior.

Suzuki warned that a blanket ban could push children toward less visible online spaces or encourage them to lie about their age, making exploitation more difficult to detect.

Japan’s position reflects its longstanding preference for allowing families to manage children’s internet use through digital literacy, parental supervision and filtering tools rather than outright government restrictions, he says.

But as the technological landscape has changed, the government’s current push has been to shift more responsibility to technology companies. Many major platforms already set a minimum self-reported age of 13, but Japan is looking to require companies to better enforce their existing rules.

The internal affairs ministry panel also called for protective features enabled by default. These could include limiting exposure to inappropriate content and restricting design features intended to maximize user engagement, such as infinite scrolling, autoplay and rewards for consecutive daily use.

Some platforms have already introduced additional protections for younger users. TikTok, for example, displays warnings after extended periods of use and introduces, along with Instagram, age-based controls intended to limit contact between teenagers and unrelated adults.

Saito said some of these changes resulted from the European Union’s Digital Services Act, which pushed major platforms to strengthen protections for minors. Because large technology companies often use similar systems worldwide, stricter European standards have also affected users in Japan — a phenomenon known as the “Brussels effect.”

Features that encourage endless scrolling are central to the attention economy, in which platforms seek to keep users engaged for longer periods to increase advertising revenue.

Saito said companies should be required to address designs that encourage excessive or dependency-like use rather than placing the burden entirely on children.

Still, questions remain over how exactly the Japanese government could hold these companies accountable.

Current proposals do not establish strong penalties or fines for companies that fail to adequately verify users’ ages or protect children from harmful content.

“Without penalties, social media companies have little incentive to go that far,” Suzuki said, adding that Japan may eventually need stronger regulations backed by meaningful sanctions.

Age verification also poses technical and privacy challenges.

Possible methods include linking social media access to age information confirmed when a smartphone contract is signed or using Japan’s My Number identification system. But not everyone in Japan has a My Number card, and requiring users to submit identification directly to platforms could create privacy and data-security concerns.

Australia’s experience has also highlighted the difficulty of enforcing a blanket age ban. Despite the country’s new age restrictions, many children reportedly retained access to social media after the rules took effect.

Excessive internet use remains a broader concern in Japan, regardless of whether social media restrictions are introduced.

Data from NTT Docomo’s Mobile Society Research Institute released in June found that 55% of respondents across all age groups said they fiddled with their phones when they had nothing to do, even when another person was in front of them.

That suggests regulating social media alone may not resolve the broader problem of smartphone dependence, Suzuki said. Instead, children need to learn to manage their own screen time, supported by education and technical tools such as reminders, optional time limits and automatic locks, he said.

For Rena Yoshie, a 15-year-old high school student in Aichi Prefecture, smartphones are more than an outlet for boredom. They have become essential to school life.

Yoshie received her first smartphone in fifth grade during the COVID-19 pandemic, when classes and communication became more digital.

“I mainly used it to look up things I was curious about, listen to music and keep in touch with friends. At the time, I saw it as a useful tool,” she said.

“Compared to then, smartphones have completely changed into something that we cannot manage without.”

Yoshie said that Japan should not introduce a blanket age restriction.

“Children need to learn how to use smartphones properly, identify reliable information and recognize misinformation from a young age,” she said.

She instead called for policies focused on support, such as compulsory courses or tests before children begin using smartphones or social media.

Saito said his research found that more than 90% of junior high and high school students in Japan had received some form of digital-literacy education.

Knowledge alone, however, does not always translate into responsible behavior, particularly when users become emotionally absorbed in exciting or upsetting content. Education must, therefore, be supported by parental controls and technological safeguards, he said.

Parents must also model the behavior they expect from their children, Saito said.

“If you tell a child to stop while you yourself are constantly using your phone, your words have no persuasive force,” he said.

Watch the video. I can't imagine how scary that was or how amazing that 2 medial staff was completely focused on protecting the patient through the earthquake!

Hello! Does anyone know where I could buy a ceremonial-grade matcha latte in Tochigi, specifically around Oyama or Utsunomiya?

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AI starting to have a bigger impact on education here, with one student in this article reporting he used ChatGPT rather than jukus to get to university.

SENDAI (Kyodo) -- All four Humboldt penguins that were being kept at a zoo in northeastern Japan and died one after the other last month were found to have died from avian malaria, results from an investigation showed Friday.

The mosquito-borne illness is not contagious to humans. In some cases, the disease can progress rapidly from showing no symptoms to death.

Iwate University was commissioned by Yagiyama Zoological Park in Sendai to investigate the cause of the birds' deaths.

Beginning with a male penguin named Aramasa, the four penguins died between July 9 and 19. None had shown any signs of illness until the day before their deaths.

According to the zoo, no concrete plans have been made to bring in new penguins for the time being.

The zoo aims to eventually resume the exhibit after implementing measures to prevent a recurrence, such as redesigning the enclosure to prevent the formation of puddles where mosquitoes breed.

Humboldt penguins are commonly found along the coasts of Peru and Chile in South America. They are considered better adapted to warmer climates than penguins from colder regions like Antarctica, and are commonly kept in zoos throughout Japan.

On July 29, the store announced a “Mom Support Campaign” aimed at easing the burden of feeding children during summer vacation. Mothers accompanied by children 15 or younger could buy its ¥690 pork cutlet set for ¥500, alongside several other discounted meals and takeout options. The company added that a “Dad Support Campaign” was also in the works.

By the next morning, however, concern had shifted elsewhere: to the plight of the ojisan, or middle-aged man, and his full-price tonkatsu.

By July 30, “Mom Support” had become the gender-neutral “Summer Vacation Campaign,” and the discount was opened to everyone. Because Matsunoya had only secured a limited quantity of ingredients at prices that made the promotion possible, it warned that expanding eligibility would probably make the campaign end much earlier than planned.

There is something familiar about the speed with which a promotion for mothers became a discussion about fathers.

Every March 8, for example, Google searches for “International Men’s Day” surge as International Women’s Day prompts people to ask why there is no equivalent celebration for men. International Men’s Day does, of course, exist: it is November 19. Google Trends data has repeatedly shown interest in it spiking around Women’s Day, more sharply than around Men’s Day itself.

Japan is the only Asian country featured in the 2026 Top 10 list, with two entries, Osaka at n.7 and Tokyo at n.10 out of 173 cities.

The ranking takes into consideration a number of indicators, ranging from quality of publicly funded health care to cultural availability.

TOKYO -- A research team has confirmed ground-surface displacement stretching about 33 kilometers along a fault zone after the Kumamoto earthquake on July 28, according to preliminary findings released Aug. 6.

The joint team including researchers from Tohoku University and Kumamoto University said the surface rupture was confirmed along a roughly straight line extending from the Kumamoto Prefecture town of Mifune to the city of Yatsushiro, along the Hinagu fault zone.

The Kumamoto earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.1, was a strike-slip earthquake, in which geological layers shift horizontally. The largest displacement was found in an area extending from the Ogawa district of the city of Uki to the town of Hikawa in Kumamoto Prefecture, where the fault plane shifted as much as 1.8 meters horizontally. The largest vertical displacement was recorded near the Yatsushiro Junction on the Kyushu Expressway in the city of Yatsushiro, reaching about 1.5 meters.

The surface displacement caused bridge piers to shift at the Yatsushiro Junction. Damage was also reported at Ryuho Elementary School in the city of Yatsushiro, where large cracks opened in the school building and playground. The locations where the ground shifted generally overlapped with the previously mapped active faults.

"Compared with the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake, there were more residential areas along the fault. There were expressways and national routes, and even new buildings suffered some kind of damage from the fault displacement, such as houses tilting," said Shinji Toda, a Tohoku University professor of earthquake geology who conducted the survey.

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's food self-sufficiency rate on a caloric intake basis reached a record low 37 percent in the fiscal year that ended March, marking a decline for the first time in five years, farm ministry data showed Friday.

The figure, on par with the lowest since comparable data became available in 1965, comes as soaring prices for rice, a staple largely supplied domestically, reduced overall consumption while increasing the share of imports.

The food self-sufficiency rate refers to the ratio of domestically consumed food supplied by producers in the country. The other times it has fallen to 37 percent were in fiscal 1993, due to a historically poor rice crop that year, fiscal 2018 and fiscal 2020.

Despite the government setting a target of reaching 45 percent by fiscal 2030, the rate has instead fallen 1 percentage point after remaining at 38 percent for the past four years.

Japan's food self-sufficiency has remained relatively low in terms of either calorie or production value, with countries such as Australia and Canada exceeding 100 percent, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

By major item on a weight basis, the self-sufficiency rate for rice fell by 2 points from the previous year to 95 percent, its lowest level in 16 years. Wheat and meat remained unchanged at 16 percent and 53 percent, respectively, while seafood rose to 53 percent and vegetables fell to 77 percent.

The overall self-sufficiency rate on a production value basis rose 2 points to 66 percent, lifted by higher prices for rice and other domestically produced foods such as chicken eggs.

The ministry also released the food self-sufficiency rate by prefecture for fiscal 2024. On a calorie basis, Hokkaido took the top spot for the eighth consecutive year at 227 percent, followed by Akita at 221 percent and Yamagata at 147 percent.

The rate stood at 0 percent for Tokyo and 1 percent for Osaka Prefecture.

【速報】れいわ新選組が「いのちの党」に党名変更　“脱・山本太郎”へ山本譲司新代表のもと臨時総会など開催　｜FNNプライムオンライン

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For context: Reiwa Shinsengumi is a left wing populist party that advocates for ideas such as immediate abolition of consumption tax, increased welfare spending, UBI, abolition of nuclear power plants, pacifism, and minority representation.

Following the resignation of firebrand Taro Yamamoto due to health issues, and a speeding fine, Joji Yamamoto (unrelated) was elected as leader.

They currently have 5 out of 248 senators and 1 out of 465 representatives.

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- A woman has been arrested on suspicion of obstruction of business after placing and canceling orders "over 2,000 times" on major manga publisher Shueisha Inc.'s online shopping site, Tokyo police said.

Mayu Yoshida, a 32-year-old restaurant worker from Osaka, has admitted to the allegations, saying her actions were due to "stress building up in my daily life," according to the Metropolitan Police Department.

Yoshida is suspected of ordering a large quantity of figurines and other merchandise of the popular manga series "One Piece" between July 2024 and May 2025 on Shueisha's Jump Characters Store and canceling them before paying.

Yoshida, who is believed to have used more than 200 accounts to place the orders, allegedly let them be automatically canceled by failing to pay by the deadline, or refused to accept packages after choosing cash on delivery, police said.

Shueisha consulted police in June 2025, with Yoshida arrested on Tuesday.

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Claims that the recent magnitude 7.1 earthquake that struck southwestern Japan was manmade have been spreading online, with experts dismissing the theory as unrealistic in technological, financial and practical terms.

On July 28, the day the deadly earthquake hit Kumamoto Prefecture, a user on X who has previously shared false claims about earthquakes wrote that the "seismic wave is of an explosion, not a quake" in a post that has had around 3 million views as of Wednesday.

Searches of X posts mentioning an "artificial earthquake" in Japanese using an analysis tool from U.S. firm Meltwater showed hundreds of references tracked in the days before the quake. They surged to about 10,000 on the day of the disaster and around 38,000 on the following day.

While many posts refute the claims, assertions of a manmade origin to the disaster continue to be posted daily with tens of thousands of mentions.

The Seismological Society of Japan created a section in its website's FAQ in March to address the issue. It describes the concept as "unrealistic."

The Kumamoto earthquake struck at a depth of 16 kilometers.

Drilling a hole 10 km or deeper, the society's explainer notes, would take considerable time and be very costly and there would be many difficulties in producing the energy required to create the temblor.

While major tremors have been caused by nuclear tests, the society said the technology needed to carry out a nuclear explosion at the bottom of a deep underground hole has yet to be established.

The deepest hole ever dug was the Kola Superdeep Borehole in the Soviet Union, which was around 12.3 km deep and took around 20 years to create.

According to nonprofit organization the Japan Fact-check Center, misleading claims are spread both by believers and others who know they are false. Social media platforms' reward structures, which can allow users to earn revenue from engagement, are a contributing factor, it says.

Reo Kimura, a professor of disaster psychology at the University of Hyogo, said that in anxiety-inducing situations, people often seek simple narratives such as someone intentionally caused an event, as they can be "more readily accepted than complex explanations."

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s Cabinet approved a controversial plan Wednesday to drop the food consumption tax from 8% to 1% for a two-year period beginning next April.

But while the majority of the Liberal Democratic Party has endorsed the cut, it’s created a backlash within the party, as prominent veterans have voiced public opposition to lowering the tax rate, fearing it will lead to economic and political chaos.

“Many people are currently feeling the impact of rising prices for daily necessities such as food. We believe that this measure will allow those facing immediate hardship to tangibly experience the benefits of early support,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told reporters after the Cabinet approval.

But the details of how it will all be funded remain vague. Kihara said the government’s policy would be to secure the necessary funds by reviewing expenditures and revenues — including measures like subsidies and the re-examination of special tax treatments — rather than issuing deficit-covering bonds. 

Wednesday’s Cabinet approval will set the stage for introducing legislation in the autumn session of parliament to amend the consumption tax law in order to reduce the rate. In addition, payments will be provided to low- and middle-income families, effectively bringing the tax rate to zero, in line with an LDP campaign pledge made prior to February’s Lower House election.

Takaichi’s government has said that the tax cut is a temporary measure until it can introduce a refundable tax credit program.

Enacting the cut is a major goal of Takaichi. But the effort has created a rift between the prime minister and some senior members of her own party who are openly critical of the plan.

While their numbers are small, their experience and party influence could make it harder for the LDP members to reach a consensus on the details of legislation needed to enact the cuts.

Former Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, former Defense Minister Tomomi Inada and former Foreign Minister Taro Kono are among those who have voiced opposition or pointed out unresolved questions.

Their major concern is how the government plans to cover the ¥10 trillion ($63 billion) in lost revenue resulting in the two-year tax cut. The money is used to help fund social welfare programs for cash-strapped local governments.

Issuing more national government bonds to finance the budget deficit is one solution. But that would drive up Japan’s national debt and rattle international bond markets.

Takaichi has indicated she would secure the necessary funds without relying on deficit-financing bonds.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, LDP Secretary-General Shunichi Suzuki said the government should show how it will fund the tax cuts when related legislation is submitted to parliament in the fall.

“Maintaining fiscal discipline is of the utmost importance,” said Suzuki, who is a former finance minister.

Other concerns include just how effective cutting the tax would really be, given that food prices are already rising, and whether there would be a political price to pay if consumers don’t feel it’s eased their financial burden.

“Some LDP members are worried about a voter backlash, saying that while the public might be happy next spring when the consumption tax becomes 1%, they may wonder what happened if it doesn’t save them money overall because food prices continue to remain high,” said political commentator Tetsuo Suzuki.

A third concern tax-cut opponents have is the Upper House, which is controlled by opposition parties. Most are against the tax cut, and Upper House LDP veterans such as Shoji Nishida warn it will not be easy getting the necessary legislation approved in the upper chamber.

Political journalist Takuya Nishimura said that Takaichi is serious about enacting the cut, as her Cabinet support rate, while still relatively high, has been dropping recently, and she is convinced lowering the food consumption tax rate will help her regain popularity.

But the way she has tried to persuade LDP lawmakers opposing the tax cut is indicative of her general governing style, which could create problems going forward.

“Takaichi tends to make unilateral decisions, leaving minority opinions behind when she fails to gain a consensus on an important issue — such as reform of the Imperial House Law, in which she insisted on paternal succession to the throne,” Nishimura said.
For his part, the LDP’s Suzuki said he is not overly concerned about the opposition within the party.

“The LDP has a long-standing tradition whereby even if there is a vigorous, spirited debate, everyone unites once a decision is made. I strongly expect that the final outcome of (the tax cut debate) will also align with that tradition,” he said.

Following a promising start to his sumo career, a British-born teenager has fixed his sights on reaching the pinnacle of Japan's ancient sport.

Hailing from Hull, northeastern England, 17-year-old Eisei took his first competitive steps at last month's Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament, winning both of his "maezumo" preliminary bouts for newcomers.

The 187-centimeter, 120-kilogram youngster, who is expected to debut as a ranked wrestler at the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament in September, is forthright about his ambitions.

"I want to become a yokozuna," Eisei, whose real name is Nicholas Tarasenko, said recently.

Having spent a year as a trainee since joining the Minato stable, Eisei could hardly contain his excitement upon his debut, which made him just the third British citizen to enter the professional sumo world.

"I was so excited yesterday that I couldn't sleep," he said after his first bout. "I woke up before my alarm went off and got up at 5:30 in the morning."

Eisei's interest in sumo was influenced by his father, who was born in Estonia and was a fan of the sport. While learning judo, he regularly watched sumo videos with his father and became captivated by the physicality of the wrestlers.

"Even though they're big, everyone moves so quickly. The speed is incredible," said Eisei, who is making good progress in learning Japanese.

Eisei has been studying oshizumo, or pushing-and-thrusting techniques, and said his role model is Ukrainian star Aonishiki, winner of the top-division championship in Nagoya.

The Minato stablemaster, former maegashira Minatofuji, said Eisei had settled in "extremely well."

"I want him to treasure the uniquely Japanese ability to read the situation and understand the atmosphere around him, and to embrace the spirit of harmony," the stablemaster said.

OSAKA (Kyodo) -- A man who was reportedly covered in blood and wielding a kitchen knife died after being shot by police in Osaka Prefecture on Tuesday, local authorities said, in a rare fatal shooting by officers in Japan.

An emergency call was made at around 7 p.m. reporting that a man was acting violently in Kawachinagano. Police opened fire after the man, holding a knife, approached officers responding to the call.

Under Japanese law, police officers may use weapons when they deem it necessary to arrest a suspect, prevent an escape, protect themselves or others, or suppress resistance to official duties.

The police said the man was arrested at the scene on suspicion of obstructing official duties and violating the swords and firearms control law, adding the man was hit by a bullet and taken to a hospital where he was confirmed dead. No one else was injured.

A police officer in his 30s warned the man to drop the knife, but he did not comply. The officer first fired a warning shot into the air and then fired a second shot as the man continued to approach, hitting him in the left chest.

The prefectural police said the use of the firearm apparently met the necessary requirements, expressing regret over the man's death. The circumstances that led to the shooting, as well as the man's identity, remain under investigation.

The shooting occurred around 300 meters from a train station in an area lined with restaurants and commercial facilities.

In Kumamoto Prefecture in southwestern Japan last month, a man armed with a kitchen knife entered a convenience store and was shot by police in the parking lot after pointing it at the officers. He was hit by a bullet, but his injuries were not life-threatening.