The question is how to promote offenders’ awareness of themselves as an adult while respecting the principle of the Juvenile Law, which attaches importance to the possibility of rehabilitation.   The revised Juvenile Law has been enacted, defining people aged 18 or 19 who have committed crimes as “specified juveniles” and aimed at strengthening penalties against their crimes to a….Read more

  By Kazuya Ito, staff writer    Stiffer penalties await 18- and 19-year-olds for a wider range of crimes under revisions to the Juvenile Law approved by the Upper House on May 21. Another key change allows the media to report the names of suspects if they are indicted.   Having passed the Diet, the revised Juvenile Law will take effect….Read more

The revised Juvenile Law approved by the Diet defines 18- and 19-year-old offenders as “designated juveniles,” who will face procedures and treatment closer to those applied to adults.   No matter what they may be called, those in that age bracket have the potential for becoming law-abiding members of society, depending on the education and support of others.   Even….Read more

Even after recovering from infection with the novel coronavirus, some people suffer from the aftereffects for a long time. This can have serious impacts on their lives after returning to work or school. It is necessary to improve treatment and support systems.   The aftereffects from COVID-19 vary, including fatigue, shortness of breath, headache, problems with smell and taste, and….Read more

Tokyo, May 20 (Jiji Press)–A juvenile law revision bill aimed at toughening penalties against crimes committed by those aged 18 and 19 was approved on Thursday by the Committee of Judicial Affairs of the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of Japan’s parliament.   The bill was approved by a majority vote with support mainly from the ruling Liberal Democratic….Read more

TOKYO — A total of 61.1 percent of people in Japan believe it is hard to raise children in the country, according to a recent government survey, which highlighted a perception of insufficient support for parenting compared with other nations.   In contrast, overwhelming majorities in Sweden, France and Germany said in the survey conducted by Japan’s Cabinet Office that….Read more

TOKYO — Yukiko Okimura was just 11 years old when her mother, a single parent, was left paralyzed by a traffic accident on her way to work in Kanagawa Prefecture, west of Tokyo, in 2001.   A tragic upheaval already in the life of any elementary school kid, what made it doubly transformative for Okimura was suddenly finding herself taking on….Read more

TOKYO – As the global challenge of climate change mounts and the coronavirus pandemic magnifies economic inequalities, Karl Marx, who pointed to the contradictions and limitations of capitalism, is gaining new admirers in Japan, particularly among the young.   The boom has been ignited by a 34-year-old associate professor at Osaka City University who reimagined the theory expounded in the….Read more

Tokyo, May 4 (Jiji Press)–The estimated number of children aged under 15 in Japan as of April 1 dropped by 190,000 from a year before to 14.93 million, down for the 40th consecutive year, the internal affairs ministry said Tuesday.   The estimated figure hit the lowest level since comparable data became available in 1950. The ministry released the estimate….Read more

By Tomohiro Hamada, staff writer   A childhood spent in foster care leaves many youngsters totally unprepared for the realities of fending for themselves when the time comes to strike out on their own to look for work and take on the responsibilities of adulthood.   For some with nothing in the way of decent savings, their daily situation can….Read more