Being recognized as a leading nation both economically and politically in the world, Japan has a population over 127 million*1, of which those under 14 account for 13.3% *2. While the social economic assets have been widely organized, the recent natural disaster which struck Japan puts the affected children under great stress.
Emergency situations and children:
Japan was struck by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami in the North-eastern area of the country. Following these natural disasters, the Fukushima plant incident, which is still continuously leaking radioactive materials, took place. A number of children lost their parents, have been displaced and given no decent learning environment, and have a long way to go back to their normal daily lives.
Corporal Punishment:
It is known that direct or indirect factors such as being single-parent families and families of relatively low socioeconomic status have increased the use of corporal punishment of children, and this has become an urgent social issue to be dealt with; the worst case is when punished children end up losing their lives.
*1 The Statistics Bureau and the Director-General for Policy Planning of Japan and Statistical Research and Training Institute, 2011, http://www.stat.go.jp/data/nihon/zuhyou/02syo/n0200400.xls
*2 The Statistics Bureau and the Director-General for Policy Planning of Japan and Statistical Research and Training Institute, 2011, http://www.stat.go.jp/data/nihon/zuhyou/02syo/n0200100.xls