For the first time in 12 years, Japan's education ministry has revised its guidelines for teachers on how to instruct students about their behavior. The guidelines call for schools to review their rules frequently to prevent excessively strict guidance.

The ministry released the guidelines on Tuesday. The revision reflects discussions by experts.

Japan faces a rising tide of aging infrastructure that cannot be repaired due to tight budgets and worker shortages.

Local authorities are required to inspect bridges and tunnels every five years, following a fatal tunnel collapse a decade ago. The accident in the Chuo Expressway's Sasago Tunnel in Yamanashi Prefecture killed nine people.

The government has announced its final plan to reform the Science Council of Japan, the country's leading academic body.

Economic Revitalization Minister Goto Shigeyuki, who is in charge of the matter, made the announcement at a news conference on Tuesday.

Japan's Upper House has adopted a resolution expressing concerns about the human rights situation in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and elsewhere in China.

The resolution was passed by a majority vote in the chamber's plenary session on Monday.

Data from the World Cup in Qatar show a shot made by Japanese midfielder Doan Ritsu in his team's match against Spain was the second fastest goal-scoring kick in the tournament's group stage.

The world's soccer governing body, FIFA, published the data after the group stage ended.

The head of the Japan Football Association says the coach of Japan's national team may stay in his post after the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Moriyasu Hajime's current contract expires at the end of the tournament.

JFA President Tashima Kohzo spoke to reporters in Doha on Saturday after Japan secured a spot in the knockout stage for the second consecutive tournament. The Samurai Blue squad beat former champions Germany and Spain in Group E.

The policy chief of Japan's main ruling Liberal Democratic Party is set to visit Taiwan.

Hagiuda Koichi plans to begin a three-day trip on December 10.

Japan's ruling coalition said the country should be able to launch a "counterstrike" if it's targeted by an armed attack. It's set to be one of the biggest changes to Japanese security policy since the end of World War Two.

The main Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner Komeito held talks on Friday. They said Japan's current system is poorly equipped to deal with growing threats in the region.

Japan's health ministry said it's ready to respond to up to 900,000 coronavirus and influenza patients a day in the event of a double outbreak.

The ministry, earlier, estimated that daily coronavirus cases would reach a peak of 450,000, and the number of people contracting influenza would rise to 300,000 per day.

Princess Aiko, the daughter of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, turned 21 on Thursday.

The Princess has been performing official duties as an adult member of the Imperial family since coming of age last year.

Japanese officials plan to put China top of the list of what their country sees as regional security challenges when they revise the National Security Strategy by the end of the year.

The document outlines Japan's basic diplomatic and defense policies. It refers to countries that pose security challenges.

Japan's governing parties have confirmed that they will try to reach an agreement on Friday on the country's capabilities to conduct counterattacks on enemy missile-launching sites among others.

Lawmakers from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and coalition partner Komeito discussed the issue on Wednesday at their eighth working-level talks.

The Supreme Court of Japan has decided to investigate how records were handled in about 100 high-profile juvenile and civil trials after it recently came to light that some of the records have been discarded.

The court has instructed lower courts across Japan to permanently keep records of juvenile and civil trials that had a social impact and were deemed to be deserving of preservation.

Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio is ordering a significant increase in defense spending in five years. It comes as the ruling coalition has been raising concerns about security around Japan.

Kishida met with the defense and finance ministers on Monday. He told them he wants defense spending to rise to 2 percent of Japan's GDP in fiscal 2027.