On December 22, 2025, MEXT presented a plan to a Central Council for Education working group: fold AI and data science fundamentals into Mathematics I, the mandatory high school course, via two new units, and dissolve the Mathematics A/B/C split into a single subject. From the 2032 curriculum, every student takes it, humanities track included.
Japan's 2025 Buzzword of the Year went to PM Sanae Takaichi's "Work, Work, Work, Work, Work" quote, sparking debate on work-life balance. Explore reactions to Japan's first female Prime Minister's controversial statement and the awards' selection process.
Rocket fireworks were fired at a Pakistani-run used car business in Ebetsu, Hokkaido. It began with misinformation about 76 illegal structures in an urbanization control area, amplified by YouTuber videos. Most of those 76 were built by Japanese citizens.
Japan's foreign workforce topped 2.3 million at the end of October 2024, a record, as shortages bit in logistics, nursing care, and construction. The government doubled the Specified Skilled Worker cap to 820,000, against a projected shortfall of 3.84 million workers by 2035.