The percentage of elementary, junior high and high school students with less than 1.0 vision reached a record high, according to an education ministry survey released on Nov. 28.
In the latest blow to the Kishida Cabinet, a parliamentary secretary from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party has resigned after only a month in the job after admitting to an affair with a woman in her 20s.
An increasing number of needy families with children are facing further financial difficulties with the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and soaring prices for food, utilities and other daily necessities.