What “ijime” means under Japanese law

Japan’s Act for the Promotion of Measures to Prevent Bullying (いじめ防止対策推進法, Act No. 71 of 2013) sets out a legal definition of bullying in Article 2. In our translation, it reads:

“Ijime” means an act by another child who has a certain personal relationship with the child, such as attending the same school, that has a psychological or physical effect on the child (including acts carried out over the internet), and that causes the child who is the target of the act to feel mental or physical suffering.

The original Japanese ends with the words 「当該行為の対象となった児童等が心身の苦痛を感じているもの」: the test is whether the child on the receiving end feels mental or physical suffering. The law does not require the other child to have meant harm, for the behavior to be repeated, or for adults to agree that it was “serious.” MEXT’s national basic policy adds that schools should take care that the “feels suffering” requirement is not interpreted narrowly.

This definition is broader than many parents expect. The table below shows common things families hear, and what the law actually says.

One important boundary: the Act covers schools defined in Article 1 of the School Education Act (public and private elementary, junior high, high schools and similar). An international school that is not one of these falls outside that definition. If your child is at an international school in Japan, our guide to bullying at international schools is more relevant.

How common it is: the latest national figures

Every year MEXT publishes a national survey of “problem behavior and school non-attendance” (児童生徒の問題行動・不登校等生徒指導上の諸課題に関する調査). The results for the 2024 school year (令和6年度) were released on 29 October 2025.

One figure stands out for parents: about a third of serious incidents had not been recognized as bullying before they became serious. The MEXT summary also reports that the most common type at every school level is teasing, verbal abuse, threats or being told hurtful things, and it records 27,365 cases of slander or unpleasant acts via computers or phones.

For you, the lesson is simple: tell the school early, and in writing, even if what is happening seems small. You don’t need to wait until you are sure it “counts.”

What every Japanese school must already have in place

Under the Act, schools are not just expected to “deal with” bullying when parents complain. They have standing duties, whether or not a problem has been reported yet.

MEXT’s basic policy is direct on the second point: staff should report even small signs, concerns and complaints to the school team immediately, without keeping them to themselves or deciding on their own that no response is needed. The same policy says the school’s anti-bullying policy should be explained to students and parents at enrollment and at the start of each school year. So asking for it is an ordinary request, not a confrontational one.

Serious incidents (jūdai jitai): the word that changes the process

Article 28 of the Act defines two kinds of serious incident (重大事態, jūdai jitai). When one is suspected, the school or the body that runs it must set up an investigation to clarify the facts, and afterwards must give the bullied child and their parents appropriate information about what was found.

Two details in MEXT’s guidelines (revised August 2024) are especially useful for parents:

You don’t have to wait for 30 days. The guidelines say that when a child has been absent continuously for some time and bullying may be the reason, the school should report to and consult with the body that runs it before the absence reaches 30 days.

What you say counts. The guidelines say that when a child or parent states that bullying has caused serious harm, the school should treat it as a serious incident and proceed with reporting and investigation, even if at that point the school thinks it is not the result of bullying or is not serious.

For public schools, the Act requires serious incidents to be reported to the head of the local government (Article 30). For private schools, the report goes to the prefectural governor (Article 31). If your child has stopped going to school because of bullying, our guide to school refusal in Japan explains the wider system of support.

How to raise it with the school, step by step

Japanese schools usually work through a clear chain of roles, and things tend to move faster when you follow it, in writing, one step at a time.

Step 1: Listen, then write it down. Let your child tell you what happened without interrupting. Afterwards, note the dates, places, names and their exact words.

Step 2: Contact the homeroom teacher (tannin, 担任). A short written note or email creates a record. Many schools also use a contact notebook (renrakuchō, 連絡帳) or an app; keep copies of anything you send.

Step 3: Ask for a meeting and a plan. Ask who is handling it, whether the school team knows, and when you will hear the results of the fact-check.

Step 4: Send a short summary afterwards. Write down what was agreed, and send it to the teacher so both sides have the same record.

Step 5: Follow up, and move up a level if nothing changes.

The school counselor (スクールカウンセラー) can also be a useful contact at any stage, both for your child and for you. At every level, keep the focus on your child’s safety and on what you want to happen next, such as a change of seat, adult supervision at breaks, or a weekly check-in.

Keeping records, and a note you can hand in

A simple log makes it much easier for the school to check the facts, and much harder for a concern to be forgotten when staff change in April. Save screenshots of messages before they can be deleted.

If writing in Japanese feels daunting, the note below can be adapted and handed to the homeroom teacher. It is polite, factual and refers to the law without sounding hostile.

In English, the note says: my child tells me they are being treated in the following ways by classmates and is suffering; I would like to meet to discuss fact-checking and next steps under the anti-bullying law; please share the school’s anti-bullying policy; and, because detailed Japanese is difficult for me, I would be grateful for an interpreter or written replies if possible.

Phrases for school meetings (English and Japanese)

You can bring this table to a meeting, or point to a line. It is also completely reasonable to bring a Japanese-speaking friend or to ask whether the school or your city can arrange interpretation.

Help outside the school

You and your child don’t have to rely on the school alone. These national services are run by the government. The first is in Japanese; the Ministry of Justice also offers human rights counseling in English and other languages. For a wider list, see our guide to where to get help in Japan.

At home, watch for signs that things are getting heavier: dread on Sunday evenings, headaches or stomach aches on school mornings, changes in sleep or appetite, or your child no longer wanting to talk about school. If you notice these, speak to your child’s doctor, and let the school know in writing that your child’s wellbeing is affected. Most of all, tell your child clearly that it is not their fault, and that adults are acting on it.

Stay, change school, or learn online? An honest comparison

Sometimes, even with effort on all sides, a school stops being a safe place for a particular child. Changing is not giving up. For public elementary and junior high schools, MEXT explains that a city board of education can change the designated school on a parent’s request (学校教育法施行令第8条, shiteikō henkō), and that a child can attend a school in another municipality by agreement (Article 9, kuiki-gai shūgaku). MEXT names bullying as a reason, and says that when a bullied child or their parents wish it, boards should consider this flexibly, whether at the start of the year or partway through. Each board publishes its own requirements, so ask yours.

An online school is not a way around every social difficulty; children still have to get along with classmates, and conflicts can happen online too. What changes is the setting. If you are considering it, check with your board of education how your child’s enrollment and attendance at their Japanese school would be handled, because this depends on your child’s situation. Our guide to attendance recognition and costs explains how “shusseki atsukai” (出席扱い) works.

An online option built around small classes: NIJIN GLOBAL ACADEMY

NIJIN GLOBAL ACADEMY (NGA) is an online international school for ages 6–18, run by NIJIN, the company behind this site. Its FAQ says families both abroad and in Japan can join. We mention it because its design responds to some of the problems described above. Please read the limitations as carefully as the features.

Frequently asked questions

Sources used for this article

Looking for a calmer place to keep learning?

If your child needs a fresh start away from the classroom where things went wrong, NIJIN GLOBAL ACADEMY offers live online classes of eight with bilingual mentors and no rankings. It opens in September 2027, and we could not confirm how attendance would be treated at a Japanese school, so please check with your board of education too.

Visit NIJIN GLOBAL ACADEMY