About Nijiiro

Nijiiro (にじいろ, “rainbow colours”) is written for children who find it hard to go to school, and for the parents who support them.

In FY2024, 353,970 elementary and junior high school students in Japan were counted as futoko (school refusal), the twelfth consecutive rise and a record high (MEXT survey on problem behaviour and futoko). Including high school students, the figure is over 420,000. That is a great many families facing a child who can’t, or won’t, go to school.

Yet the information those families need is hard to find. Where is the nearest free school? How do you apply to an education support center? Will learning at home count as attendance? How should you talk to the school? The answers are scattered across government sites and individual facility pages.

Nijiiro exists to gather that information, organise it, and get it to the people who need it.

We don’t treat not going to school as a problem. Some children fit school and some don’t; that is a difference in personality, not a ranking. We don’t make returning to school the only goal. Instead, we share information that helps each family find a way of learning that suits their child.

Publisher

Editorial team

Nijiiro’s articles are produced by the Nijiiro Editorial Team. Under the editor-in-chief, team members plan, research, write, fact-check and edit each article.

Nijiiro’s writers include teachers, students and parents connected with NIJIN Academy: former school teachers who work with children outside school every day, young people who have experienced school refusal themselves, and families who have walked the same path. Because the people writing and checking the articles live with these issues, we aim to share information that reflects what actually happens, not textbook generalities.

Specialist review

Nijiiro’s editorial policy and content are supervised by Tatsuro Hoshino. For topics that need specialist knowledge, such as neurodiversity, physical and mental health, and law, we ask experts in the field to review articles where necessary. When an article has been reviewed by an outside expert, the reviewer’s name is shown in the article.

Nijiiro’s articles are not intended as diagnosis, treatment or legal advice. If you are worried about your child’s physical or mental health, please talk to a doctor, the school counselor or a local consultation service.

How we make our articles

1. We start from real situations. Our starting point is what parents actually ask us and what causes difficulty in the classroom. We write because someone needs help, not because a topic is searched for.
2. We go to primary sources. We check public documents from the Ministry of Education (MEXT), the Children and Families Agency and local governments, and state the source and the date we checked it. We don’t use other media articles as sources.
3. We write so parents can decide. We don’t stop at explaining a system; we go on to “so what does this mean for my child?” We don’t make diagnoses or rule on whether a system applies to you.
4. We check the facts. Numbers, systems, costs and facility information are checked against their sources, and we say when the information dates from.
5. We always include places to get help. So that no one is left anxious after reading, we list public support services, such as the 24-hour Children’s SOS Dial 0120-0-78310 (in Japanese).
6. We keep updating. Systems, fees and facilities change. We review articles regularly, and when we find a mistake we follow our corrections policy.

Advertising and NIJIN’s own services

Nijiiro does not accept advertising, affiliate arrangements or sponsored articles from outside companies.

At the same time, Nijiiro is run by NIJIN Inc. Our articles sometimes introduce NIJIN’s own schools, such as NIJIN Academy and NIJIN High School, as one of the options available. We don’t hide that relationship.

• When we introduce our own services, we label them “PR”.
• We introduce public support before our own services. Education support centers, free schools and other public or neutral options come first.
• In comparisons, we give fair space to the other options, and describe “which families this suits” and “what to check before applying” for every option, ours included.
• We include facts that are unfavourable to us: what we don’t offer, where we don’t yet have a track record, and cases where conditions may not be met.
• We don’t mix up track records. We never present one school’s results as if they belonged to another.

Feedback and information

If you find a mistake or outdated information in an article, or have any comments, please let us know. The editorial team checks every report and, where a correction is needed, handles it under our corrections policy. If you shared your experience with us and would like it removed, you can contact us at any time.

Contact: contact formJA.