Bullying at a Japanese School: What Parents Can Record, and How to Get the School to Act

Last reviewed October 16, 2026 · 35 min read · By the PEA team (Lumina Spark)

日本語版 (Japanese version)

Short answer: Keep a record of when, where, who and what was done, each time. When your child tells you something, don't interrogate or lead them; write it down the same day, in your child's own words, with the date. Save LINE and social media messages as full screens showing the time and the sender, as soon as they arrive. Photograph injuries and see a doctor, keep damaged belongings, and keep written copies of everything you exchange with the school. Under Japan's Act for the Promotion of Measures to Prevent Bullying, if your child feels mental or physical distress, it counts as bullying, and a school that is told about it must check the facts. You can go to the school even without evidence. Your child's safety and wellbeing come before evidence. If your child's life or safety is at risk, call 110. This article is general information about Japan, not legal advice.

Your child's safety and feelings come first

  • If your child's life or safety is at risk, call 110 without hesitating (119 for injuries or sudden illness). If your child says things like "I want to die" or "I want to disappear," get help right away from the services below.
  • 24-Hour Children's SOS Dial (0120-0-78310): open 24 hours, including nights and holidays, for children and parents. Calls generally go to the education board's consultation service for the area you call from (in Japanese).
  • If your child finds it hard to talk to you or a teacher: Childline (0120-99-7777, for children up to 18, daily 16:00 to 21:00, closed over New Year, free, no name needed) and the Children's Human Rights 110 line (0120-007-110, staffed by Legal Affairs Bureau officials and human rights volunteers, weekdays 8:30 to 17:15, free and confidential; adults can call too). Both work in Japanese.
  • In English: the Ministry of Justice's Human Rights Counseling for Foreign Nationals (0570-090-911, weekdays 9:00 to 17:00) takes calls in English and nine other languages, and TELL Lifeline (0800-300-8355, toll-free; chat for ages 13 and over) offers free counseling in English (see Where to get help).
  • Your child may not have to go to school. The law (Article 13 of the Act on Securing Educational Opportunities) asks national and local governments to support children who are absent from school with their need for rest in mind. If you feel your child isn't safe, talk to the school, including about keeping them home. Record the days they are absent (this matters for a serious case).
  • Don't keep sending your child into painful situations, or ask them to record, just to get evidence. You can get help even with few records.

On the government's public relations site, a Ministry of Justice official notes that bullied children often keep it to themselves, not wanting to worry their parents or thinking telling won't change anything, and urges parents who notice something to listen carefully to their child first, and not to carry it alone but talk to the homeroom teacher or others at school.

What Japanese law counts as bullying, and what schools must do

This section is general information to help you decide how to keep records and where to go if your child may be bullied, not legal advice.

Article 2 of the Act for the Promotion of Measures to Prevent Bullying defines bullying as acts by other children with whom the child has a certain personal relationship that have a psychological or physical effect (including acts done online), and that cause the targeted child to feel mental or physical distress.

  • What counts is that the child who was targeted feels distress. The Ministry of Education's (MEXT) Basic Policy for preventing bullying asks schools not to judge superficially or formally, but from the standpoint of the bullied child, and not to read this requirement narrowly. Even what looks like a fight or horseplay should be judged by looking into the background and focusing on the harm the child feels.
  • Online bullying is included: insults or exclusion in a LINE group, or social media posts, can count.
  • It isn't limited to school. The Basic Policy says the "certain personal relationship" includes, inside or outside school, the same school, class or club, cram school, sports club and other groups the child belongs to.

Which schools the Act covers. The Act's "schools" are elementary schools, junior high schools, compulsory education schools, high schools, secondary schools and special needs schools under Article 1 of the School Education Act (excluding kindergarten departments), including private ones. MEXT notes that while some international schools are recognized as Article 1 schools, most are approved as "miscellaneous schools" or are unaccredited. If your child attends a school outside the Act, the duties below don't apply to it as such; ask the school about its own anti-bullying policy, and the record-keeping advice in this article still applies.

The law requires schools to:

  • Check the facts when told. When it appears a child is being bullied, the school must promptly take steps to confirm whether it is happening and report the result to the body that runs the school (the board of education for public schools) (Article 23(2)).
  • Not leave it to one teacher. Schools have an anti-bullying organization made up of several staff members and psychology or welfare specialists (Article 22). The Basic Policy says a teacher keeping bullying information to themselves without reporting it to this organization may breach the Act.
  • Stop the bullying and support the child. Once bullying is confirmed, the school continues to support the bullied child and their parents and to guide the children who did it (Article 23(3)), and, if needed, takes steps such as having those children study in a separate room (Article 23(4)).
  • Prevent disputes between parents. The school is to share information and take other steps so that disputes don't arise between the parents of the bullied child and the parents of the children who did it (Article 23(5)).
  • Work with the police on crimes. If there is a risk of serious harm to a child's life, body or property, the school must report it to the police immediately (Article 23(6)).
  • Investigate serious cases. If bullying is suspected of having caused serious harm to a child's life, mind, body or property, or of having forced the child to miss school for a considerable period, the school sets up an organization to investigate the facts as a "serious case" (jūdai jitai) (Article 28).

Parents, too, are expected to protect their child appropriately if bullied (Article 9(2)), and, when their child tells them about bullying that seems to have happened, to take appropriate steps such as informing the school (Article 23(1)).

Why keep records (you can go to the school without them)

You don't need evidence to go to the school. As above, a school that is told must check the facts. MEXT's Guidelines on investigating serious bullying cases (revised August 2024) describe information from children and parents as extremely important information that the school could not otherwise know, and ask schools to confirm whether bullying happened, through interviews and questionnaires, when it is reported.

Records still help:

  • You can tell the school specifically. Knowing "when, where, who and what" helps the school check the facts faster.
  • If the other side denies it. When told "we were only joking" or "we didn't do it," your records show what happened.
  • For a serious-case investigation, the police or a damages claim. Law firms experienced in bullying cases explain that with insufficient evidence, a court may find that the bullying can't be established, or the police may say they can't act without evidence.

MEXT's Guidelines ask schools to keep records that state "when," "where," "who," "to whom," "what" and "how," not guesses or impressions. Writing your records at home the same way makes them easier for the school and others to use. And rather than looking for one decisive piece of evidence, build up different kinds of records little by little.

Types of evidence and how to keep them

EvidenceHow to keep itWatch out for
What your child told you (your notes)The same day, in your child's words, with the date and the setting in which they told you; write down your questions tooDon't interrogate or lead; write your own guesses and feelings separately
LINE and social media messages or postsFull screens showing the date, time, sender's name and group name, overlapping before and after; the sender's profile and post URLsSenders can unsend messages or delete posts; don't let your child argue back; don't log into others' accounts
Photos of injuries or bruisesWide shots and close-ups; keep the original files; note when you took themSee a doctor for a medical certificate; don't photograph intimate areas yourself; leave that to medical staff or the police
Belongings broken, hidden or stolenKeep them as they are and photograph them; note when and where you noticedKeep repair or replacement receipts too
Money or items takenSave histories of pocket money, e-money, in-game purchases and itemsThis may be extortion or another crime; consider going to the police
Medical certificates and recordsIf your child has mental or physical symptoms, see a doctor and explain what happened at school; keep patient cards and receiptsWhat goes in a certificate is the doctor's decision
Absences, leaving early, staying in the nurse's officeNote the dates and reasonsLong absences may make it a serious case (30 days a year is the guide)
Diary or notes (your child's or yours)The same day, specifically: date and time, place, who, what was done or said, who saw it, how your child was afterwardsNotes written later in one go are believed less; don't backdate
Audio or video recordingsScenes your child is in, kept whole and unedited, with a note of the date and placeYour child's safety and burden come first; check school rules; don't leave a recorder where your child isn't; don't publish
Exchanges with the schoolKeep copies of contact notebooks, emails and letters; for meetings, note the date, who attended, what was said and the school's answersDon't rely on spoken exchanges alone; if you record a meeting, it's best to ask first
Children who saw it, people your child toldNote their names and the scenesDon't call in other families' children to question them; leave that to the school's investigation

This table is a general summary based on MEXT materials and law firms' explanations. How evidence is weighed depends on the case.

Recording what your child tells you

Bullying often happens where adults can't see, so what your child tells you is the first and most important clue.

How to listen: don't interrogate, don't lead

A guide for teachers on preventing bullying from becoming serious, published by the Children and Families Agency and MEXT (November 2025), gives these points for listening to children. They help at home too:

  • Ask open questions such as "How are things in your class lately?", not only yes-or-no questions.
  • Avoid questions that suggest an answer.
  • If the child goes quiet or struggles to answer, take time so they can say it in their own words.
  • Check whether you, as the listener, are caught up in assumptions or preconceptions.

At home, for example:

  • Instead of supplying the answer ("It was so-and-so, wasn't it?"), ask "And then what happened?" or "Who was there?" If an adult supplies the answer, it becomes unclear whether the words are the child's own.
  • Don't try to get everything at once. Being asked the same thing again and again makes it harder for a child to talk.
  • Don't blame them ("Why didn't you tell me sooner?", "Hit them back"). Accept the fact that they told you.
  • Your child may worry, "Don't tell the teacher." Listen to their fears, such as retaliation, then tell them, "I want to work out with your teacher how to keep you safe."

How to write: your child's words, with the date

  • Write it the same day. Include the date and time you heard it and the setting (at dinner, crying before bed, and so on).
  • Quote your child's words as they said them. Don't paraphrase: "hit" and "pushed" are different.
  • Write down what you asked, to show you didn't lead.
  • Separate facts from your guesses and feelings. Write "I think it was so-and-so" separately, as a guess.
  • Note how your child was: crying, not sleeping, not eating, saying their stomach hurts in the morning.

Example (fictional): Sunday, October 5, around 20:00, in the living room. My child brought it up while doing homework. Child: "Today at the shoe lockers on the way home, A and B said 'You stink' and threw my shoes outside." Me: "And then what did you do?" Child: "I went to get them. Other kids saw, but I don't know who." Me: "Has it happened before?" Child: "Last week too. I don't remember how many times." Cried while talking. Mud on the shoes (photo: IMG_1234). Hardly ate dinner.

LINE and social media bullying

MEXT's Basic Policy notes that bullying through password-protected sites, social media and email is hard for adults to see and to discover. Images and videos spread online are extremely hard to remove, so keep records early and get help early. Screenshots can be dismissed as "edited" or "cropped," so keep full screens, in sequence, together with the original data. For how screenshots are faked and checked, see how to tell if a screenshot is fake.

LINE chats and groups

  1. Take full-screen screenshots in sequence, including the date dividers, each message's time and the sender's display name, overlapping a little each time. For groups, also capture a screen showing the group name and number of members.
  2. Screenshot the sender's profile screen. Display names can be changed, so this helps show whose account it is.
  3. Export the chat as text too. From the menu at the top of the chat, tap Settings, then Export chat history, to save it as a text file (.txt). The export includes only the history currently shown in that chat, and text can be edited, so keep the screenshots as well.
  4. Save photos and videos you receive to the phone soon.
  5. Save messages as soon as they arrive. On LINE, if the sender unsends a message, it also disappears from the recipient's chat. In Japan, messages can normally be unsent within an hour of sending, or within seven days for LYP Premium members (LINE Help, as of October 2026). An unsent message leaves a notice that it was unsent; screenshot that too.
  6. If your child is removed from a group, keep the notice showing the removal and the earlier messages. Law firms note that insults in groups your child isn't in are often hard to obtain. If a friend shows you a screen, write down who gave it to you, when and how.
  7. Don't delete chats or groups, leave them, or reset the phone. If changing phones, back up and transfer the chat history first.

Social media posts and game chats

  • Open each post on its own and screenshot it, so the post time, account name and ID (such as a username starting with @) show.
  • Keep the post's URL, and the account page (profile and its URL). That's the main way to identify the post.
  • Some posts disappear after a while, or are deleted. Save them as soon as you find them. Do the same for impersonation accounts and photos of your child posted without permission.
  • The National Police Agency asks people consulting the police about online abuse to print the screen and record the site name, URL, poster, post time and content. See online defamation in Japan.
  • Don't let your child argue back. Arguing can escalate things, and your child's own posts may become an issue.

Save first, then report or ask for removal

  • Save records before asking for removal or reporting. Once gone, it's harder to show what happened.
  • Reporting on LINE: you can report a message by pressing and holding it. LINE receives the message and the surrounding messages, and the other person isn't notified. If LINE finds a breach of its terms, it may remove content or restrict the account. Other social networks have reporting functions too.
  • The Legal Affairs Bureau advises on how to request removal of online posts, and asks providers to remove information it finds infringes human rights. The Bullying Act also provides that children and parents affected by online bullying can ask the Legal Affairs Bureau for help when seeking removal or disclosure of the poster's information (Article 19(3)).
  • Tell the school too. The Basic Policy says schools should take steps to remove inappropriate online posts to avoid further harm, asking for the Legal Affairs Bureau's help as needed.
  • If nude or underwear photos or videos are involved, go to the police right away, before asking for removal (see When it's a crime).

Injuries, damaged belongings, money and medical certificates

  • Injuries and bruises: take a wide shot (showing whose injury it is) and close-ups, and note the date. Then see a doctor for a medical certificate, and tell the doctor what happened at school. Even without a bruise, write in the diary when, by whom, where and how your child was hurt.
  • Injuries to intimate areas, or sexual bullying: don't take the photos yourself; contact a medical institution, the police, or a One-Stop Support Center for victims of sexual crimes and sexual violence (#8891).
  • Mental health: if your child keeps not sleeping or eating, feels ill in the mornings, or doesn't want to go to school, see a doctor early. The Basic Policy lists developing a mental illness as an example of a serious case.
  • Belongings broken, hidden or stolen: don't throw them away or repair them; keep them as they are and photograph them. Note when and where you noticed, and keep receipts for repairs or replacements.
  • Money or items: if pocket money is disappearing, or e-money or in-game purchase and item histories look wrong, save screenshots of the histories. A MEXT notice gives handing over money or game items under threat as an example of what may be extortion.

Keeping a diary or notes

Many incidents leave no recordings or photos, so a diary or notes are important records. It can be your child's own diary or your notes about your child. Don't force your child to write.

What to write

ItemExample
Date and timeMonday, October 5, 2026, lunch break
PlaceClassroom, corridor, club changing room, way to school, in the LINE group
WhoNames as far as known, and how many
What was done or saidWords as close to verbatim as you can; not "they were mean," but what was said or done
Who saw itChildren or teachers who saw it, as far as known
How your child wasCrying, not sleeping, not eating, missed school
Contact with the schoolWhether you told a teacher, and what they said
Other recordsPhotos, screenshots, medical certificates; file names

As with any evidence diary, write soon after each event, specifically and consistently, in one notebook in pen that can't be erased, striking through mistakes instead of erasing them, so it can't be said you rewrote it later.

You can start now even if nothing was written before. Law firms experienced in bullying cases explain that writing down past harm from your current memory can serve as some evidence, even without records from the time. Date it today and make clear it was written from memory. Don't backdate it to look as if it was written on the day.

Example (fictional), a parent's note for Monday, October 5: Came home around 16:00 and went to their room without a word. After dinner said: "At lunch again, C and the others moved their desks away from me and said 'Don't come over here'" (C and two others; says the homeroom teacher wasn't in the room). Says the same happened last Friday. Had trouble getting to sleep. At 21:00, told the homeroom teacher by contact notebook and email (copy of email kept).

Showing that a note existed by a certain day

Because you write the dates yourself, diaries and notes can be challenged as "made up afterwards." To prepare, create a record at the time of writing that you can't change on your own:

  • Send it to someone you trust the same day. Sending photos of the pages or your notes to a family member leaves a dated record on their side. Emails to the school also show you were concerned at the time.
  • Photograph the pages the same day and fix the photo with a third-party timestamp.
  • Get a certified date (kakutei hizuke) at a notary office, for ¥700 per document; ask the notary office which documents qualify.

These show that the note (or photo file) existed by that time at the latest, not that what it says is true or exactly when it was written (fixing an old note later gives the later date). Still, notes fixed on the day of each incident, over many days, answer the doubt that they were made up later. See how to prove when a photo was taken.

Can recordings be used as evidence?

Recordings show taunts and abuse word for word, with the tone. Verbal bullying easily turns into "he said, she said," and law firms experienced in bullying cases describe recordings as the best evidence for it.

  • In civil cases, recordings made without consent are often admitted. Lawyers cite a Tokyo High Court judgment of July 15, 1977, holding that evidence can be used unless collected by markedly antisocial means. Law firms experienced in bullying cases explain that recordings a bullied child makes to show their own harm are not treated as illegally obtained evidence, and some list giving a child a voice recorder or phone to record what happens at school as one way to collect evidence.
  • But not every recording is acceptable. Lawyers also cite a case where repeatedly recording other people's conversations without consent was found to invade privacy and the person recording was ordered to pay damages (Osaka District Court, December 7, 2023, in a company break room). Don't leave a recorder where your child isn't present to record other people's conversations.

If your child records

  • Your child's safety and feelings come first. If others notice the recording, the device may be taken or the bullying may get worse. If your child is anxious or unwilling, don't ask. A diary or notes work without recordings.
  • Check the school's rules. Each school decides whether phones or recorders can be brought in. If unsure, ask a lawyer first, or tell the school you'd like your child to carry one for records.
  • Only scenes your child is in: conversations your child is part of, or what is done to them.
  • Keep it whole and unedited. Save the original file and a copy elsewhere, and note the date, place and roughly at what minute the key remarks come.
  • Don't publish or share recordings that include other children's voices or images. Use them only with the school, a lawyer or the police.

Recording meetings with the school

The basic rule is to keep a record of every exchange with the school so it doesn't come down to who said what. Law firms advising parents recommend recording all exchanges (calls, letters, emails) and attending meetings with more than one person on each side to avoid misunderstandings.

  • After each meeting, note the date, place, who attended, what was discussed, the school's answers, and who will do what by when.
  • After the meeting, email the school a summary and ask them to tell you if they understood anything differently, so the record exists on both sides.
  • If you want to record, it's safest to say first, "May I record this for our records?" MEXT's Guidelines also say that when schools explain things to parents before a serious-case investigation, recording with consent is an option. A law firm writing from the school side says secret recordings are unlikely to be ruled illegal, but can antagonize the other side and make talks harder. If the school says no, take notes and confirm by email as above.

If you have little or no evidence

Many parents have only what their child said, with no screenshots or photos. There are still things you can do.

  1. Go to the school anyway. A school that is told must take steps to check the facts (Article 23(2)). The Basic Policy and Guidelines say that if a child or parent reports serious harm caused by bullying, the school must report and investigate it as a serious case, even if it thinks at that point that the harm wasn't caused by bullying. The Guidelines also say that failing to confirm bullying is not, on its own, a reason to say it isn't a serious case.
  2. Start recording today, following Recording what your child tells you and Keeping a diary or notes.
  3. Write down past events while you remember them, dated today and marked as written from memory.
  4. Look for records that already exist: chats and photos on your child's phone, contact notebooks, visits to the nurse's office, absences and early departures, medical records, messages sent to family or friends at the time.
  5. Ask the school to use its own records. The Guidelines say school questionnaires, counseling records and earlier meeting notes are basic material for an investigation. The Basic Policy says information found through interviews and questionnaires to check the facts should be provided appropriately to the bullied child's parents.
  6. Get help outside the school (see Where to get help).

Even if told "there's no evidence," don't give up. Law firms experienced in bullying cases also recommend not concluding too quickly that there's "no evidence," checking whether records can still be made now, and asking the school to investigate.

How to approach the school

Tell them in writing, and keep a copy

  • Starting with the homeroom teacher is fine, but ask that it be shared with the school's anti-bullying organization. Law firms advise asking for an organizational response even if the homeroom teacher says "I'll handle it myself."
  • After telling them in person, send the same content by email or letter, and keep a copy. Include your child's name, grade and class; what has happened and since when (as far as you know; you can attach copies of your records); how your child is now; what you'd like the school to do (check the facts, keep your child safe, seating or classroom arrangements, report back the results); how to contact you; and roughly when you'd like a reply.
  • What schools are required to do: check the facts and report the results to the body running the school (Article 23(2)); support your child and guide the children who did it (Article 23(3)); and steps such as studying in a separate room (Article 23(4)). The Basic Policy says the principal is responsible for reporting the results to that body, and the parents of both the bullied child and the children who did it are to be contacted.
  • Don't let an apology be the end of it. The Basic Policy says bullying cannot be treated as resolved simply by an apology. For it to count as resolved, the bullying must have stopped for at least about 3 months, and the child must no longer feel distress. Keep watching how your child is, and tell the school if anything worries you.

Asking for a serious-case investigation

You can ask for an investigation as a serious bullying case (Article 28) when:

  • bullying is suspected of having caused serious harm to your child's life, mind, body or property (examples in the Basic Policy: attempting suicide, serious bodily injury, serious loss of money or property, developing a mental illness); or
  • bullying is suspected of having forced your child to miss school for a considerable period (30 days a year is the guide, but if the child has been absent continuously, the school or the body running it is to start investigating promptly, whatever the guide).

Then:

  • Your report is the starting point. As above, when a parent reports it, the school is to report and investigate it as a serious case.
  • Report it in writing. The Guidelines include a sample form for parents to describe the situation: the date, school and grade, type of serious case, whether there is a medical certificate and the diagnosis, whether a damage report was filed with the police, the absences, and an outline of the bullying (when, where, which children, what happened), and whom you'd like interviewed. The records you've kept fill in these boxes. The Guidelines also say schools must not delay by refusing phone or spoken reports because no such form was submitted.
  • You are entitled to information about the results. When the school or the body running it investigates, it is to provide the bullied child and parents with the facts and other necessary information appropriately (Article 28(2)).
  • If you're not satisfied with the investigation: for public schools, serious cases are reported through the board of education to the head of the local government, who can order a re-investigation if necessary (Article 30). For private schools, they are reported to the prefectural governor, who can do the same (Article 31).

If the school doesn't act

  • Go to the body that runs the school: the city, town or prefectural board of education for public schools, or the school corporation for private schools. When a school reports bullying, that body is to support the school, direct necessary measures, or investigate itself (Article 24).
  • Go to the Legal Affairs Bureau. According to the Ministry of Justice on the government's public relations site, a Legal Affairs Bureau that receives a consultation, through the Children's Human Rights 110 line or otherwise, may, depending on its content and after confirming the caller's wishes, investigate, mediate between the school and the parents, or ask the school to take necessary action.
  • See a lawyer. According to Houterasu, lawyers can go to the school with parents and negotiate to end the bullying. If talks with the school aren't going well, a lawyer can negotiate as your representative.
  • Wherever you go, record the date, who you spoke to and what was said.

When it's a crime: going to the police

MEXT's Basic Policy says some bullying should be treated as a crime and taken to the police early, and some must be reported to the police immediately. A MEXT notice of February 7, 2023, on thorough cooperation with the police in dealing with bullying, gives these examples of bullying to consult or report to the police:

  • Repeatedly hitting or kicking someone, calling it a game or a joke (assault)
  • Injuring someone with a knife or similar (injury)
  • Taking money, or making someone buy online game items, under threat of harm (extortion)
  • Stealing belongings or money (theft); breaking a bicycle or uniform (damage to property)
  • Forcing someone to do dangerous or distressing things (coercion)
  • Threatening to spread naked photos or videos online (intimidation)
  • Posting insults online naming someone (defamation, insult)
  • Telling someone to take and send naked or underwear photos or videos; sending or sharing in a group a classmate's naked photos or videos (child pornography offenses)

Some offense names and penalties have changed through later legal amendments; ask the police or a lawyer which applies.

  • Schools must consult or report to the police. For bullying that should be treated as a crime or is serious, the law requires schools to consult or report to the police (Article 23(6)), and the notice asks schools to do so even if they're unsure whether to handle it alone.
  • Parents can also go to the police. According to the notice, when a child or parent asks for the matter to be treated as a crime, the police are to accept the damage report immediately, unless it is clearly false or grossly unreasonable.
  • You can consult even if the other child is under 14. Acts by children under 14 are not punishable (Penal Code Article 41), but the notice gives examples of the police hearing from such a child and their parents and giving guidance.
  • Where to go: 110 in an emergency. For non-emergencies, your prefectural police's juvenile consultation desk or the police consultation line #9110. Bring your records (timeline, screenshots, URLs, photos, medical certificates).

When nude or underwear photos or videos are involved, every minute counts. The notice asks schools to consult or report such bullying to the police immediately to stop the harm spreading. A leaflet from the Children and Families Agency and others warns that sharing, forwarding or reposting photos or videos showing nudity, sexual body parts or underwear, including in LINE groups, can be a crime. Even for evidence, don't forward such images, show them to anyone, or upload them to any online service. Follow the police's instructions, including on how to keep them, and go right away (a police station, the sexual crime victim consultation line #8103, the Children's Human Rights 110 line 0120-007-110, or a One-Stop Support Center #8891).

Don'ts

  • Don't confront the other child or their parents alone, or go to demand an apology. It can lead to retaliation against your child or disputes between parents. The Children and Families Agency and MEXT guide lists a homeroom teacher telling the bullied child's parent to contact the other child directly as an inappropriate early response that contributed to bullying becoming serious. Go through the school.
  • Don't call in other families' children to question them. Leave fact-finding to the school's investigation.
  • Don't post about it on social media or expose names or images. Even if true, it may be defamation (Penal Code Article 230) or insult (Article 231). The others are children too, and information can't be taken back once it spreads.
  • Don't log into another child's account without permission, or get and use their ID and password. Logging in with someone else's ID and password without permission is banned by the Act on Prohibition of Unauthorized Computer Access (Article 3), punishable by up to 3 years' imprisonment or a fine of up to ¥1 million (Article 11).
  • Don't leave a recorder where your child isn't present. Secretly recording other people's conversations may invade privacy or be rejected as evidence.
  • Don't edit records, backdate them or keep only the convenient parts. It makes all your records look suspect. If you need to crop or blank out something before showing it, do it on a copy and keep the original.
  • Don't force your child to gather evidence or question them over and over. Your child's safety and wellbeing come before evidence.
  • Don't save, forward or share nude or underwear images, even for evidence. Go to the police right away.

What PEA can and can't do

PEA (Professional Evidence Authenticator), from Lumina Spark in Japan, checks an image for signs of AI generation or editing with several independent analyses and shows a grade from 1 to 10. It doesn't decide whether bullying happened.

Start with the free steps: write down what your child says, save full screens, see a doctor, and contact the school in writing. The school must check the facts even without complete evidence. PEA is an extra step, when you want to check a saved image for missing details, or fix its state at that point.

  • Use your own account as the parent if you use PEA for your child's situation (accounts are for the account holder only).
  • For LINE and social media screenshots, it lists whether what identifies the chat or post is shown: whether the image is a screenshot, the send time, the sender's account name or ID, the full screen, surrounding messages, and signs of cropping, so you can check for gaps before giving it to the school.
  • Check for signs that the screen was made with AI or edited.
  • Not claim that messages existed just because it found no traces. If someone changes what's on a screen before taking the screenshot, the image carries no trace of editing. So a screenshot with no traces gets at most Grade 6 (no signs of alteration), and the certificate states that whether the content shown really existed is outside its scope.
  • Give no grade when it has no basis for one. For a photo of a screen, or an image so compressed that nothing usable is left, it says "Not assessed (Grade –)" and suggests a human review.
  • Fix an image's state in a form others can verify. When you run a check, PEA records the file's SHA-256 hash and seals it with an Ed25519 digital signature and an RFC 3161 timestamp from a third-party time-stamping authority (the timestamp is the time of the check). Turn it into a certificate within 7 days (¥1,000 per image, charged in yen; international cards accepted), and the school, a lawyer or anyone else can check it by certificate number on PEA's public verification page.
  • Check photos of diary pages on the day you write them, since the timestamp is the time of the check. Keep the file you checked as it is.
  • Images only (JPEG, PNG, HEIC, up to 25 MB); audio recordings and videos can't be checked.

When checking images about your child:

  • Don't upload images showing more than needed of other children's faces or names, or the school's name. Choose only the images needed to show the bullying.
  • The certificate's verification page shows the file name. Rename files that contain your child's name or the school's name before checking them.
  • Never upload nude, underwear or other sexual images of children. Our terms prohibit it, and possessing or providing such images can be a crime. If such images are involved, go to the police right away, not to PEA (see When it's a crime).

PEA can't confirm whether bullying happened, who sent a message, whether what a message or diary says is true, or whether your child's account is accurate. It shows that the image file existed at the time of the check and hasn't changed since, plus the analysis results. The timestamp is not one accredited by Japan's Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications, and we can't promise how a school, board of education, the police or a court will treat the certificate. The account and certificate screens are in Japanese; browser translation works on them. Staff see an image only if you request a human review and consent, and free results are deleted after 7 days.

This article is general information about Japan, not legal advice.

Where to get help

  • The school: the homeroom teacher, grade head, vice principal, principal or school counselor. Schools have an anti-bullying organization (Article 22).
  • The body that runs the school: the city, town or prefectural board of education for public schools; the school corporation for private schools.
  • 24-Hour Children's SOS Dial (0120-0-78310): 24 hours, including nights and holidays, for children and parents; calls generally go to the local education board's consultation service (in Japanese).
  • Children's Human Rights 110 (0120-007-110): weekdays 8:30 to 17:15, staffed by Legal Affairs Bureau officials and human rights volunteers; free and confidential, and adults can call too. Consultations are also possible by email, LINE and letter (in Japanese).
  • Online posts: the Legal Affairs Bureau (Minna no Jinken 110-ban, 0570-003-110, or its online human rights counseling) advises on removal requests and asks providers to remove posts.
  • Childline (0120-99-7777): a phone line for children up to 18; daily 16:00 to 21:00 (closed over New Year), free, no name needed (in Japanese).
  • The police: 110 in an emergency. For bullying and crime, your prefectural police's juvenile consultation desk or #9110. For sexual harm, the sexual crime victim consultation line #8103 or a One-Stop Support Center (#8891).
  • Lawyers and Houterasu: for damages, criminal complaints or negotiating with the school, see a lawyer. The Houterasu Support Dial, 0570-078374 (weekdays 9:00 to 21:00, Saturdays 9:00 to 17:00), points you to the right service (in Japanese).

Help in English:

  • Human Rights Counseling for Foreign Nationals (Ministry of Justice): 0570-090-911, weekdays 9:00 to 17:00, in English and nine other languages through an interpreter; online counseling is also available in English.
  • Houterasu Multilingual Information Service: 0570-078377 (050-3754-5430 from IP phones and prepaid mobiles), weekdays 9:00 to 17:00: free information on legal procedures and where to consult.
  • Foreign Residents Support Center (FRESC) Help Desk: 0570-011000 (03-5363-3013 from IP phones or from abroad), weekdays 9:00 to 17:00.
  • TELL Lifeline: free counseling in English for anyone in Japan, by phone (0800-300-8355, toll-free) and by chat (daily from 16:00; ages 13 and over); hours vary by day, so check its website.

Frequently asked questions

What counts as evidence of bullying at a Japanese school?

Notes of what your child told you, written the same day in their own words; full-screen screenshots of LINE or social media messages showing the time and sender, with post URLs; photos of injuries and a medical certificate; damaged belongings; histories of money or game items taken; absence records; a diary; recordings of scenes your child is in; and exchanges with the school (contact notebook, emails, meeting notes). Since one record rarely settles things, combine different kinds.

What can I do if I have no evidence that my child is being bullied?

You can still go to the school. Under the Act for the Promotion of Measures to Prevent Bullying, it counts as bullying if your child feels mental or physical distress, and a school that is told must take steps to check the facts. If a parent reports serious harm or long absences, the school is to report and investigate it as a serious case. Start recording what your child says and how they are, with dates, and if the school doesn't act, go to the board of education, the Children's Human Rights 110 line or a lawyer.

Can my child record the bullying?

Law firms explain that recordings made by a bullied child of scenes they are part of can often be used as evidence even without the others' consent. But if the recording is noticed, the bullying may get worse, and schools have their own rules on bringing phones. Put your child's safety and feelings first, and don't ask if they're unwilling. Don't leave a recorder where your child isn't present to record other people's conversations. If unsure, ask a lawyer.

How do I keep evidence of bullying on LINE?

Take full-screen screenshots in sequence showing the date dividers, each message's time, the sender's name and the group name, and screenshot the sender's profile. You can also export the chat as text (Settings, then Export chat history). In Japan, senders can normally unsend messages within an hour (seven days for LYP Premium members), so save messages as soon as they arrive. Don't let your child argue back, and don't delete chats or leave groups.

Where can I go if the school doesn't act?

For public schools, the board of education; for private schools, the school corporation. Through the Children's Human Rights 110 line (0120-007-110), the Legal Affairs Bureau may investigate, mediate between the school and parents, or ask the school to act. In English, the Ministry of Justice's Human Rights Counseling for Foreign Nationals (0570-090-911) takes calls. For negotiations or damages, see a lawyer; the Houterasu Multilingual Information Service (0570-078377) can explain the options. For violence or extortion, go to the police.

Does the bullying law apply to international schools in Japan?

The Act covers elementary, junior high, high and similar schools under Article 1 of the School Education Act, including private ones. MEXT notes that while some international schools are recognized as Article 1 schools, most are approved as miscellaneous schools or are unaccredited, and those fall outside the Act's definition. Ask your child's school about its own anti-bullying policy; keeping records, and going to the police for crimes, apply in any case.

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