English news for Monday, September 21, 2026 (Respect for the Aged Day)

Japan's Cabinet Office, a part of Japan's government, has published a report^*1 on road safety. The report came out in June 2025. One part of it looks at road accidents in which elementary school children died or were badly hurt. Elementary school in Japan is the school for grades^*2 1 to 6.

The report counted the accidents from five years, 2020 to 2024. In those years, 1,875 children died or were badly hurt while they were walking. That is 55.6 percent^*3, more than half. Another 1,205 children died or were badly hurt while they were riding a bicycle. That is 35.8 percent, about one child in three. Together, walking and cycling make up about nine in ten of these accidents.

The report also looked at the children's grades. Walking accidents were most common in grades 1 and 2. There were 446 in grade 1 and 453 in grade 2. From grade 3, the number goes down. Bicycle accidents go the other way. They rise with each grade. Grade 6 had the most, with 282.

The report shows how the danger changes as children grow. Up to grade 3, more than half of the children were hurt while walking. In grade 4, walking was still the biggest group, but it was less than half. From grade 5, more than half of the children were hurt while riding a bicycle.

1. *1 report: a written paper that tells what someone found out
2. *2 grades: years of school; grade 1 is the first year
3. *3 percent: a part of 100; 50 percent is half