A new initiative to reduce the burden of elementary and junior high school students during their commute started in Asahi Town, Toyama Prefecture on 2023 June 19th.

This initiative was launched on a trial basis in response to concerns about the heavy load of belongings during students' commute. Starting from the 19th, Asahi Town implemented it for sixth-grade elementary students and junior high school students within the town.
At Tomisato Elementary School, students were seen carrying only tablet devices in their school bags instead of paper textbooks.
These tablet devices can be used for digital textbooks and also for communication with parents and conducting surveys.
According to the town's board of education, when examining the weight of students' belongings during their commute, on average, junior high school students carry about 10 kilograms and elementary school students carry about 5 kilograms. With this initiative, they expect to achieve a certain degree of weight reduction.
A male sixth-grade student said, "When I put textbooks in my bag, it becomes full and heavy. But today, it feels very light."
Families of the students also mentioned, "We believe that this initiative will greatly lighten the burden for the children."
The town will implement this initiative until June 23rd and continue to evaluate the challenges and consider full-scale implementation in the future.

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/lnews/toyama/20230619/3060013564.html