TOKYO - In Japan’s izakaya pubs, people drink and discuss the usual topics including sports and politics. But one group of fathers on the outskirts of Tokyo drinks beer while talking about the fact that their children don’t want to go to school.

One Saturday evening at the end of September, eight men gathered at an izakaya, each nursing a drink and taking turns telling the group the latest updates about their kids who refuse to go to school.

Called “Oyaji-no-Kai” (Dads’ Meetups), the gathering in Ebina, Kanagawa Prefecture, brings together fathers every other month to share concerns about their children and explore what a healthy family life might look like.

A record-high 353,970 primary and secondary school students in public and private schools missed 30 or more days of school in fiscal 2024, according to a survey by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

It was the 12th consecutive year of increase in the number. Some are at risk of becoming “hikikomori,” or social recluses, who are estimated to have numbered 1.46 million based on a 2022 survey by the Cabinet Office.

Reasons for school absence vary. In the education ministry survey, elementary, junior high, and high schools reported a total of 769,022 cases of bullying. Of these, 1,405 were classified as “serious incidents” involving physical harm or prolonged absences, marking the highest number on record for both categories.

While parent groups for these children are on the rise, most participants are mothers, with few gatherings such as Oyaji-no-Kai dedicated to fathers.

“Being able to talk about this has really broadened my perspective,” said one father. His eldest son, a middle schooler, had begun resisting going to school in the upper grades of elementary school and eventually stopped attend...