LINE Counseling

With communication methods becoming more diverse, a 2023 survey by the Institute for Information and Communications Policy of Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications indicates that teenagers spend an average of 3.9 minutes on phone calls, combining both mobile and landline usage, on weekdays. In contrast, they spend 9 minutes using remote conferencing systems or video calls, 15.6 minutes on email, and a significant 56 minutes on social media, highlighting the predominant use of social media. Particularly among teenagers, the rate of social media usage is notably higher compared to email usage. This data reveals that today’s children prefer using social media over phones or email, with the LINE app being used by 95% of teenagers.

What is LINE Counseling?

In light of this situation, LINE is increasingly being used as consultation services for children's concerns, including bullying.

Users can register as a friend on the LINE Official Account for consultation, and through LINE Chats on the account, users can discuss their concerns with counselors such as those certified as social media counselors.

Nagano Prefecture and Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture Provide LINE Counseling on Bullying

Bullying consultation services utilizing LINE opened by local governments were first implemented on a trial basis in Nagano Prefecture in September 2017, followed by Otsu City in Shiga Prefecture in November 2017. The services were designed to make it easier and more comfortable for children to seek advice on even the smallest concerns, to prevent problems caused by bullying and suicide, and to verify the counseling services using LINE, which was unprecedented at that time.

Nagano Prefecture—Bullying and Suicide Consultation

The dedicated LINE consultation account "Hitori de Nayamanaide @Nagano (Don't Worry Alone @ Nagano)," opened from September 10 to 23, 2017, received a total of 547 consultations from 390 junior and senior high school students in Nagano Prefecture, far exceeding the 259 telephone consultations received during the previous fiscal year.

Surprisingly, there were fewer consultations on bullying compared to telephone consultations (28.2% for telephone consultations compared to 9.8% for LINE Counseling). The types of consultations were clearly different: consultations on schoolwork and romantic relationships, which were counted as "other" consultations and accounted for 7.3% of telephone consultations, accounted for 47.8% of LINE Counseling.

These results can be taken as evidence that LINE was able to uncover a latent "desire for consultation" in children who suffer alone and may lead to efforts to resolve children's problems at a time when they can be solved and avoid serious situations.

Expansion to the Whole Country and Free Support for MEXT Initiatives

The cases in Nagano Prefecture and Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture have been highly evaluated, and the number of municipalities that have set up a contact point using LINE for counseling on bullying issues has spread throughout Japan.

"Project for Establishing Consultation Systems Utilizing Social Media, etc.," conducted by Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) between April 1 and December 31, 2018, received 11,039 consultations in a total of 30 municipalities (19 prefectures, 8 ordinance-designated cities, and 3 local governments). The most common type of consultation was on friendship (2,418 cases), followed by academic and future planning concerns (1,086 cases) and bullying problems (1,066 cases). 120 cases were transferred to telephone or face-to-face consultations after the cases were received through social media, and 21 cases were connected to support organizations. This indicates that social media plays a role in connecting children to appropriate counseling institutions benefiting from the characteristics of social media which present a lower psychological barrier for children to seek advice.

"Status of Efforts by Local Governments for the Project for Establishing Consultation Systems Utilizing Social Media, etc. (Summary)" | Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology(External website | Japanese only)

In FY2019, MEXT's "Project for Establishing Consultation Systems Utilizing Social Media, etc." was again implemented for youth residing in 30 municipalities.

LINE aims to work with MEXT to create an environment in which all youth throughout Japan can feel free to make consultations, thereby eliminating bullying and allowing them to engage in learning and other activities with peace of mind. Since FY2019, fees for LINE Official Accounts for this MEXT project have been waived, sharing operational expertise at the same time. The same support has been offered to municipalities launching similar counseling points resulting in the provision of free LINE Official Accounts to 49 counseling points in FY2019.

Offer of Cooperation to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's "Consultation Service Utilizing Social Media, etc. (Japanese only)

March 13, 2019: Offering cooperation to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (from left, then Vice Minister Tomoko Ukishima of the Ministry, and then President and Representative Director of LINE Corporation, Takeshi Idezawa)

Expansion of Consultation Content and Target Audience

Consultation services utilizing LINE are now being opened for a variety of purposes, including prevention of suicide and child abuse, counseling on social withdrawal, parenting, young pregnancy, domestic violence, sexual abuse, human rights, consumer issues, and single parenting.

Tokyo Metropolitan Government—Consultation on Child Abuse

From November 1 to 14, 2018, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government opened a dedicated LINE Counseling account, "Tokyo Hot LINE for Parents and Children," for the purpose of preventing child abuse. The number of consultations received during the period was 576 cases and 375 people, nearly 1.5 times the number of approximately 390 telephone consultations received during the same period.

Of note is that although the contact point was established to target young mothers, as many as 65 consultations were received from the children themselves, and 8 cases were handed over to the Child Guidance Office.

It became evident that establishing this counseling point holds significant value, as it allows mothers who cannot find time for extended consultations during childcare, as well as children troubled by abuse who wish to seek advice discreetly via LINE without alerting their parents, to reach out for support. The consultation service has been renamed to "Ko-Gokoro Oya-Gokoro Consultation @Tokyo (Child and Parent Consultation@Tokyo)" since August 2019, and is available throughout the year.

By collaborating to build consultation services using LINE, LY Corporation will continue to contribute to creating a society where individuals facing challenges are not isolated.

Detailed information about how counseling services using LINE contribute to society, including specific outcomes and social value (SROI: Social Return on Investment), can be found from this page (Japanese Only).

Inquiries regarding the introduction of LINE Counseling at municipalities are accepted here in Japanese.

Updated July 2025