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October 29, 2025
 

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EXPATS

The traditional naginata is a long wooden pole with a curved blade at the end. Though the naginata used in the dojo were entirely bamboo, they nonetheless made for striking displays of power and agility.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Oct 27, 2025
Wielding a weapon of yore at a community dojo
An American in Tokyo embarks on a thrilling course in Japanese weaponry after noticing an advertisement in her ward newspaper.
At Nepalico, the "dal bhat" — a Nepali dish consisting of rice and lentils stewed with spices — with chicken curry is the most popular item on the menu.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 24, 2025
Lentil by lentil, Nepali food takes shape in Tokyo
The cuisine is emerging out of the shadow of Indian fare, thanks to a new breed of passionate chefs keen to introduce locals to South Asian dishes beyond butter chicken and naan.
A screenshot of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's international schools portal site
JAPAN
Oct 24, 2025
Tokyo launches English-language international school database
The initiative is intended to further improve the living environment for residents whose first language is not Japanese.
Florian Wiltschko’s interest in Shintoism began with a trip to Japan in his teens. He now serves as the supplicant priest at the 355-year-old Hisai Hachiman Shrine in Mie Prefecture.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Oct 24, 2025
Florian Wiltschko: ‘Shinto helps me understand and live within Japanese culture’
A Shinto priest from Austria talks about the origins of his spiritual journey and how he spends his days at a 355-year-old shrine.
Kimi Onoda, economic security minister and minister for harmonious coexistence with foreign nationals, arrives at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 23, 2025
New ‘immigration minister’ post signals Takaichi Cabinet’s priorities
The creation of a new post specifically for handling foreign residents shows how immigration is a key policy focus for the Takaichi Cabinet.
The byzantine process for converting a foreign driver’s license into a Japanese one entails mountains of paperwork and significant stamina — unless you're a lucky license holder from a country or region where these requirements are waived.
COMMUNITY / Issues / Longform
Oct 22, 2025
Driving in Japan isn’t hard. Getting the license is.
From the desperate and defeated to the blissful and breezy, readers share their experiences of getting a driver’s license in Japan.
The spread of discriminatory expressions through social media has emerged as a new concern.
JAPAN
Oct 20, 2025
Japan to conduct survey on online hate speech
The Justice Ministry will analyze discriminatory expressions posted on X and other major social media platforms.
The Tokyo High Court held that, “even taking the woman’s consent into account” for sharing her personal information, the officers breached their duty of care and acted unlawfully.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 17, 2025
Tokyo ordered to pay damages to South Asian woman over police response
A park dispute led police officers to provide the woman’s personal details to a man who went on to make abusive social media posts against her.
Jon Heese (second left) takes part in a 2024 New Year's nihonshu barrel opening ceremony.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 17, 2025
Why I chose Japanese citizenship over permanent residency
It may be adequate for some residents’ purposes, but when the chips are down, many will be shocked at just how few protections it offers.
Chris Glenn (right) will play Oda Nobunaga, known as one of Japan’s three great unifiers, in the 71st annual Nagoya Festival on Oct. 18 and 19.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Oct 17, 2025
A samurai-loving radio host prepares to become Oda Nobunaga for a day
Nagoya-based radio host Chris Glenn will portray warlord Oda Nobunaga, becoming the first non-Japanese to join the city’s historic parade.
Refugees and migrants, mostly from Syria and Afghanistan, crowd a platform at a train station in Budapest in September 2015. Hungary's focus on pro-natalist policies and minimal immigration has led to a significant improvement in its fertility rate compared to Japan.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 15, 2025
Asia can learn from Europe’s immigration mistakes
The result is dangerous confusion where legitimate policy debates about labor shortages become entangled with xenophobic fears about cultural invasion.
<i>Sashiko</I> dates to the Edo Period (1603-1868) and began as a technique that allowed working-class people to prolong the lifespan of their clothing.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Oct 13, 2025
Beauty in slowness: Life lessons from Japanese embroidery
After taking up the practice of sashiko stitching six years ago, a Chinese Canadian woman found an anchor in the traditional craft amidst major life transitions.
Foreign residents accounted for 3.21% of Japan's total population.
JAPAN
Oct 10, 2025
Foreign residents in Japan hit record 3.95 million
The number accounted for 3.21% of the country's total population as of the end of June.
There has been a rapid rise in the number of business manager visa holders in recent years, triggering concerns that some are using it as an easy route to long-term residency rather than for genuine entrepreneurship.
JAPAN
Oct 10, 2025
Business management visa requirements to be tightened from next week
There has been a rapid rise in the number of business manager visa holders in recent years, triggering concerns some are merely using it as an easy route to long-term residency.
Shrunali Ranade moved to Japan in 2015 and has carved a niche for herself as both an engineer and a cricket player.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Oct 9, 2025
Shrunali Ranade: ‘Stepping back isn’t failure but another form of strength’
As an engineer and member of the women’s national cricket team in Japan, Shrunali Ranade has carved out her own niche over the past 10 years.
Campaign flags and posters featuring Sanae Takaichi, the newly elected leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, are displayed outside her constituency office in Yamatokoriyama, Nara Prefecture, on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 8, 2025
In hometown of Japan's 'Iron Lady,' supporters see a softer side
The hard-line conservative cites Margaret Thatcher, a divisive figure in British politics known as "the Iron Lady," as her hero.
Rice that was about to be illegally imported, seized at the container inspection center of the Osaka Customs Nanko Branch Office on Aug. 8 in Osaka Prefecture
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 7, 2025
Osaka couple arrested for attempting to import rice illegally
The suspects are alleged to have tried to import some 45 tons of rice from Vietnam, claiming it as mung beans.
A Swedish snowboard instructor works at the Niseko ski resort area on Hokkaido, in Kutchan, in December 2022
JAPAN / Society
Oct 4, 2025
A Japanese ski resort town is roiled by a debate over immigration
Residents are protesting a planned housing facility for foreign workers, exposing the conflict between labor needs and worries over immigration.
Officials of the Liberal Democratic Party, Komeito and Nippon Ishin no Kai hold talks on the tuition-free program for high schoolers at the parliamentary building on Friday.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 3, 2025
Ruling bloc and Nippon Ishin affirm foreigners' tuition-free ineligibility
Whether foreign students are eligible for the program will be decided on the basis of their respective residence status.
Sanseito leader Sohei Kamiya (center) with other parliament members from the party
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 3, 2025
What’s driving the far-right voters who shook Japanese politics
Sanseito’s slogan is "Japanese First,” and it campaigned on a mix of tax cutting, vaccine skepticism and restrictions on immigration and foreign investment.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell
Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
At first summit with Trump, Takaichi pledges 'new golden age' for alliance
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi raises her fist as U.S. President Donald Trump delivers a speech in front of U.S. Navy personnel on board the U.S. Navy's USS George Washington aircraft carrier at the American naval base in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Tuesday.
Trump arrives in Japan for security and trade talks in test for Takaichi
U.S. President Donald Trump is welcomed by Emperor Naruhito upon his arrival at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Monday evening.
Japanese firms keep expanding in Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia
A Nishiyama Seimen employee works at its factory in Sapporo.
Bear kills another person in Japan in record year for fatal attacks
Police investigate the scene of a bear attack that killed one person and injured three others on Friday in the village of Higashinaruse in Akita Prefecture.
Oasis returns to Tokyo: Rain, rapture and rock
Fans wait to get into the Oasis show at Tokyo Dome on Saturday. While lining up in the rain, some broke into impromptu versions of the British rock group's hits.
Kyushu banzuke sets the stage to cement 2025’s sumo narratives
Onosato ahead of his bout against Aonishiki at The Grand Sumo Tournament at the Royal Albert Hall in London on Oct. 18
Tokyo Film Festival opens with global stars and a spotlight on Asian storytelling
Director Junji Sakamoto (left) walked the Tokyo International Film Festival red carpet with Sayuri Yoshinaga (center) and Non (right), who both play mountaineer Junko Tabei, the first woman to summit Mount Everest, in the biopic "Climbing for Life."
Spanish artist and Japanese writer duos diversify the manga talent pool in Japan
"Menheim” is a dark fantasy manga with a story that centers on a girl’s quest to find a cure for her ill brother.
Japan’s youth are apathetic toward the climate crisis. Could anime change that?
“Future Kid Takara,” a series of anime shorts to be aired on NHK Educational TV in November, attempts to educate children about climate change.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell
By Alex K.T. Martin

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