Tag - expats

 
 

EXPATS

Located near the Imperial Palace, the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan prides itself on the accessibility of its events and the support it offers to budding and established journalists. The club is currently headed by Dan Sloan, a former reporter for Reuters.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Nov 17, 2025
Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan celebrates 80 years at the forefront of press freedom
Since its founding in 1945, the club has been an important professional hub and played host to a startling array of political and cultural figures from around the world.
A Saitama district court sentenced Deng Hongpeng, a Chinese national and demolition worker, to two years and six months in prison, suspended for four years, for hitting a group of elementary school children with his car and fleeing the scene while driving under the influence.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 13, 2025
Chinese national sentenced for hit-and-run that injured four children in Saitama
Demolition worker Deng Hongpeng was driving under the influence and struck a group of ten children, injuring four sixth-grade boys.
Florist Nicolai Bergmann shops for fresh flowers at the Ota flower market in Tokyo on Friday.
LIFE / Style & Design
Nov 11, 2025
Florist Nicolai Bergmann flourishes outside the box
“The flower business, as I see it, has no limits,” says the Danish florist famous for creating the “flower box” 25 years ago.
A maiko walks down a street crowded with tourists in Kyoto. Challenges that come with a massive influx of overseas visitors and foreign nationals buying up real estate are just some of the immigration problems that have become hot-button political issues in Japan.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 11, 2025
Government and bad actors are at the root of the foreign national issue
Japan has experienced an explosive increase in overseas tourists since the COVID-19 travel restrictions were lifted, and its global appeal as a travel destination has grown.
After a peripatetic childhood around the world, teacher and artist Jon Homewood ended up coming to Japan in 2012 for a professional opportunity.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Nov 8, 2025
Jon Homewood: ‘There’s beauty in what we throw away’
Using aluminum cans as his medium, the Tsukuba-based British artist creates intricate sculptures that take months or longer to complete.
"Palaver" takes place almost entirely in Tokyo, particularly in Shinjuku Ward and areas including Shinjuku Ni-chome and Shin-Okubo.
CULTURE / Books
Nov 7, 2025
‘Palaver’: A queer story set in Tokyo searches for a home for the heart
A finalist for this year’s National Book Award for Fiction in the U.S., Bryan Washington’s “Palaver” is a gentle exploration of leaving and arriving.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attends a ministerial meeting on policies regarding foreign nationals and immigration on Tuesday at the Prime Minister's Office.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 4, 2025
Takaichi leads first ministerial meeting on policies regarding foreign residents
The government envisions a tougher crackdown on visa overstayers, as well as on foreign residents who fail to pay social insurance premiums.
Indonesian students at Hiroshima University hold posters of the 17+8 Demands, demanding transparency and action from their homeland’s government.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Nov 1, 2025
Young Indonesians in Japan find their political voice
From Hiroshima to Tokyo, Indonesian diasporic communities in Japan are expressing their support for compatriots back home and building solidarity online and offline.
"The aim is to address public anxiety and a sense of injustice, not to exclude foreigners," Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said at a news conference on Friday at the Prime Minister's Office.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 31, 2025
Japan's ministers likely to discuss policy for foreign nationals next week
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has made addressing issues related to foreign nationals one of her key policy agendas.
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.

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo