Tag - expats

 
 

EXPATS

Masataka Yuhara, secretary-general of the Friends of Lee Teng Hui Association in Japan, which has been calling for "Taiwan" to be permitted as a place of origin in family registers.
JAPAN
May 14, 2025
Japan to recognize Taiwan as place of origin in family registration system
Residents of Taiwanese descent in Japan and their support groups have welcomed the change.
Trainees from Indonesia and Vietnam learn about the mechanisms of train doors using a model at East Japan Railway's training center in Shirakawa, Fukushima Prefecture, in March.
JAPAN / FOCUS
May 14, 2025
JR East to start training foreign nationals under new skills program
JR East aims to train around 100 people each year, and more than 10 railway operators have already expressed interest in joining the initiative.
Currently, Japanese nationals living abroad are required to receive residency certificates in person at overseas diplomatic missions even if applications are submitted online.
JAPAN
May 13, 2025
Japan to issue residency certificates online to nationals abroad
The Foreign Ministry said Monday that it will begin issuing residency certificates online to Japanese nationals living abroad through overseas diplomatic missions.
A recently enacted ordinance aimed at respecting individual differences in Sapporo has not been without controversy.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Apr 28, 2025
Sapporo enacts ordinance to foster diversity and inclusion
The number of foreign residents in Sapporo has doubled over the past decade, despite an overall population decline in the city.
Magokoro Yoshihira (center) is the managing director of Yui Associates, which operates the neighborhood fixtures of Sanya Cafe and Juyoh Hotel. Yusuke Takahashi (left) met Yoshihira during a difficult period in his life and now works as the cafe’s chef. Nancy Anne (right) has worked for over 10 years at Juyoh Hotel and enjoys the multicultural environment.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Apr 28, 2025
Reclaiming Sanya, one meal at a time
Since 2018, Sanya Cafe has been building community in one of Tokyo’s most colorful — and infamous — neighborhoods.
A sidewalk where a Japanese schoolboy was stabbed in Shenzhen, southern China, in September last year. China has executed a man, Zhong Changchun, over the fatal stabbing, it was learned Monday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 22, 2025
China executes man over fatal 2024 stabbing of Japanese boy in Shenzhen
The 10-year-old boy was stabbed as he was walking to a local Japanese school in September.
Customers line up patiently for some early-afternoon baked goods outside Truffle, which is located close to Hiroo Station on the Hibiya Line.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Apr 13, 2025
How to spend the perfect day in Hiroo, Tokyo’s expat enclave
A stroll through Hiroo reveals both the comforts of expat luxury and the quiet intrusions of a changing Tokyo.
Barbosa Anderson Robson
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 12, 2025
Brazilian man to face jury trial over murder of wife and child in Japan
The suspect, Barbosa Anderson Robson, is said to have stabbed his wife, Manami Aramaki, then 29, and their then 3-year-old daughter to death after discussing a divorce.
Noriko Shakti has been living in Goa, India, since 2020 and specializes in the tabla, a traditional hand drum from the Indian subcontinent.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Apr 12, 2025
Noriko Shakti: ‘Music reflects my journey and learnings’
The India-based DJ and producer talks about bridging Indian and Japanese traditions in electronic music and advocating for women’s representation in the industry.
Foreign residents who fail to renew their residential statuses before their expiry may find that they won’t be able to withdraw cash from their bank accounts.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 9, 2025
Banks freeze withdrawals for foreign nationals upon expiration of visas
The move is part of a government initiative to combat scams and fraud, the Financial Services Agency says.
Tokyo Humanities Cafe was launched in 2017 by Laurence Williams (left) and Alex Watson, professors at Sophia and Meiji Universities, respectively.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Apr 7, 2025
Tokyo Humanities Cafe feeds hungry minds
A free quarterly event invites everyone to explore what it means to be human.
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 31, 2025
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Since 2009, Ken Theriault has been keeping himself busy maintaining Costco's American charm and catering to the needs of the Japanese consumer as the wholesaler's boss in Japan.
The Immigration Services Agency in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2025
Imabari Shipbuilding loses technical intern certification
The firm will be unable to accept foreign trainees for the next five years.
Johan Leutwiler checks a sword he made at his workshop studio in the Kui district of Mihara, Hiroshima Prefecture.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Mar 24, 2025
Japan's first foreign swordsmith opens workshop in Hiroshima Prefecture
Johan Leutwiler hopes to promote the charm of Japanese swords following the completion of his five-year apprenticeship.
The Fukuoka Prefectural Police Headquarters. Between October 2022 and late September 2023, a Chinese couple developed about 2,300 square meters of land owned by 21 individuals without their consent and opened a campsite, according to police.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 21, 2025
Chinese couple arrested for opening campsite at historic Fukuoka ruins
A city official first spotted prefab huts erected at the castle ruins around October 2022 and demanded their removal, but the couple refused to comply, according to police.
Okayama goalkeeper Svend Brodersen reaches for the ball against Urawa's Thiago Santana (front) at Saitama Stadium on March 8.
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 18, 2025
Manga-loving German goalkeeper finds peace, and himself, in Japan
Svend Brodersen moved to Japan in 2021 and now plays for top-tier J. League side Fagiano Okayama, but he admits that initially he felt like he was "on another planet."
Sources say a hui suo — a private club, which in Japan caters mainly to Chinese businesspeople — will soon open on the upper floors of the Moutai Building in the Ginza district of Tokyo.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 16, 2025
Private clubs quietly open in Tokyo for free-spending Chinese businesspeople
With the economy weak in China and opportunities harder to come by there, more wealthy individuals have been flocking to Japan.
Artist Adrian Steckeweh 3-D prints otherworldly clothes and accessories for himself, in a way augmenting his reality with tangible objects.
CULTURE / Art
Mar 16, 2025
Augmented reality artist Omega C navigates a precarious scene for XR art
Just this year, XR art featured heavily in the digital art festival Dig Shibuya and is the focus of the ongoing “Machine Love” exhibition at Mori Art Museum.
Professor Hu Shiyun of Kobe Gakuin University
JAPAN
Mar 14, 2025
Chinese professor returns to Japan after going missing in China
It is not known whether Hu Shiyun, who went missing after entering China in summer 2023, had been detained by Chinese authorities.
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2023
Charges dropped again over death of detained Sri Lankan woman
The decision by the Nagoya District Prosecutor's Office effectively ends its probe into the case of Ratnayake Liyanage Wishma Sandamali.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?