Laid-off expat bankers struggle to find new jobs in high-cost Hong Kong
For years, Hong Kong was a hotspot with plum jobs for overseas bankers as global firms hired aggressively. But many recently laid-off bankers in the city are finding that cost-cutting and a demand for Mandarin speakers have diminished the opportunities for expats in Asia's ...
Friction growing in Osaka over rising foreign population
The guests from the gala Group of 20 conference may be gone, but Osaka continues to garner attention in the media. Nishinari Ward, an arguably sordid section of the city perhaps best known for its large population of day laborers, is on the verge of ...
Welcome to Tokyo's 'Little Nepal': A microcosm of Japan's evolving identity
An area of Suginami Ward has attracted Nepali immigrants looking for good schooling, security and opportunity.
Vietnam eager to work with Japan to help fill labor gap under new visa program
Vietnam is eager to deepen its cooperation with Japan in the field of labor dispatch, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has said. In a written interview with media organizations Wednesday, Phuc expressed his appreciation for Japan's introduction in April of a new visa program ...
Filipino worker with new visa category reflects on opportunities and challenges of living in Japan
Overseas workers in April took the first-ever exam for the newly introduced Specified Skilled Worker visa category. One of them — aspiring hotel worker Magil Farah Piastro, a Filipino woman who took the written and practical exam in Nagoya — said, “I want to work ...
New law holds government responsible for teaching Japanese to all foreign residents
The legislation places the onus for providing learning opportunities on the state but does not contain any concrete measures to fund.
Japan to allow foreign students to apply to switch visa and start their own companies
The government on Tuesday made a decision on a regulatory reform measure to allow foreign students to start their own companies. With the revision, foreign students will be able to switch their residence status while at university to one that allows them to undertake entrepreneurial ...
Japanese, Italian, Korean? I'm all of these
One question I have always found difficult is, "Where are you from?" While most people I meet are able to answer it with a single word — Japan, England, India — for me the answer is a lot more complicated. The question itself is innocent ...
Coming to Japan to escape alcohol is risky, but help is available
When Casey "dropped dead" on his kitchen floor, he realized he hit rock bottom. Luckily, he got the support he needed to get his drinking problem under control.
Rules revised to ensure time in Japan under new Type 1 visa won't count toward permanent residency
The Immigration Services Agency on Friday revised its guidelines for granting permanent residency permits to foreign nationals to assuage concerns that newly introduced visa categories could lead to a surge in permanent foreign residents. The new guidelines exclude the time spent in Japan under the ...
347 pass Japan's foreign worker exam for jobs in the food service industry
Nearly 350 of the first group of non-Japanese nationals applying for newly created visas to work in Japan's food service industry have passed a qualifying exam, the implementing body has said. The Organization for Technical Skill Assessment of Foreign Workers in Food Industry said Tuesday ...
Chinese trainee on Japan's technical intern program gets suspended prison term for abandoning baby
A 22-year-old Chinese trainee in the technical intern program was given a suspended prison term for abandoning her newborn son last December for fear of being sent back home.
