Tag - foreign

 
 

FOREIGN

Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo speaks during an interview in Pasay City, Metro Manila, on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 17, 2024
Philippines eyes hosting 'two-plus-two' security talks with Japan this year
The countries' foreign and defense ministers will likely meet toward the middle or second half of the year, with a key security pact on the agenda.
Firefighters remove rubble from the former site of a market in Wajima in Ishikawa Prefecture on Jan. 6, after a fire broke out following a strong earthquake that struck the Noto Peninsula and surrounding areas on Jan. 1.
JAPAN
Feb 15, 2024
Foreign firefighters stifled by Japanese bureaucracy
Ambiguous rules have left some firefighters confused about how their much-needed abilities can be utilized.
Facing severe shortages of drivers, Japan will offer tests for driver's licenses for taxis and buses in foreign languages to attract more foreign nationals to the sector.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 11, 2024
Japan taxi and bus driver's license tests to go multilingual
The National Police Agency will issue sample exam questions nationwide in 20 languages by the end of March.
Foreign tourists in the city of Tottori in November
JAPAN / Society
Feb 10, 2024
Most Japanese outside major urban areas say they do not engage with foreign nationals
Of the people who gave valid responses, 83.8% said they do not have regular exchanges with the foreign nationals who live alongside them.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida discusses a new foreign worker system, in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 9, 2024
Japan to end technical intern program and allow transfers to new jobs
A planned new system will focus on securing and developing essential workers from abroad to tackle the country's current labor shortage.
Opening up to foreign workers may ultimately be Japan’s best hope for stemming a rapid population decline.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 7, 2024
Record 2 million foreign workers are changing the face of Japan
Opening up to job seekers from abroad may ultimately be the country's best hope of stemming a rapid population decline.
A team of volunteers from the Non-Resident Nepali Association in Japan serves curry to evacuees in Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Jan. 13.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 6, 2024
Support helps lift spirits of foreign residents in quake-hit areas
Ishikawa Prefecture is home to around 16,500 foreign residents, and multilingual hotlines were set up shortly after the quake to provide vital information.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi during a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office on Monday
JAPAN
Feb 5, 2024
Classified Japanese diplomatic info leaked after Chinese cyberattacks
Japan has lagged behind other developed countries in the development of its cybersecurity defenses.
Foreign Minister Yōko Kamikawa will likely face some institutional challenges in achieving quick and meaningful progress in advancing the United Nation's Women, Peace and Security initiative.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 2, 2024
Japan unveils task force for gender-inclusive security issues
U.N. mandate spurs Japan into action with new task force aimed at enhancing women's roles in global conflict resolution.
There are currently over 35 million digital nomads around the world, with a collective economic value of $787 billion.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 2, 2024
Japan's digital nomad visas to require ¥10 million in income
People from 49 countries and territories will be able to stay in Japan under the “specified activities” visa category.
Rescue workers look for missing people in collapsed houses in the aftermath of the  earthquake that struck Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, and the surrounding areas on Jan. 1.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 30, 2024
No one left behind: Japan needs to work on its multicultural disaster response
The Noto earthquake has put into relief, once again, the need to cater disaster responses and preparedness to everyone, including foreigners.
Taro Aso, vice president of the Liberal Democratic Party, makes a speech in Ashiya, Fukuoka Prefecture, on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 30, 2024
Japan foreign minister brushes off controversial remarks by Taro Aso
Yoko Kamikawa appeared unfazed after Aso called her an old lady and said she's "not that good looking.”
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa vows to promote a "mutually beneficial" relationship with China in a diplomatic policy speech on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 30, 2024
Japan foreign minister wants 'mutually beneficial' ties with China
Kamikawa also expressed wariness over intensifying military cooperation between China, Russia and North Korea.
Subash Rijal (center) meets with colleagues in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, in September.
BUSINESS
Jan 30, 2024
Municipalities turn to Asian IT talent to beat big-city rivals
Almost 90% of domestic companies surveyed said they are struggling to hire the people they need.
Vietnamese people take Japanese lessons in Hanoi in June 2023 before heading to Japan to work.
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2024
Number of foreign workers in Japan surpasses 2 million for first time
Tokyo has the largest population of foreign workers, followed by Aichi and Osaka prefectures.
Jumpei Yasuda (second from left) was taken captive by an armed group for about three years and four months after entering Syria from Turkey for news coverage in 2015.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 26, 2024
Japan's passport denial for ex-captive journalist ruled illegal
The presiding judge ruled that the denial of a passport for Jumpei Yasuda was illegal, as it represented an abuse of the government's discretionary power.
A minibus that crashed into a telephone pole in Kasuya, Fukuoka Prefecture, on Thursday
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2024
20 people injured in southwest Japan bus crash
The 13 women and seven men were taken to a hospital following the accident at around 6:30 a.m. They were all conscious and did not have life-threatening injuries.
A police officer examines the area around a house in Tokyo's Adachi Ward on Friday after the bodies of a couple with stab wounds were found in the house.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 23, 2024
Filipino man arrested over bodies found under Tokyo home
He appears to be an acquaintance of the former girlfriend of the deceased couple's son, the police said.
Jiho Yoshimizu (right), representative of a support group for Vietnamese trainees in Japan, listens to a Vietnamese trainee seen in the monitors speaking online in October about her experience of having been instructed by an intermediary organization to undergo contraceptive treatment.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 22, 2024
Vietnamese trainees in Japan pressured to have contraceptive treatment
In many cases, intermediary organizations advised Vietnamese trainees that they would be sent home if they got pregnant.
Tokyu Bus Corp. President Takashi Furukawa wants to set a precedent for fellow bus operators that are in desperate need of drivers, drawing on his experience working in Vietnam, where he once helped introduce Japanese know-how in running transportation services.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Jan 20, 2024
Tokyo bus operator banks on foreign drivers as shortage looms
Tokyu Bus Corp. President Takashi Furukawa wants to set a precedent for fellow bus operators that are in desperate need of drivers.

Longform

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.
Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree