Tag - immigration​

 
 

IMMIGRATION​

Vietnamese staff work at a seafood processing firm in Yamada, Iwate Prefecture.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 17, 2023
86% of municipalities across Japan want more foreign workers, survey says
The poll underscores the serious shortage of workers in farming and other key sectors as the country grapples with a declining population.
Delivery trucks at a parking area along the highway in Chiba Prefecture in April
JAPAN / Society
Sep 14, 2023
Japan set to expand visa framework to tackle driver shortage
The planned expansion of the visa framework is to attract foreign nationals to the logistics industries and to address the driver shortage problem.
Milthun Shrestha (left) works as a rafting guide on the Yoshino River in Miyoshi, Tokushima Prefecture, on July 28. Shrestha says his salary in Japan is five times as much as it is in Nepal.
COMMUNITY
Sep 5, 2023
Nepalese workers proving invaluable to labor hungry Japan
Many work as rafting guides, hotel employees, airport staff and other behind-the-scenes workers at bustling holiday destinations.
A residential compound near the Orlen refinery on the outskirts of Plock, Poland
WORLD / Society
Aug 28, 2023
After weaponizing immigrants, Europe’s east finds it needs them
Economic reality has caught up with some of the most vitriolic anti-immigrant rhetoric on the continent.
The Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau in Tokyo
JAPAN / Society
Aug 21, 2023
Japan plans to move some residency applications online by 2025
The expansion of online services is part of the Immigration Agency's efforts to meet the Digital Agency’s plan of achieving a “digital society” by 2025.
Technical trainees from Vietnam work at a knitwear factory in the city of Mitsuke, Niigata Prefecture, in February 2019.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 6, 2023
Japan is bringing in more foreign nationals than you think
Japan isn’t an outlier when it comes to low fertility rates, merely a front-runner.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida have agreed on Japan's visa exemption for Brazilian visitors during their summit in May.
JAPAN
Aug 10, 2023
Japan to give Brazilians visa-free entry for short stays
Japan will allow Brazilian tourists to visit the country on short stays without visas starting Sept. 30, the government said Thursday, creating a reciprocal entry exemption between the two nations following a summit earlier this year.
Ryuzaburo Mizuno, who was born in Brazil seven years after the Great Kanto Earthquake, holds a photo of his family.
COMMUNITY / Issues
Aug 7, 2023
A diaspora remembers the disaster that forged it
There is a significant Brazilian community in Japan, but 100 years ago a major disaster spurred the growth of a Japanese community in Brazil.
The Tokyo Regional Immigration Services Bureau in Minato Ward
JAPAN / Society
Aug 4, 2023
Foreign minors born, raised in Japan to be eligible for residency
The move comes in response to a controversial revision to the asylum law that was passed earlier this year.
Migrants sit onboard an inflatable boat before attempting to illegally cross the English Channel to reach Britain, off the coast of Sangatte, northern France, on July 18.
WORLD
Aug 4, 2023
Migrant boat rescue missions do not encourage crossings, study shows
The finding contradicts claims that ships that save migrants in the Mediterranean incentivize people to risk their lives trying to get to the EU.
Migrants at a base near Tripoli hand out food to other migrants after they were detained by the Libyan navy in September 2015.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 2, 2023
An immigration wake-up call
Well-designed immigration policies in advanced economies could ease inflationary labor-market shortages and preventing humanitarian tragedies.
After Russia invaded Ukraine last year, Alexey Sossinsky left with two suitcases in the middle of the night. But as it did decades ago, exile still makes him feel restless.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 2, 2023
A Russian mathematician finds himself in exile once again
Alexey Sossinsky's family story is a microcosm of Russia's history of upheaval, war and repression going back more than a century.
The Tokyo Regional Immigration Services Bureau in Tokyo's Minato Ward. Two Russian women in their 20s have been granted student visas without first returning to their home country because of their political views.
JAPAN
Jul 30, 2023
Japan grants long-term visas to two Russians opposed to Ukraine war
The women would normally be required to leave Japan, as short-term status can't be changed unless there are "exceptional circumstances."
People gather in the center of the capital city of Thimphu, Bhutan, in December 2017.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 28, 2023
Bhutan's employment woes drive exodus to Australia
Student migration to Australia from Bhutan has soared, with over 12,000 long-term arrivals moving there in the 11 months to May alone.
Migrants are seen on a metal boat as members of the Tunisian coastguard try to stop them at sea during their attempt to cross to Italy, off Sfax, Tunisia, on April 27.
WORLD
Jul 28, 2023
Tunisia says 900 migrants drowned off its coast this year
Tunisia has become a major gateway for irregular migrants and asylum-seekers attempting the perilous sea voyages in often rickety boats in the hopes of a better life in Europe.
An accommodation center for refugees from Ukraine in Berlin in May
WORLD / Society
Jul 21, 2023
Europe struggles to convert Ukraine migration into labor boon
Obstacles ranging from lack of child care facilities to reluctance to recognize non-European academic and vocational qualifications has left vacancies unfilled.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2023
Japan loses No. 1 spot in powerful passport rankings
Japan, which had occupied the No. 1 position for five straight years, fell to third place in the latest quarterly report of the Henley Passport Index.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 10, 2023
Japan's fertility rate is likely even lower than it seems
The official statistic doesn't include foreign mothers, meaning children born to them and Japanese men are treated as if they were born to Japanese women.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 1, 2023
Survivors of Greece boat disaster say coast guard tow toppled boat
A disastrous coast guard towing attempt was recounted in six of the nine statements from survivors submitted to Greek judicial officials investigating the causes of the tragedy.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 28, 2023
Hong Kong exiles in U.K. say they are 'living in fear' of Beijing
Following Beijing's crackdown on pro-democracy protests in 2019 and a sweeping security law imposed the following year, London has granted 166,000 visas to people from its former colony.

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