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July 31, 2025
 

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PASSPORTS

Japanese passport holders have visa-free access to 190 destinations out of 227 globally.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 24, 2025
Japan ties with South Korea for second most powerful passport
Japan continues to hold the world’s second most powerful passport — tied with South Korea — according to a new global ranking.
New Japanese passports will be printed using laser technology based on banknote printing techniques, making forgery more difficult.
JAPAN
Mar 24, 2025
Applications for forgery-proof passports start in Japan
Passports issued for applications submitted from Monday onward will feature a new design.
The weak yen is often cited as one reason why many Japanese don't go abroad.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 25, 2025
Only 17% of Japanese people own passports, Foreign Ministry says
Around 3.7 million passports were issued domestically in 2024, a 8.8% increase from the year before but down 15.2% from prepandemic numbers in 2019.
Passengers walk past a sign directing them to specific lines for EU and non EU passports as they arrive at Dublin Airport in Ireland in September 2019.
WORLD / Society
Jan 11, 2024
These are the world’s most powerful passports in 2024
A decade ago, the two countries shared the top spot, but comparing this year’s list to the 2014 ranking reveals some other major shifts.
BUSINESS
Dec 19, 2023
Japan’s travel industry urges people to get their mighty passports
Japan’s passport gives visa-free entry to 192 global destinations, according to the latest Henley Passport Index.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
May 5, 2023
Japan Times 1923: Many tourists ignore Japan passport rule
Stories about tourists and immigrants abound in editions of The Japan Times from 1923, 1973 and 1998.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 11, 2023
These are the best passports for travelers to hold in 2023
Japan starts the year with the world's most powerful passport, allowing visa-free entry to 193 global destinations.
JAPAN
Feb 5, 2020
Japan to improve how its passports show birth names of married citizens
The Foreign Ministry will change the way it records birth names in passports for those who adopt the surname of their spouse, in order to display both names more clearly, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Wednesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Jul 31, 2019
Passports, maiden names, brackets: Japan Foreign Minister Taro Kono wades into a minefield
When Foreign Minister Taro Kono wrote on Twitter that he would order his ministry to look into the contentious issue of maiden names on passports in response to a tweet in early June, he may not have been aware of the minefield he was about to step into.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 25, 2019
'Creeping annexation': Putin confronts new Ukraine leader with rebel-zone passports
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree offering passports to people in breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine, triggering calls for more sanctions against Moscow from the incoming leadership in Kiev.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2019
Gender-neutral Canadian activist shows solidarity with Japan's LGBT communities
Gemma Hickey entered Japan this week with something no Japanese national can obtain — a gender-neutral passport in which the gender category shows neither female nor male, but an "X."
JAPAN
Feb 5, 2019
Journalist Kosuke Tsuneoka ordered to surrender passport in Tokyo on way to report on Yemen humanitarian crisis
At immigration control, an officer told Tsuneoka that his passport had been invalidated and that he was ordered to relinquish it — in effect banning him from leaving.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 10, 2018
Japan has the strongest passport in the world according to new Henley & Partners ranking
Passports carried by Japanese nationals allow holders to travel freely to 190 countries and territories, according to the latest study by the global law firm.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Deep Dive
Apr 19, 2018
Dual citizenship in Japan: A 'don’t ask, don’t tell' policy leaves many in the dark
Do you have to renounce citizenship? Do you switch passports at the airport? Has anyone ever been punished? Dual nationals tell their stories.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 12, 2018
Lawsuit challenges Japan's ban on dual citizenship
Plaintiffs sue Japan over its ban on dual nationalities, claiming they were unconstitutionally deprived of their Japanese citizenship upon becoming citizens of foreign countries.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Mar 12, 2018
Let's discuss passports and visas
Japanese and Singaporean passport holders have the greatest travel freedom worldwide, according to a survey.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 2, 2018
Japan ties with Singapore to top passport power ranking
Japanese and Singaporean passport holders have the greatest travel freedom worldwide, with visa-free access to a record 180 countries, according to a survey by the law firm Henley & Partners.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 28, 2018
Kim Jong Il and Kim Jong Un applied for Western visas using doctored Brazilian passports, sources say
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his late father, Kim Jong Il, used fraudulently obtained Brazilian passports to apply for visas to visit Western countries in the 1990s, five senior Western European security sources told Reuters.
Japan on edge but prepared for tsunami after huge Kamchatka earthquake
Police officers ask a man to evacuate from an empty beach following a tsunami warning, in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Wednesday.
Japan to start new residency system for foreign workers
Students hoping to work in Japan attend a Japanese class at a job placement company in Hanoi in October 2022.
Last soldiers of Imperial Japanese Army have a warning for younger generations
Kunshiro Kiyozumi, 97, who was the youngest crew member of the Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-58 in World War II, on his way to a restaurant to have lunch in Matsuyama, Japan, on April 29.
Japan marks highest-ever temperature of 41.2 C in Hyogo
Japan's temperature soared to a record 41.2 degrees Celsius in Tanba, Hyogo Prefecture, on Wednesday, surpassing the previous high of 41.1 C.
Japan should take all possible measures to raise wages, white paper says
Prolonged high prices for food and other goods have pushed down consumer sentiment and real wages, according to the Annual Report on the Japanese Economy and Public Finance for fiscal 2025.
Why Ishiba refuses to quit even amid intense pressure for him to go
Supporters of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba take part in a rally across the street from the Prime Minister's Office on Friday.
Behind the scenes at the Baseball Hall of Fame's new Yakyu/Baseball exhibit
“Yakyu / Baseball: The Transpacific Exchange of the Game” is set to remain on display in Cooperstown for at least five to 10 years — and possibly indefinitely.
Boys’ love dramas from Thailand make waves in Japan
Wakana, a Japanese fan of Thai BL, visits a temple in Thon Buri, Bangkok featured in the Thai adaptation of the Japanese series “Cherry Magic.” Her media consumption kindled an interest in Thai culture and language, and ultimately led her to relocate to Thailand. “I fell in love with the whole country,” she says.
Amid fossil fuel shift in U.S., hope emerges for India and Japan tie-up on solar
A technician works on the assembly line at a solar panel manufacturing hub on the outskirts of New Delhi last October.
Traditional Japanese swordsmanship — with modern matches
This year marked the eighth annual championship put on by the Hogyokukai school of traditional Japanese swordsmanship.

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