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September 18, 2025
 

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WORKERS

Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yoshihiko Noda said it is obvious that Japanese society could not function without the help of foreign workers in manufacturing, health care, construction and public transportation.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 17, 2025
CDP leader criticizes ‘Japanese First’ policy and calls for inclusive society
Foreign residents are critical to maintaining Japan’s economy, said Yoshihiko Noda, as he issued a call on the campaign trail for a multicultural society that respects minorities.
The new administrative body would serve as a cross-agency "control tower" to respond to issues such as crime and overtourism involving foreign nationals, according to the government.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 15, 2025
Japan launches government body to address concerns over foreign nationals
The body will serve as a cross-agency "control tower" to respond to issues such as crime and overtourism involving foreign nationals, the government said.
The Sanseito party, led by Sohei Kamiya, is surging in the polls with anti-immigration talk, but its rise is likely just a short-lived protest vote rather than the start of lasting right-wing populism.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 15, 2025
Japan’s right-wing fringe is no MAGA or reform movement
The Sanseito party is surging in polls with anti-immigration talk, but its rise is likely just a short-lived protest vote rather than the start of lasting right-wing populism.
After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
COMMUNITY / Issues / Longform
Jul 14, 2025
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan
Remote work is reshaping how Indian professionals navigate life, family and identity in a post-pandemic Japan.
Sanseito head Sohei Kamiya holds a board that reads "Japanese First" in Tokyo on July 2. In a joint statement on Tuesday, eight human rights nongovernmental organizations described the far-right party's stance as "hate speech."
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 9, 2025
NGOs condemn rise in anti-immigrant rhetoric ahead of Upper House vote
Sound bites such as “Japanese First” and “revision of preferential treatment for foreigners" illustrate a worrisome trend, they said in a statement.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers a campaign speech next to a Liberal Democratic Party candidate for the Upper House (top center left) in Yokohama on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 7, 2025
Foreign nationals' presence in Japan emerges as key issue in Upper House poll
In their campaign promises, parties are offering different solutions to problems caused by the record number here to visit, work and invest in real estate.
Shingo Kato, assistant manager at Homechigiru Driving School in Ise, Mie Prefecture, rides in a training vehicle with a smartphone equipped with the school’s translation app.
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Jun 30, 2025
Translation apps help break language barriers at Chubu driving schools
Some driving schools have refused enrollment of foreign nationals with limited Japanese skills, sources have said.
Miho Koshiba started her career in finance before she founded the Mirai Institute, a think tank that operates the Midori.so coworking space with an ever-growing cosmopolitan community across seven locations in Tokyo.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Jun 28, 2025
Miho Koshiba: ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if people looked forward to Mondays?’
The cofounder of the Midori.so coworking space shares her inspirations and aspirations for career and community.
Upper House lawmaker Hirofumi Yanagase in his office on June 9. Last month in parliament, he urged the criteria for naturalization to be revised.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 20, 2025
Calls to make naturalization more difficult emerge in parliament talks
Naturalization requires applicants to have lived in Japan for at least five consecutive years, or half of the duration required for permanent residency.
Parliament passed a revised pension reform bill aimed at strengthening basic pension benefits.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 13, 2025
Parliament enacts revised pension reform bill
The legislation passed the House of Councilors by a majority vote.
Serious labor shortages in the bus and taxi industries have prompted the government to consider easing language requirements for non-Japanese drivers.
JAPAN
Jun 11, 2025
Eased language requirement proposed for non-Japanese bus and taxi drivers
Currently, foreign nationals wanting to work as bus or taxi drivers are required to have the N3 level of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during ministerial meeting meeting on foreign residents in Japan on Friday at the Prime Minister's Office.
JAPAN
Jun 6, 2025
Foreign tourists with unpaid medical bills in Japan to be denied entry
There have been growing calls for legislative reform to address unpaid medical fees and health care premiums — deficits filled by taxpayers' money.
A tax-free shop in Kyoto in April 2024. Last week, members of a Liberal Democratic Party study group drafted a proposal seeking to scrap the country's tax-free shopping system altogether.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 5, 2025
Japan eyes tougher rules for foreign residents and tax hike for tourists
Ideas range from stricter driver's license tests for foreign nationals to increasing taxes on foreign visitors.
The basic framework adopted by the government calls for measures to improve the employment situation of those in their 40s and 50s, and for steps to assist them in their later years.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 3, 2025
Japan government to boost support for job 'Ice Age' generation
The framework calls for measures to improve the employment situation of those in their 40s and 50s, and for steps to assist them in their later years.
Itsunori Onodera, policy chief of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, on Wednesday visited the city of Kawaguchi in Saitama Prefecture to address issues between Kurdish residents and locals, including illegal waste dumping.
JAPAN
May 29, 2025
LDP policy chief visits Kawaguchi over reported problems with Kurdish residents
The problems reported include illegal waste dumping and foreigners illegally working.
A former nonregular government employee, who cooked lunch for a public school in the Tohoku region, says she was dismissed after she was made to take an open recruitment exam.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Tohoku
May 19, 2025
Civil service contract workers fear lack of job security
Contracted civil servants are paid about half the salaries of regular staff or even less, and a fear of being dismissed hangs over their heads.
Four people have been arrested on suspicion of transferring a food delivery driver account to a foreigner who is not qualified to work in Japan.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 16, 2025
Four arrested for letting Uzbek use their delivery driver account illegally
The suspects were arrested for allegedly creating a Demaecan driver account under a Japanese name on Oct. 21, 2023, then transferring it to an Uzbek national.
Japan is considering adding three more sectors, including distribution warehouse management, to its program to grant residency status to foreign workers with what are being called "specified skills."
JAPAN
May 16, 2025
Japan eyes three more sectors for foreign workers program
The three sectors — distribution warehouse management, services supplying sheets and towels to hotels, and resource recycling — are struggling to secure workers.
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.
Those who entered the job market from around 1993 to 2004, when long-term stagnation started, are likely to struggle even more to make ends meet after retirement.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
May 7, 2025
Japan's 'ice age' employment generation is at risk of poverty during retirement
Due to low wages the generation tends to earn and protracted pension adjustments, many may end up relying on welfare benefits.
Haneda Airport security staff arrested over theft
Tokyo police have arrested a 21-year-old security inspector at Haneda Airport after he allegedly stole cash from a passenger during a baggage inspection.
Japan's elderly population down at around 36.2 million
The estimated number of people age 65 or older in Japan stands at 36.19 million as of Monday, accounting for record 29.4% of the country's total population, according to the internal affairs ministry.
SDF spots China’s biggest aircraft carrier for first time
The Fujian aircraft carrier is seen in Shanghai in May 2024 as it leaves for its first sea trial.
White House threatens broad crackdown on liberal groups
FBI Director Kash Patel (right) listens to senior White House adviser Stephen Miller speak in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Monday.
Why more hotels in Japan are offering room-only service
Nipponia Hotel Ise Kawasaki Merchant Town in Ise, Mie Prefecture
Japanese athletes inspired by raucous home fans at World Athletics Championships
Fans cheer on the home favorites during the women's marathon at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Sunday.
Pole vault rivals in awe after Duplantis has another historic night in Tokyo
Sweden's Armand Duplantis competes in the men's pole fault final during the World Athletics Championships at National Stadium in Tokyo on Monday.
Japan's major art events converge this fall
Shinji Ohmaki’s “Tokinokage” exhibited at Fuji Textile Week 2021 shows the use of fabric as art.
Tara Davis-Woodhall leaps to gold and finds redemption at world championships
Tara Davis-Woodhall celebrates after winning the women's long jump final at the World Athletics Championships at Tokyo's National Stadium on Sunday night.
An aesthetic escape to Hakone’s art-drenched hills
Between traditional examples of fine art and sleek, modern exhibitions that blend with nature, Hakone offers a unique escape from Tokyo's urban sprawl.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’
By Alex K.T. Martin

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