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July 04, 2026
 

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EXPATS

The spread of discriminatory expressions through social media has emerged as a new concern.
JAPAN
Oct 20, 2025
Japan to conduct survey on online hate speech
The Justice Ministry will analyze discriminatory expressions posted on X and other major social media platforms.
The Tokyo High Court held that, “even taking the woman’s consent into account” for sharing her personal information, the officers breached their duty of care and acted unlawfully.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 17, 2025
Tokyo ordered to pay damages to South Asian woman over police response
A park dispute led police officers to provide the woman’s personal details to a man who went on to make abusive social media posts against her.
Jon Heese (second left) takes part in a 2024 New Year's nihonshu barrel opening ceremony.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 17, 2025
Why I chose Japanese citizenship over permanent residency
It may be adequate for some residents’ purposes, but when the chips are down, many will be shocked at just how few protections it offers.
Chris Glenn (right) will play Oda Nobunaga, known as one of Japan’s three great unifiers, in the 71st annual Nagoya Festival on Oct. 18 and 19.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Oct 17, 2025
A samurai-loving radio host prepares to become Oda Nobunaga for a day
Nagoya-based radio host Chris Glenn will portray warlord Oda Nobunaga, becoming the first non-Japanese to join the city’s historic parade.
Refugees and migrants, mostly from Syria and Afghanistan, crowd a platform at a train station in Budapest in September 2015. Hungary's focus on pro-natalist policies and minimal immigration has led to a significant improvement in its fertility rate compared to Japan.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 15, 2025
Asia can learn from Europe’s immigration mistakes
The result is dangerous confusion where legitimate policy debates about labor shortages become entangled with xenophobic fears about cultural invasion.
<i>Sashiko</I> dates to the Edo Period (1603-1868) and began as a technique that allowed working-class people to prolong the lifespan of their clothing.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Oct 13, 2025
Beauty in slowness: Life lessons from Japanese embroidery
After taking up the practice of sashiko stitching six years ago, a Chinese Canadian woman found an anchor in the traditional craft amidst major life transitions.
Foreign residents accounted for 3.21% of Japan's total population.
JAPAN
Oct 10, 2025
Foreign residents in Japan hit record 3.95 million
The number accounted for 3.21% of the country’s total population as of the end of June.
There has been a rapid rise in the number of business manager visa holders in recent years, triggering concerns that some are using it as an easy route to long-term residency rather than for genuine entrepreneurship.
JAPAN
Oct 10, 2025
Business management visa requirements to be tightened from next week
There has been a rapid rise in the number of business manager visa holders in recent years, triggering concerns some are merely using it as an easy route to long-term residency.
Shrunali Ranade moved to Japan in 2015 and has carved a niche for herself as both an engineer and a cricket player.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Oct 9, 2025
Shrunali Ranade: ‘Stepping back isn’t failure but another form of strength’
As an engineer and member of the women’s national cricket team in Japan, Shrunali Ranade has carved out her own niche over the past 10 years.
Campaign flags and posters featuring Sanae Takaichi, the newly elected leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, are displayed outside her constituency office in Yamatokoriyama, Nara Prefecture, on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 8, 2025
In hometown of Japan’s ‘Iron Lady,’ supporters see a softer side
The hard-line conservative cites Margaret Thatcher, a divisive figure in British politics known as “the Iron Lady,” as her hero.
Rice that was about to be illegally imported, seized at the container inspection center of the Osaka Customs Nanko Branch Office on Aug. 8 in Osaka Prefecture
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 7, 2025
Osaka couple arrested for attempting to import rice illegally
The suspects are alleged to have tried to import some 45 tons of rice from Vietnam, claiming it as mung beans.
A Swedish snowboard instructor works at the Niseko ski resort area on Hokkaido, in Kutchan, in December 2022
JAPAN / Society
Oct 4, 2025
A Japanese ski resort town is roiled by a debate over immigration
Residents are protesting a planned housing facility for foreign workers, exposing the conflict between labor needs and worries over immigration.
Officials of the Liberal Democratic Party, Komeito and Nippon Ishin no Kai hold talks on the tuition-free program for high schoolers at the parliamentary building on Friday.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 3, 2025
Ruling bloc and Nippon Ishin affirm foreigners’ tuition-free ineligibility
Whether foreign students are eligible for the program will be decided on the basis of their respective residence status.
Sanseito leader Sohei Kamiya (center) with other parliament members from the party
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 3, 2025
What’s driving the far-right voters who shook Japanese politics
Sanseito’s slogan is “Japanese First,” and it campaigned on a mix of tax cutting, vaccine skepticism and restrictions on immigration and foreign investment.
The total number of foreign children registered in Japan as residents eligible for education at elementary or junior high schools stood at 163,358, up by 12,663.
JAPAN
Oct 2, 2025
8,432 foreign children in Japan seen not attending school
The total number of foreign children registered in Japan as residents eligible for education at elementary or junior high schools stood at 163,358, up by 12,663.
With the average farmer in Japan over 65, the agricultural sector, like others, faces the challenge of demographic decline as an aging workforce strains productivity and growth.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 30, 2025
Graying Japan needs both globalization and immigration
Japan has the highest ratio of elderly to working-age people in the world — over 50% — meaning there are only two workers for every person over 64.
The Justice Ministry's figures show the number of specified skilled worker visa holders hit a record high as of the end of June.
JAPAN
Sep 30, 2025
Skilled worker visa holders hit record high ahead of new visa program
The Justice Ministry stated that the goal for a new program set to be rolled out in 2027 is to make Japan a “country of choice” for foreign workers amid a labor shortage.
Originally from Brisbane, Australia, Linda Joyce moved to rural Tochigi Prefecture in 2024 for a career shift from teaching to hospitality and sustainable tourism.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Sep 25, 2025
Linda Joyce: ‘We hope people recognize the benefits of exploring rural areas’
Former teacher Linda Joyce shifted careers to the tourism industry in 2024 and now works at a historic property in rural Tochigi Prefecture.
The Kyoto International Entrepreneur Community brings together local and global professionals from a range of industries, backgrounds and ages and collaborates with government-sponsored entities and nonprofit organizations.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Sep 24, 2025
Stirred, not shaken: Kyoto business platform blends local and global
Since its launch in 2018, the Kyoto International Entrepreneur Community has amassed a diverse membership and built solid relationships with local organizations.
While some American taxpayers assume they are ineligible to participate in Japan’s tax-deferred savings schemes, certified public accountant Rick Gundlach says that this is no longer the case.
COMMUNITY / How-tos
Sep 24, 2025
Tax-advantaged investments no lost cause for U.S. residents of Japan
Many U.S. taxpayers believe they should steer clear of Japanese investment vehicles due to stateside regulations — but a Japan-based certified public accountant advises otherwise.
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
Japan triples departure tax in push to combat overtourism
Tourists in Yanaka Ginza, Tokyo, on Wednesday. Japan tripled its International Tourist Tax (departure tax) to ¥3,000 from ¥1,000 on Wednesday for all travelers leaving Japan, regardless of nationality.
Japanese-language education is at a turning point
The country is gradually transforming Japanese-language education from a volunteer-driven system into a professional, government-supported network to better serve its growing foreign population. 
Japan’s princesses face life-altering legal revisions
Princess Aiko, the daughter of Emperor Naruhito, said in a 2022 news conference upon coming of age that she hopes to “spend a long time together” with her parents.
Japan plans to sharply raise fees for residence permits from October
Foreign tourists walk on the path leading to the Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in May.
Iran war exposed, but hasn’t changed, Japan’s reliance on imported oil
Wind turbines generate energy from strong easterly winds on the Shonai Plain in Yamagata Prefecture. Despite the oil crisis caused by conflict near the Strait of Hormuz, and concerns instability in the region could continue to impact supply and the price of imports, the administration of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi does not seem to be drawing on the war as a pretext to hasten progress toward Japan&#039;s renewable goals.
Six of the best: rikishi of note in each sumo division
Kazuma (right) faces off against future <i>yokozuna</i> Onosato during the All Japan Amateur Sumo Championships at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo in December 2020.
Some startups see opportunity in an aging Japan
Yasmin Baba, CTO of Amilis, wins the Grand Prize at the Pitch2Tokyo Grand Final on Feb. 19.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.

Podcast

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

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
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