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December 07, 2025
 

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FOREIGN WORKERS

Visitors head to Shirakawago, a popular tourist spot, in Gifu Prefecture in November.
JAPAN / Explainer
Dec 4, 2025
The key points under discussion on policies affecting foreign nationals
Policymakers are looking at tighter restrictions on real estate purchases, higher visa-related fees and better Japanese language education, among other things.
A native of the Jura region of France, Severine Lamielle moved to Tottori Prefecture in 2024 and found a job as a taxi driver.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Dec 1, 2025
A French cabbie behind the wheel in small-town Japan
In Tottori, Japan¡¯s least populous prefecture, Severine Lamielle¡¯s career as a taxi driver is both a curiosity and a small sign of demographic change.
Ukrainian-born Aonishiki (right) is promoted to ¨­zeki during a ceremony in Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture, on Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Nov 28, 2025
A sumo champion shows Japan¡¯s real feelings about foreigners
Japan recognizes that it needs foreign nationals. Foreign residents bring energy and innovation to this country, and they help Japan and the Japanese create and produce.
Along with planned higher fees for foreign residents to stay, Japan is looking to raise the ?3,000 single-entry visa fee for inbound tourists to Western standards in the next fiscal year.
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2025
Japan plans higher visa fees for foreign residents
The government is aiming to raise fees to match those charged by Western nations in fiscal 2026 amid an increase in the number of foreign residents.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks at a ministerial meeting on policies over foreign nationals at the Prime Minister¡¯s Office on Nov. 4.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 20, 2025
Japan panel to discuss orderly coexistence with foreign nationals
Based on the results of the discussions at the panel, the government is expected to outline policies on foreign nationals as early as next January.
Economic security minister Kimi Onoda speaks during a group interview in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 18, 2025
Economic security minister stresses crackdown on rule-breaking foreign nationals
Kimi Onoda says she is committed to implementing stricter management of non-Japanese workers and land acquisitions by foreign nationals.
A maiko walks down a street crowded with tourists in Kyoto. Challenges that come with a massive influx of overseas visitors and foreign nationals buying up real estate are just some of the immigration problems that have become hot-button political issues in Japan.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 11, 2025
Government and bad actors are at the root of the foreign national issue
Japan has experienced an explosive increase in overseas tourists since the COVID-19 travel restrictions were lifted, and its global appeal as a travel destination has grown.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attends a ministerial meeting on policies regarding foreign nationals and immigration on Tuesday at the Prime Minister's Office.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 4, 2025
Takaichi leads first ministerial meeting on policies regarding foreign residents
The government envisions a tougher crackdown on visa overstayers, as well as on foreign residents who fail to pay social insurance premiums.
"The aim is to address public anxiety and a sense of injustice,?not to exclude foreigners," Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said at a news conference on Friday at the Prime Minister's Office.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 31, 2025
91²Ö¿â ministers likely to discuss policy for foreign nationals next week
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has made addressing issues related to foreign nationals?one of her key policy agendas.
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.
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.
Japan¡¯s government set a target of 60 million annual foreign visitors by 2030, but many businesses involved with tourism are already struggling with skilled worker shortages.
BUSINESS
Oct 10, 2025
Japan set to be most impacted by tourism labor shortages globally, report shows
The country will see a 29% shortfall in necessary labor in 2035, according to the Future of the Travel & Tourism Workforce report.
The government's revised action plan for preventing human rights violations linked to corporate activities is likely to focus on small companies as a "priority area."
JAPAN / Society
Oct 7, 2025
91²Ö¿â revised corporate action plan on human rights to prioritize small firms
The government aims to accelerate efforts across entire supply chains by encouraging small businesses, which have been slower to adopt human rights measures, to make improvements.
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.
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.
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 ¡ª over 50% ¡ª 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.
Sensoji Temple in the Asakusa district of Tokyo on Sept. 16. All five candidates in the Liberal Democratic Party presidential race demonstrated a tougher stance on foreign tourists and nationals.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 26, 2025
LDP presidential hopefuls take hard-line stance on immigration
Unruly tourists, visa overstayers and increasing land purchases by foreign nationals were some of the issues spotlighted during debates.
False social media stories about Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba planning mass immigration obscure Japan¡¯s real and growing reliance on foreign labor.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 12, 2025
Japan needs an immigration debate, not social media myths
There¡¯s no mass immigration from the Global South into Japan, though you might not know that if you primarily consume your news on social media.
Trump security strategy demands more from Japan while unveiling ¡®burden-sharing network¡¯
U.S. President Donald Trump makes a speech aboard the USS George Washington aircraft carrier during his visit to the U.S. Navy's Yokosuka base in Kanagawa Prefecture on Oct. 28.
Spotlight shines on humanoid robots at Tokyo show
A representative from Noitom Robotics demonstraties remote robot operation at the iREX International Robot Exhibition in Tokyo on Friday.
Japan¡¯s bear-related casualties hit record on escalating attacks
Bear bells are displayed for sale at a souvenir shop at Shirakawa-go, a popular tourist spot and one of Japan's UNESCO World Heritage sites, in the village of Shirakawa, Gifu Prefecture, on Nov. 15.
Suspected ³Ù´Ç°ì³Ü°ù²â¨± masterminds in Tokyo-area robberies arrested
Takuya Saito, 26, is one of four men arrested by Japanese police on Friday on suspicion of masterminding a series of robberies in the Tokyo metropolitan area.
Average price of rice in Japan hits new record high
In the week ended last Sunday, the average price of rice sold at about 1,000 supermarkets across Japan rose by ?23 from the previous week to ?4,335 per 5 kilograms.
Will Takaichi bank on her high approval ratings to call a snap election?
While media polls show a high support rate for Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi¡¯s Cabinet, the support for the LDP is not as great, meaning there¡¯s no guarantee of a coattail effect if a snap poll is called.
¡®Black Box Diaries¡¯ is Shiori Ito¡¯s unflinching case for the truth
¡°Black Box Diaries¡± documents Shiori Ito¡¯s legal case, while also showing her thoughts and feelings through journal style videos she recorded herself.
Kashima or Kashiwa: J. League title chase goes down to the wire
Kashima's Yuma Suzuki (center) takes a shot during a game against Kashiwa in March.
2025 was the year Japan¡¯s box office returned
In 2025, ¡°Demon Slayer¡± and ¡°Kokuho¡± broke box-office records, while films such as ¡°Renoir,¡± A Pale View of the Hills¡± and ¡°Two Strangers, Two Seasons¡± garnered acclaim on the international film festival circuit. The year¡¯s biggest loss was the death of Tatsuya Nakadai, an highly regarded actor who had worked with nearly all of the top directors of Japanese cinema¡¯s postwar golden age.
The key points under discussion on policies affecting foreign nationals
Visitors head to Shirakawago, a popular tourist spot, in Gifu Prefecture in November.

Podcast

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Longform

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Yumi Matsutoya¡¯s human touch in an AI age
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