News On Japan

Japan to launch new visa track next week for skilled foreigners

Apr 14, 2023 (Kyodo) - The Japanese government will introduce a new, simplified system for granting highly skilled professional visas to foreign workers next Friday to attract overseas talent, the Immigration Services Agency said Friday.

Under the new measure, the government will grant the visa to foreign applicants and introduce preferential treatment for those who meet certain conditions, such as having an annual income of 20 million yen ($151,000) and a master's degree.

Under the government's current points-based system, points are allocated according to categories that include academic and employment backgrounds, as well as annual income. But the move has been seen as overly complicated as the global race to acquire skilled workers heats up. ...continue reading

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Japan's World Cup campaign begins on June 14 when the Samurai Blue face the Netherlands at Dallas Stadium in Texas, a clash that will showcase some of the game's most talented players and pit two ambitious teams against one another in a crucial Group F opener. While Japan arrives without injured winger Kaoru Mitoma, one of its most recognizable stars, the squad still boasts a wealth of talent drawn from Europe's top leagues.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) announced that an El Niño phenomenon is believed to have developed this spring, warning that Japan is likely to experience above-average temperatures nationwide this summer despite the climate pattern's traditional association with cooler summers.

Narita International Airport Corporation is expected to announce next month that it will apply to the national government for project certification as part of the process to enable compulsory land acquisition for the construction of a new runway at Narita Airport, according to sources familiar with the matter.

A fire broke out at Arima Inari Shrine near the Arima Onsen hot spring resort area in Kobe on the night of June 9th, destroying multiple buildings and leaving an elderly Shinto priest and his wife with minor injuries.

Japan's national soccer team arrived in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 8th from Monterrey, Mexico, where it had been conducting a pre-World Cup training camp, and held its first practice session at its base camp for the FIFA World Cup in North America.

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Japan, which records the shortest average sleep duration among OECD countries, is launching new efforts to tackle widespread sleep deprivation, including the opening of specialized sleep disorder departments and programs aimed at improving children's sleep habits through sports and physical activity.

Birthrates in neighboring Kyoto and Shiga prefectures have moved in opposite directions, with experts pointing to housing costs, commuting convenience, and stable employment as key factors shaping where young families choose to live.

A panel exhibition held in Sapporo this year has reignited debate over what many experts and Ainu activists describe as a new form of discrimination—one that denies the Indigenous status of the Ainu people and seeks to reinterpret the history of discrimination they endured in Japan.

Elementary school students across Japan took part in the National Elementary School Toothbrushing Event on June 5th, with children at approximately 6,000 schools learning proper brushing techniques and oral hygiene practices under the guidance of dental hygienists.

Japan's total fertility rate, which represents the average number of children a woman is expected to have during her lifetime, fell to a record low of 1.14 in 2025, underscoring the country's deepening demographic challenges.

As Japan's shrinking youth population continues to reshape the education sector, a girls' high school in Kyoto has announced plans to become coeducational beginning next academic year.

Heart of the Country” is the story of Shinichi Yasutomo, the extraordinary principal of a rural elementary school in Kanayama, central Hokkaido, Northern Japan. Yasutomo is a man driven by his vision for learning and his passion for educating the heart as well as the mind. (TRNGL)

An Indonesian bus driver working in Tokyo says language barriers and differences in communication styles remain among the biggest challenges facing foreign workers in Japan, highlighting the importance of support from employers and colleagues as the country increasingly relies on overseas labor.