Tag - immigration

 
Menu
Search
 
July 12, 2026
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

IMMIGRATION

An immigration control passport stamp issued in Japan. A surge in arrivals from overseas has coincided with a tightening of immigration controls under a government initiative aimed at reducing overstayers.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 9, 2026
Japan’s tighter immigration controls yielding results
The number of overstayers fell to 68,488 as of Jan. 1, down by 6,375 from a year earlier and marking the second consecutive annual decline.
Protesters gather outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on Wednesday. The court heard a landmark case testing whether U.S. President Donald Trump can limit birthright citizenship, the long-held principle that nearly all children born in the United States are automatically citizens.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 2, 2026
U.S. Supreme Court justices skeptical of Trump order to restrict birthright citizenship
The Supreme Court proceedings come after a lower court found that Trump’s order restricting birthright citizenship violated language in the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment.
Rusutsu lift pass police check that companies guiding and teaching on their resort have a corporate pass.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Apr 1, 2026
Foreign ski instructors and guides operating illegally in Japan spark concerns
Officials and businesses in major winter destinations warn that such illicit operations could disrupt public order, create unfair competition and raise safety concerns.
Nahoko Manako teaches a small class to prepare students for the annual Certified Care Worker national exam at Hiraoka Care Worker School in Ogori, Fukuoka Prefecture. Of the school's 36 second-year students this year, only 10 are Japanese.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Mar 30, 2026
Foreign students at nursing care schools outnumber Japanese peers
A shrinking youth population and below-average wages are among factors contributing to the trend.
Norman Wong, the great-grandson of Wong Kim Ark, poses for a portrait in front of a mural of his late ancestor in San Francisco on March 25.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 30, 2026
In U.S. Supreme Court fight over birthright citizenship, a great-grandson hears echoes of 1898
San Francisco area resident Norman Wong, 76, worries that the principle granting citizenship by birth on U.S. soil enshrined by his ancestor’s case may be in peril.
Visitors in the Dotonbori area in Osaka. The number of foreign residents in Japan has exceeded 4 million for the first time.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 28, 2026
Japan’s foreign resident population hits record 4.12 million
The figure is a 9.5% increase from a year earlier, the Immigration Services Agency said Friday.
Japan introduced the specified skilled worker residency program in 2019 to expand the acceptance of foreign workers amid domestic labor shortages.
JAPAN
Mar 27, 2026
Japan’s tally of specified skilled workers hits record 390,296
The program was introduced in 2019 to expand the acceptance of foreign workers amid domestic labor shortages.
The Japanese government is considering revising requirements for permanent residency, including mandatory language proficiency and other moves that could place foreign residents under continuous evaluation and uncertainty about their future.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 23, 2026
Japan’s residency debate risks turning integration into exclusion
What was once a predictable path toward long-term stability could become a precarious process subject to continuous state evaluation.
Training for foreign workers under Japan’s Specified Skilled Worker program on March 6 in Shirakawa, Fukushima Prefecture
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 22, 2026
Japan trains foreign workers for railway maintenance
The trained workers are expected to find jobs at railway companies across the country, attracting attention as to whether they can contribute to alleviating the labor shortages.
Smugglers assist migrants boarding a boat in an attempt to cross the English Channel off the beach of Gravelines, northern France, on March 4.
WORLD / Society
Mar 20, 2026
Record number of migrant deaths in Mediterranean for early 2026
European officials have blamed the fatalities on “extreme weather conditions,” while humanitarian organizations say border closures and red tape for rescuers are also responsible.
The Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau in the capital's Minato Ward. The Cabinet on Tuesday approved a bill that would see the first major revision to the statutory ceiling on immigration-related residence fees for foreign nationals since 1982.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 10, 2026
Japan visa fee cap to surge more than tenfold under new immigration bill
The Cabinet on Tuesday approved legislation to sharply raise the upper limit on fees for foreign nationals in the biggest revision of its kind in more than four decades.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller speaks during an event in Doral, Florida, on Thursday
WORLD / Politics
Mar 7, 2026
Trump to forge ahead with immigration crackdown driven by top aide Stephen Miller
Amid backlash over the president’s aggressive enforcement in U.S. cities, support for his immigration approach declined in recent months, polls show.
Vietnamese students attend a Japanese language class at a job placement company in Hanoi in October 2022.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 6, 2026
The limits of Japan’s immigration charade
Until now, the quality and training of Japanese-language teachers were largely left to the private sector, including academia.
The Metropolitan Police Department has arrested three men over alleged involvement in employing Vietnamese nationals without work permits in Fukuroi, Shizuoka Prefecture.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 4, 2026
Three arrested over illegal hiring of Vietnamese workers in Japan
The incident came to light last May following an investigation into a 26-year-old Vietnamese man who was arrested on suspicion of illegal stay.
U.K. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood arrives for a cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street in London on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 4, 2026
Britain to bar study visas for four nations and halt Afghan work visas
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government has sought to show it is tightening immigration as the populist Reform U.K. party gains ground in opinion polls.
Alexandra Benites, 47, and her daughter Carla Benites, 17, from Ecuador, pose with their passports at St. Augustine's church, also known as the "Church of the Migrants," in Barcelona's Raval district on Feb. 25.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 2, 2026
Spain’s looming migrant amnesty strains services
As other European countries tighten their borders, Spain’s Socialist government has continued to champion migration.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets South African leader Cyril Ramaphosa at the White House in May last year.
WORLD
Feb 28, 2026
U.S. aims to bring in 4,500 white South Africans per month as refugees
The figure is far above U.S. President Donald Trump’s stated cap of 7,500 total refugees from around the world in fiscal year 2026.
Haneda Airport in Tokyo. With the Japan Electronic System for Travel Authorization, the government is aiming to reduce congestion at airports while tightening immigration controls.
JAPAN
Feb 25, 2026
Japan considers obliging airlines to deny boarding without JESTA
Also in the outline, the government indicated a plan to raise fees for foreign nationals applying for residency by up to 30 times.
Tokyo Station. There were 932,090 people living under permanent residency in Japan as of June 2025, according to the Immigration Services Agency.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 25, 2026
Immigration agency tightens guidelines for permanent residency
The revision made Tuesday comes amid efforts by the administration of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to take a tougher stance on immigration.
The Department of Homeland Security ​is "making tough but necessary workforce and resource ​decisions" ‌and prioritizing the "general traveling population" at entry points, The Washington Post cited Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem as saying in a statement.
WORLD
Feb 22, 2026
U.S. to pause two key travel programs amid shutdown, report says
The PreCheck and Global Entry programs that speed airport security checks for some travelers would be temporarily suspended from Sunday.
China’s demand for Soviet-style apartments shows limits to revival
Apartments built during a Soviet Union-inspired construction drive in the 1970s and 1980s tend to suffer from poor insulation and outdated plumbing, but they are seeing a revival in interest due to their attractive locations.
Japanese scientists identify neural mechanism that may explain why we dislike people
The aggressive mouse (left) used in the experiment and a mouse defending itself
Japanese payment processor’s collapse hits banks and restaurants
Zentoshin served around 200,000 shops, many of which rely on early payments to maintain cash flow, raising concerns over their financial stability following the disruption.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
Lenders seek $700 million after Japanese payments firm’s collapse
The financial failure of Osaka-based Zentoshin has left 63 creditors with claims totaling ¥115.16 billion, according to Tokyo Shoko Research.
Japan’s largest exhibition of women photographers rights a wrong in cultural history
Miwa Yanagi’s “Elevator Girl House” series skewers the superficiality of gender roles through staged images.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
‘Princess Mononoke’ comes alive in Super Kabuki staging
The “Princess Mononoke” adaptation was created under Shochiku’s Super Kabuki initiative, a modern form of kabuki with more technology in staging and open to pop culture collaborations.
The beating heart inside ‘Human Vapor’
Different forms of love and connection form the emotional backbone of Netflix’s “Human Vapor,” says actor Shun Oguri, who plays troubled detective Kenji Okamoto.
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.

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
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Sompo looks beyond insurance to focus on well-being
Sompo looks beyond insurance to focus on well-being

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER