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July 12, 2026
 

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IMMIGRATION

Japan’s popular cheap curry lunches and other popular dishes at international restaurants are increasingly under threat as tighter visa rules and labor shortages squeeze the migrant workers and restaurant owners who sustain them.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 14, 2026
Japan food sector: immigration, a labor crunch and rising costs
While you might think this is the result of the immigration policy of the Sanae Takaichi administration, both issues can be traced to her predecessors.
Manish Kumar, an Indian national who has run an Indian restaurant in Saitama Prefecture for 18 years, speaks at a rally in Tokyo in protest of new business manager visa requirements.
JAPAN / Society
May 13, 2026
After rule change, Japan sees 96% drop in business manager visa applications
Immigration chief Kimi Onoda says the revision of the approval criteria has alleviated concerns that the visa was being misused as a means of obtaining residency.
A dog sits near a U.S. military vehicle located near the border between the United States and Mexico, in Sunland Park, New Mexico, on Feb. 11.
WORLD
May 12, 2026
Catholic diocese fights U.S. bid to seize land for border wall
The court action marks the latest escalation of controversy over the site, and comes amid recent tensions between Trump and members of his administration and Pope Leo XIV.
An Israeli airstrike that targeted the village of Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh on Monday. Conflict and violence were responsible for 32.3 million people newly fleeing within their own countries last year, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre and the Norwegian Refugee Council said Tuesday.
WORLD
May 12, 2026
Conflict created more internal displacement than disasters last year: monitors
With new wars underway this year adding to numerous entrenched conflicts around the world, more displacement driven by violence can be expected.
Muslims pray at Tokyo Camii in the Yoyogi-Uehara neighborhood. Though Muslims account for only 0.3% of Japan’s population, rhetoric in online spaces and by conservative politicians has fomented social tensions.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
May 4, 2026
Fujisawa flashpoint: A mosque project stokes nativist fears
The planned construction of a mosque in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, had been quietly proceeding for years — until a YouTuber decided to run for office.
Britain's Reform U.K. Party Leader Nigel Farage waves to supporters after winning his first seat in parliament in Clacton-on-Sea, England, in July 2024.
COMMENTARY / World
May 1, 2026
Can Farage’s Reform conquer England? One town may hold the answer.
Polls suggest Reform is easily on course to take control of the county council. That would be a stunning result in what has long been the Tories’ heartland.
Ethiopian migrants take a break amid high temperatures in a remote desert during their journey along one of the world's deadliest migration routes from Africa to the Gulf.
WORLD / Society
May 1, 2026
Starvation and drowning on the deadly Horn of Africa migrant route
More than 900 died or disappeared along the Eastern Route in 2025 — the deadliest year on record.
The streets of Ikuno Korea Town in the city of Osaka in December 2023
BUSINESS
Apr 30, 2026
Foreign business owners in Japan feeling the strain of tighter visa criteria
A survey by Tokyo Shoko Research has found that about 5% of foreign business owners are considering closing up shop while 45% expect impacts to operations.
A bill to revise the immigration control and refugee recognition law is approved at a Lower House plenary meeting on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 29, 2026
Japan to likely pass bill raising immigration fees
If the bill also clears the House of Councilors, the new immigration fees would be implemented within this fiscal year, which ends next March.
The government is considering creating a Japanese language program for foreign people that would be a factor in residency screenings.
JAPAN
Apr 29, 2026
Japan considers making language programs a factor in residency screenings
This comes in response to calls from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party for measures to address problems between Japanese and foreign residents.
Afghan families at Camp As Sayliyah in Qatar, in 2021. Once promised a move to the United States, Afghan refugees who helped U.S. forces say they face ‘bad or worse’ options: resettlement in Congo or returning to live under the Taliban where their lives would be in danger.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 27, 2026
Caught between wars, Afghan allies of U.S. trapped in Qatar without safe exit
The Afghans were evacuated due to their ties to the U.S. and fear of reprisals by the Taliban authorities, but processing has been halted by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Mohamad, a Syrian refugee, sits on the stairs before taking boxing classes in Amsterdam in March 28.
WORLD / Society
Apr 23, 2026
Syrian minorities refused asylum in Europe as rejections surge
According to the European Union Asylum Agency, 27,687 out of 38,407 Syrian asylum decisions in 2025 were negative, or a 28% success rate compared with 90% in 2024.
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks to NCAA Collegiate National Champions in the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 23, 2026
Trump’s deportation drive could cost Republicans in midterms, poll shows
Some 52% of Americans in a six-day poll completed Monday said they were less likely to support a candidate who backs the U.S. president’s approach to deportations.
Young Afghan evacuees play soccer in a residential compound in Doha, Qatar. The U.S. is offering Afghan refugees at a camp in the country the choice to emigrate to Congo or returning to their Taliban-ruled homeland, an activist has said.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 22, 2026
U.S. tells Afghans to choose Taliban-run homeland or Congo, activist says
More than 1,100 Afghans have been in limbo in a refugee processing camp in Qatar after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a halt to a resettlement program.
Newly arrived Rohingya refugees are stranded on a boat after the nearby community decided not to allow them to land after giving them water and food in Pineung, Aceh province, Indonesia, on Nov. 16, 2023.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 21, 2026
Scarce food, bleak futures spur Rohingya refugees to gamble with death at sea
Hundreds die en route, but the numbers keep growing as dwindling international aid pushes yet more to make the treacherous journey to countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia.
Railway training for foreign workers under Japan’s Specified Skilled Worker program on March 6 in Shirakawa, Fukushima Prefecture
EDITORIALS
Apr 17, 2026
Japan squeezed between economic and social demands
In 2023, international students accounted for 31.1% of the total in the European Union, 17.1% in the United States and 13.4% in the United Kingdom; they were just 3.3% in Japan.
Starting Wednesday, Japan will require certain foreign nationals applying for its most common white-collar work visa to prove language proficiency.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 15, 2026
Japan implements language proficiency requirements for certain visa applicants
The requirement applies to jobs in which language skills are central, such as translation, interpretation and customer-facing roles.
The Gombe area of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. The African country is set to receive more than 30 deportees from the United States this week, none of whom are Congolese nationals.
WORLD
Apr 15, 2026
Congo to receive first group of deportees from U.S. this week, sources say
The move is the latest example of Washington using agreements with African governments to accelerate migrant removals.
Filipinos with specified skills qualifications learn how to prepare fish for sushi in Tokyo in 2022.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 13, 2026
Japan freezes visa applications for foreign restaurant workers
Visas will not be issued for applications received after Monday, but for those submitted prior to that, certificates will be issued in order as long as the quota is not exceeded.
Peru presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori, of the Fuerza Popular party, speaks during an interview at party headquarters in Lima on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 11, 2026
Peru front-runner vows to expel migrants, further Latin America’s rightward tilt
Fujimori pledged a military-tinged effort to “restore order” to crime-hit Peru in her first 100 days in office.
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

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