Japan's 2025 Business Manager Visa reform — raising capital requirements from $33,000 to $200,000 — is forcing authentic Chinese restaurants to close across Tokyo. Owner-chefs who serve rare regional cuisines face impossible new hurdles. A look at how immigration policy is reshaping Japan's food diversity.
Japan's Cabinet approved a new 5-year tourism plan expanding overtourism countermeasures from 47 to 100 regions by 2030, tripling the departure tax to ¥3,000 ($19). Learn about specific measures in Kyoto, Mt. Fuji, and Kamakura, plus how to enjoy Japan responsibly.
Japan's Justice Ministry doubles the residency requirement for naturalization from 5 to 10 years starting April 1, 2026. Tax verification expands from 1 to 5 years. We explain the operational change, legal debates, and how Japan compares to the US, Germany, Canada, and other countries.
Japan's food service industry hit its 50,000-worker cap under the Specified Skilled Worker visa, and new applications have been suspended since April 13, 2026. The skills test itself is halted too. We look at the gap between labor shortages and immigration caps, compare with South Korea and Singapore, and map what's left for foreign workers.
As the yen approaches 160 to the dollar, the Hormuz Strait blockade has triggered an oil price surge, delivering a devastating double blow to Japan's energy-import-dependent economy. Analysis of record gasoline prices, structural vulnerabilities, and comparisons with South Korea and Germany.
Japan's sickness benefits topped $4 billion in FY2023, up 60% in five years, driven by surging mental health claims. Explore Japan's structural workplace issues, insurance impacts, and how reforms compare globally.
Behind the global matcha craze, Japan's domestic tea prices are surging to unprecedented levels. The cheapest tea grade now costs more than premium first-harvest leaves. With tea farms shrinking and overseas demand exploding, Japan's centuries-old tea culture faces its biggest challenge yet.
A 58-year-old mother who cared for her severely disabled daughter alone for 29 years was arrested after an attempted murder-suicide in Chiba, Japan. With approximately 40 caregiver-related killings reported annually, this article examines landmark cases and asks the world: is this a crime society should bear?
Japan's permanent residency fee goes from 10,000 yen to 200,000 under the draft ordinance published July 3, 2026, applying to applications from October 1. From April 2027, permanent residency can be revoked for deliberate non-payment of taxes or social insurance. Foreign workers hit a record 2,571,037 in October 2025, but growth slowed to 11.7%.
Japan's departure tax tripled from ¥1,000 to ¥3,000 (about $19) on July 1, 2026, driven by a record 42.68 million visitors. Japanese citizens pay it too. Here's what changed, Kyoto's new five-tier lodging tax, Fuji's ¥4,000 gate, how it compares to Australia and the UK, and where the ¥130 billion is supposed to go.
Japan's health ministry adds "Sleep Disorder" as a new medical specialty for the first time since 2008. With the shortest sleep duration among OECD nations and $100 billion in annual economic losses, Japan is officially confronting its sleep crisis.