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.
From April 24, 2026, Japan's transport ministry banned charging a power bank onboard an aircraft and charging other devices from one. Carry-on is capped at two units of 160Wh or less. The change follows an emergency revision of ICAO standards after the Air Busan 391 fire. Here are the rules, which breaches actually carry penalties, how to convert mAh to Wh, and the sodium-ion batteries banned outright the same day.
Japanese companies have the lowest ransomware payment rate among 15 countries surveyed. Refusing to pay criminals has coincided with falling infection rates, but generative AI has erased the language barrier and major breaches keep coming. Where Japan's cyber defenses stand as the Active Cyber Defense Law phases in.
Elevidys, priced at 304.97 million yen, became Japan's most expensive insured drug in February 2026. Coverage is limited to ambulatory patients aged three to seven. The US safety findings behind that limit, and what ultra-expensive drugs mean for universal coverage.