General Interest

The government is mulling introducing a common Japanese language test for applicants seeking one of two new types of visas for foreign workers, informed sources have said.

The lower house of the Japanese parliament on Tuesday passed a bill that, if passed, will allow the country to formally accept foreign blue-collar workers and give them a pathway to permanent residency, an initiative some see as a step toward becoming a nation that welcomes immigrants.

Kunihiko Tanaka was peddling vinegar to sushi restaurants in western Japan when he spotted the opportunity that would change his life.

The major Japanese city of Osaka was selected Friday to hold the World Expo in 2025, beating Russia's Ekaterinburg and the Azerbaijani capital of Baku.

Justice Minister Takashi Yamashita apologized Tuesday over errors to data related to foreign technical interns and how they were presented. However he denied claims by opposition lawmakers that the mistakes were intentional and aimed at facilitating ongoing debate over a controversial bill that will introduce more blue-collar foreign workers to the country from April.

Low wages represent the principal reason that many foreign interns in Japan desert their jobs, a recent report by the Ministry of Justice found, highlighting that these workers often are regarded simply as a cheap way to plug Japan's ever-growing labor shortage.

Local governments across Japan are scrambling to attract more civil engineering workers (see below) amid a severe labor shortage, with some even dropping written exams from the screening process and appealing directly to applicants’ parents or guardians at explanatory meetings.

Amid the tremendous popularity of online bookstores and e-books, an unmanned book store has opened in Nara’s traditional Naramachi district, and has steadily attracted a growing number of customers.

A newly launched think tank researching policies for accepting more foreign workers said Monday that as a condition for new visa statuses currently being discussed in the Diet, the government should require prospective applicants to have a college degree.

Japan Post Co. has said that it will begin to test drone deliveries between two post offices in Fukushima Prefecture next month.The transport ministry on Friday approved an application by the company for flying a drone without an operator watching the airborne device or an assistant who monitors its movements.