Nipponica

Japan is considering allowing foreigners under its revamped trainee program to change jobs after two years at their first workplace, provided they remain in the same industry, in seven of the program's 17 sectors, a government source said Monday.

Foreign workers are, in principle, not allowed to change jobs under the current training scheme, which has been criticized for labor rights violations such as long hours and low wages, leading some to desert their workplaces.

Translation is that you come to Japan as an indentured servant for two years rather than permanently. An improvement over the current system, sure. But maybe we should treat people with dignity rather than mistrust as a start and see what happens.

The agency is recommending replacing the government’s long-standing Kunrei system with more widely used Hepburn-style spellings. The changes are expected to be approved within the current fiscal year and gradually rolled out in textbooks and other materials.

Under the Kunrei system, codified by Cabinet notification in 1954, phonemes for ち and ふ are written as ti and hu. Most Japanese schools still teach the style in romanization studies.

But the Hepburn system, which renders them as chi and fu, has become dominant both in Japan and abroad, making the impact of the change likely most evident in educational materials such as school textbooks.

The council’s recommendation also adopts Hepburn spellings for し, じ and つ as shi, ji, and tsu, compared to the Kunrei spellings of si, zi and tu. It specifies that double consonants, as in てっぱん, should be written by repeating the consonant, while long vowels such as in かあさん can be indicated with either a macron (kāsan) or doubled letters (kaasan).

It is about a century too late but in Japanese time scales, pretty speedy. On a conceptual level I understand why Kunrei did what it did, but practically it only led to confusion for non-Japanese readers. Hepburn über alles.

A policy proposal on coexistence with foreign residents in Japan has drawn a strong response after it was compiled by Shizuoka Gov. Yasutomo Suzuki at a meeting of the National Governors’ Association held in Aomori Prefecture in July.

The proposal calls on the central government to establish a comprehensive basic law and set up a central coordinating body for multicultural coexistence policies.

According to the prefectural government, as of Monday morning, it had received approximately 200 emails and phone calls. Many were critical, with comments such as, “It is unreasonable to use tax money to support foreigners,” or “This is inhospitable toward Japanese people.”

A friendly reminder that racism is everywhere.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency is set to designate at least four cities in the country as “hometowns” for certain nations in Africa at the 2025 Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), scheduled to begin on Wednesday.

The agency, which assists with implementing development assistance in developing countries, will assign the city of Nagai in Yamagata Prefecture to Tanzania, Kisarazu in Chiba Prefecture to Nigeria, Sanjo in Niigata Prefecture to Ghana and Imabari in Ehime Prefecture to Mozambique.

The purpose stated in the article is that it will promote two-way dialog and bring more population to these cities in Japan. But with an immigration system like it is now, is it realistic to expect that Africans could immigrate to Japan?

Japan's immigration authority is intensifying efforts to crack down on suspected abuse of the business manager visa program, which is intended to help foreign entrepreneurs start businesses in the country.

The heightened scrutiny follows the recent arrest of a Sri Lankan national accused of assisting compatriots in illegally obtaining business manager visas through the use of fictitious companies and falsified documents.

Many experts argue that Japan's business manager visa is prone to abuse because it is subject to less oversight than other residency categories, enabling individuals to set up shell companies to help others obtain or extend visas.

Yes, people abusing the system should be found and removed from the country. But the infographic in this article shows that people on this visa are a mere fraction of the total of foreigners in the country. Good to stop the misuse of the system but I hope that these people aren't the designated scapegoats for the anti-immigrant wave.

Hirofumi Yoshimura, the governor of Osaka and leader of Nippon Ishin no Kai, has suggested the possibility of making another bid for a so-called Osaka metropolis plan, an idea rejected twice in local referendums.

The long-discussed plan would scrap the city of Osaka and reorganize it into special administrative districts under Osaka Prefecture.

I’m curious to know the public’s thoughts on why the previous referendums were rejected. A reorganization might fall in the “ain’t broke, don’t fix it” bucket but perhaps increased autonomy in the wards would be better in the long run. Interested to see how this plays out again.

Japan has, by some measures, the highest inheritance tax rate in the world. It's so high, and the related laws and rules so unforgiving and complicated, that a smart move to the country can years later suddenly look like an expensive mistake.

Yes, this is a very dry article but it is a good overview of the rules you have to follow when an inheritance event happens. On a related now, tax law makes me break out in hives.

J-RISE is a major pillar of the government’s broader University for International Research Excellence initiative, which supports top Japanese universities through the national ¥10 trillion University Fund. The fund, managed by the Japan Science and Technology Agency, aims to elevate the global standing of Japanese institutions by supporting world-class research environments.

This level of investment signals a clear policy shift: Japan wants to become a global scientific hub. Sadly, this important strategic pivot is taking place against a backdrop of rising nationalist sentiment and economic frustration, neither of which bode well for attracting world-class researchers.

You want scientists to come to the country but you slash the money in to train them in PhD programs while starting a generic fund to push SCIENCE. Sounds like a typical day in Nagata-cho.

Japan's opposition Sanseito party has informed news organizations that preregistration is required for attendance at regular press conferences by its leader, fueling concern that it is undermining freedom of the press and the public's right to know.

Looks like they got a copy of the fascist playbook from their meeting with AfD, but implemented with a very 21st century twist: "Admission is only possible after checking a box to indicate agreement with the party's stated terms and conditions."

The Mobile Software Competition Act is expected to come into force by December 2025. With Japan joining the EU and UK, there are now three jurisdictions where Apple will be required to permit browsers to run their own engines. As Japan prepares for enforcement, it is likely studying the regulatory approaches and challenges already unfolding in Europe and the UK.

As the EU and UK have already shown (UK MIR, CMA SMS case, EU DMA enforcement), enforcement will be a long and difficult process.

Now that Japan, the EU, and the UK all require Apple to support third-party browser engines, 2026 may become the decisive year in restoring browser competition on iOS. But much depends on regulators’ resolve, and on Apple’s willingness to comply in substance, not just form.

First person to port IE6 to iOS gets a free case of Mountain Dew Code Red on me.