Nipponica

The number of foreign-born workers has more than quadrupled in seven Japanese prefectures compared with a decade ago, underscoring how prominent immigrants have become in supporting understaffed small-town economies.

Foreign workers are now essential participants at every link in the supply chain, from harvesting crops to processing and shipping goods to customer service and retail.

Foreigners are holding the country together and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Parties that are anti-immigrant are anti-Japan, plain and simple.

Mt. Shinmoedake, located on the border between Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures in the Kirishima Mountains range, erupted at 5:23 a.m. on Sunday, sending an ash plume over 3,000 meters high from the crater.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, ashfall is expected to the northeast, and there is a risk of small volcanic rocks being carried by the wind and falling within a range of approximately 14 kilometers.

Eyes to the sky. Stay safe out there.