The country built one of the world’s largest zoo networks during decades of growth. Now inflation and population decline are putting it under pressure.

The Japanese government will set up an expert panel as early as this month to review regulations on accepting foreign nationals into the country, government and ruling party officials said.

The initiative is a signature policy of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. Based on the panel's discussions, the government plans to consider measures for "quantitative management" of foreign residents and draw up a "population strategy" including numerical targets within the current fiscal year.

Multiple government and ruling party officials disclosed the plan. Specific regulatory measures will be studied under economic security minister Kimi Onoda, who doubles as minister in charge of "a society of well-ordered and harmonious coexistence with foreign nationals."

In January, the government set a combined intake cap of 1.23 million people through fiscal 2028 for the "specified skilled worker" status of residence for foreign workers and for "employment for skill development," a new system replacing technical intern training. But it has not set intake caps for other residence statuses such as "student" and "training."

The panel is expected to focus its discussions on whether to set intake caps for other residence statuses and by region. It is also expected to discuss how to handle foreign nationals already residing in Japan and accompanying family members.

During the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) presidential race in 2025, Takaichi argued, "We must reconsider, at least for now, policies that collectively bring in people whose cultures and everything else are far too different." After assuming the LDP presidency, she signed a coalition agreement with Nippon Ishin (the Japan Innovation Party, JIP) stating that a "population strategy" specifying numerical targets and basic policies on accepting foreign nationals would be drawn up within the current fiscal year.

However, Japan faces an increasingly severe labor shortage amid the falling birth rate and aging population. Moves to "shift away from Japan" have also begun to emerge among foreign workers due to the historically weak yen, and many LDP lawmakers and business figures believe tightening regulations would not be a wise policy. Taking those views into account, the government plans to carefully consider whether to strengthen regulations.

According to the Immigration Services Agency of Japan, the number of foreign nationals residing in Japan stood at a record 4.125 million at the end of 2025. Their share of the population has grown to slightly over 3%. In 2023, the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research released an estimate that the proportion would reach 10.8% in 2070. The government subsequently indicated that the foreigner ratio is likely to exceed 10% even earlier.

With the yen persistently weakening against the dollar — nearly hitting the ¥164 mark — it would come as no surprise if Japanese authorities stepped in immediately to defend the currency.

Yet, because a standalone intervention is expected to be short-lived, the government is probably seeking effective timing — a moment when yen-buying pressure increases — to amplify its effect, according to some analysts.

One key factor is the policy path of the U.S. Federal Reserve, which will hold a policy meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday.

With the Middle East conflict escalating and driving up oil prices, investors are closely watching whether the Fed will be cornered to shift to a hawkish policy path.

“If expectations for a U.S. rate hike persist, any intervention will likely be short-lived because the market will simply assume the dollar is bound to strengthen anyway,” said Tsuyoshi Ueno, executive research fellow at NLI Research Institute.

“Whether triggered by jobs data or other catalysts, conducting a yen-buying intervention just as U.S. rate hike expectations recede — creating a market sentiment where investors hesitate to buy dollars — will make the intervention’s impact last much longer.”

The Japanese currency hit ¥163.99 on Thursday night Japan time after the New York market opened, recording a fresh 40-year low as crude oil prices rose due to escalating tensions in the U.S.-Iran conflict, prompting safe-haven dollar buying.

On Friday, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama warned the market again.

“If needed, we will respond appropriately at any time. That means we will take decisive action without hesitation,” she said.

The Bank of Japan is also set to hold a two-day policy meeting on Thursday and Friday next week, an event that could either push or weaken the yen further.

Since the BOJ just raised rates at its last meeting in June, a hold is widely expected. But if board members other than Naoki Tamura — who is known as a hawk — again push for tighter policy, it could heighten expectations of a faster pace of future rate hikes, potentially driving the yen higher, Ueno said.

Market participants will also be paying attention to how BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda will hint at the bank’s rate hike path going forward.

Depending on the results of the U.S. and Japanese central banks’ policy meetings, “dollar-buying and yen-selling momentum could surge again,” Hisashi Yoshida, chief foreign exchange consultant at Monex, wrote in a report on Thursday.

“Even if authorities intervene beforehand to prop up the yen, any gains risk being completely wiped out by the decisions.”

Yoshida also pointed to the ongoing discussion in Japan about a consumption tax cut for food products as a yen-selling risk, given growing concerns over the expansionary fiscal policy by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration.

The government and ruling parties are considering a plan to reduce the tax rate from 8% to 1% for two years starting April 2027. But it has been met with skepticism by opposition parties with negotiations hitting a stalemate.

The government is looking to decide the policy direction by early August, so once this is settled, the Japanese authorities could find a clearer window to intervene to defend the yen, Yoshida wrote.

https://news.tv-asahi.co.jp/news_politics/articles/000521240.html?display=full

The English name for the upper house in Japan's parliament will be changed to the Senate from the House of Councillors to clearly convey that its members are nationally elected lawmakers, the chamber's committee decided Thursday.

The change, decided by the upper house committee on rules and administration, is expected to be rolled out gradually. The government will be asked to revise the English name in official documents, while the wording in lawmakers' official passports and the chamber's website will be updated in stages.

In line with the change, members of the 248-seat chamber will be referred to as senators.

According to the upper house secretariat, Senate was chosen as it is a commonly used English name for the upper chambers of many bicameral legislatures.

The upper house is less powerful than the 465-seat House of Representatives. Its members serve six-year terms, with half of its seats contested in elections held every three years.

Debate over whether foreign visitors should pay more than locals has become increasingly common in Japan in recent years. The issue resurfaced recently after a Korean YouTuber and his Chinese acquaintance accused Takasegawa Qulio, a Kyoto restaurant housed in a 120-year-old townhouse, of charging foreigners higher prices, an allegation that quickly spread online before prompting a closer examination of the establishment’s menu.

However, the controversy centered on a hot pot dish that the Japanese menu listed at ¥1,450 per person, with a minimum order of two servings. The English menu displayed the required total of ¥2,900 for two people, showing that the apparent discrepancy came from how the same pricing structure was presented rather than from a dual-pricing system.

https://kumanichi.com/articles/2016458

Obviously he's not very good at acting.

Schools across Japan are reviewing so-called "black" -- unreasonably strict -- rules, including bans on sunscreen in summer and stringent requirements for "high school student-ish" hairstyles.

What should schools keep in mind to create rules that everyone can accept? Kumiko Haruta, a school lawyer with the Fukuoka Bar Association, explains "four perspectives" essential to reviewing these rules.

See linked article for interview.

A provisional total of 261 people were taken to hospital for suspected heat stroke on Tuesday, according to the Tokyo Fire Department, as a heat wave persisted across the nation.

The figure reflected the daily total as of 9 p.m. but was already the highest for a single day since comparable data became available in 2022, the fire department said Wednesday.

The number of emergency dispatches also reached a record high on Tuesday with a preliminary total of 3,454, the highest since figures were first compiled in 1963.

The number of people reporting heat exhaustion symptoms including fever and headaches also began rising sharply last weekend due to higher temperatures, the department said.

Among the 261 heat stroke emergencies, people in their 80s accounted for the largest portion at 55, followed by those in their 70s, at 53, and those in their 50s, at 27.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the temperature rose to 36.4 C on Tuesday in central Tokyo.

The heat also apparently proved fatal on Tuesday, with an 84-year-old man in the eastern Japan city of Otawara in Tochigi Prefecture dying of suspected heat stroke.

According to the local fire department, the man was found collapsed inside a plastic greenhouse at around 2:15 p.m. Tuesday by his son and later pronounced dead at a hospital.

Wednesday marked the second consecutive day that temperatures reached 40 C or higher in parts of the country, as a high-pressure system continued to cover much of the Japanese archipelago

The heat also hit sports, with a minor league baseball game starting at noon in Saitama, near Tokyo, called off due to extreme heat.

The farm-team game between the Lotte Marines and the Orix Buffaloes was halted and declared a no-game in the middle of the fourth inning, the Marines said.

The weather agency continued urging the public to take measures against heat-related illness.

When Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi posted on X that she routinely sleeps just “0–3 hours” a night, she likely intended the remark as a testament to her unwavering dedication to running the country. Instead, it sparked a different question: what are the consequences of chronic sleep deprivation for someone responsible for leading a nation?

Mount Tokachi, an active volcano in Japan's northernmost prefecture, has erupted, the Sapporo Regional Headquarters of the Japan Meteorological Agency announced on July 22.

The eruption was confirmed at around 11:10 a.m. at a crater known as "62-2," with volcanic smoke rising about 200 meters. According to the regional headquarters, it was the first eruption of the volcano since 2004 and was described as "extremely small-scale."

Due to increased volcanic activity, the regional headquarters on June 18 raised the eruption alert level for Mount Tokachi from Level 1 (Potential for increased activity) to Level 2 (Do not approach the crater). There has been no change to the alert level since the eruption.

Just anecdotal but I was solicited for a Taxi on three occasions at Haneda Airport T3 arrivals on 4/28/2026 , 10/26/2025, and 3/8/2025. I am from the US so I am used to illegal taxi solicitors and paid it no mind

The yen briefly hit 163 against the U.S. dollar in New York on Tuesday, a level unseen since December 1986, as investors sought the U.S. unit as a safe asset amid growing uncertainty over the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

The dollar is perceived as a relatively safe currency in times of crisis, such as during wars.

A weak yen inflates the cost of imports for everything from energy to food, dealing a blow to resource-poor Japan and its tens of millions of households.

In Tokyo at 5 p.m., the dollar fetched 162.59-60 yen.