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December 06, 2025
 

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COMMUNITY

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A native of the Jura region of France, Severine Lamielle moved to Tottori Prefecture in 2024 and found a job as a taxi driver.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
A French cabbie behind the wheel in small-town Japan
In Tottori, Japan’s least populous prefecture, Severine Lamielle’s career as a taxi driver is both a curiosity and a small sign of demographic change.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
A perfect day in Shin-Okubo, more than just Tokyo’s Koreatown
Long known as Tokyo’s Korean enclave, Shin-Okubo has grown even more multicultural over the years in everything from its restaurant options to its spiritual sites.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan celebrates 80 years at the forefront of press freedom
Since its founding in 1945, the club has been an important professional hub and played host to a startling array of political and cultural figures from around the world.
The byzantine process for converting a foreign driver’s license into a Japanese one entails mountains of paperwork and significant stamina — unless you're a lucky license holder from a country or region where these requirements are waived.
COMMUNITY / Issues / Longform
Oct 22, 2025
Driving in Japan isn’t hard. Getting the license is.
By Thu-Huong Ha and Mike Fu
From the desperate and defeated to the blissful and breezy, readers share their experiences of getting a driver’s license in Japan.
Through the Japan-Korea Summer Exchange Conference, undergraduate students have sustained an ongoing cultural and academic dialogue for 40 years.
COMMUNITY / Issues
Oct 6, 2025
Student groups nurture Japan-South Korea dialogue and cultural ties
By Moe Shimizu
Since 1985, the Japan-Korea Summer Exchange Conference has provided a platform for students to discuss bilateral relations and build cultural bridges along the way.
The Kyoto International Entrepreneur Community brings together local and global professionals from a range of industries, backgrounds and ages and collaborates with government-sponsored entities and nonprofit organizations.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Sep 24, 2025
Stirred, not shaken: Kyoto business platform blends local and global
By Samantha Seghers
Since its launch in 2018, the Kyoto International Entrepreneur Community has amassed a diverse membership and built solid relationships with local organizations.
The Betsukai Pilot Spirits welcomed new players (left to right) Yuta Yamanaka, Roman Guthrie, Scott Bellina and Leo Jiminian this year, pictured here with Yassir Lachkar of the Ishikari Red Phoenix.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Sep 1, 2025
Overseas sluggers step up to bat in small-town Hokkaido
By Justin Randall
The residents of Betsukai, Hokkaido — where cows outnumber people 7-to-1 — have extended a warm welcome to five players from overseas who joined the Pilot Spirits.
Musical act Petalhead, comprised of Jaime Alise (left) and Riku Ogura, performs at More Than Music’s beachside event in Zushi, Kanagawa Prefecture.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Aug 25, 2025
More Than Music makes space for creative communion
By Shyam Bhardwa
Since 2018, Tokyo-based duo Justin Sachs and Atsuko Sunaga have been organizing live shows and curating a community with shared passions.
Kinga Skiers (left) co-founded the Tokyo chapter of Food Not Bombs in 2023. The organization aims to provide the capital’s homeless population with food and other essentials.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Aug 18, 2025
Solidarity with Tokyo’s homeless residents, one day at a time
By Shyam Bhardwa
Since 2023, the Tokyo chapter of Food Not Bombs has been supplying vegetarian meals and everyday goods to homeless people across the city.
From left to right: Green Legacy Hiroshima volunteer staff Mariko Kikuchi, Tomoko Watanabe, Nassrine Azimi and Sophie Qano stand before one of the trees that survived the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
COMMUNITY / Issues
Aug 9, 2025
A campaign to preserve Hiroshima’s historic trees for another 1,000 years
By Patrick Parr
A total of 170 trees survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945. Since 2011, a nonprofit organization has been dedicated to sharing their seeds and saplings with the world.

Japan to require nationality in property registrations
The government is looking to include nationality in a planned property registration database amid concerns that condominium purchases by foreign citizens have driven up prices.
The key points under discussion on policies affecting foreign nationals
Visitors head to Shirakawago, a popular tourist spot, in Gifu Prefecture in November.
Man accused of shooting Abe apologizes to former PM’s widow and family
The Nara District Court where Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, is on trial for the murder of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Abe's wife, Akie, attended the trial on Wednesday for the first time.
China massing military ships across region in show of maritime force, sources say
A Chinese warship participates in joint Navy exercise of Iran, China and Russia in the Gulf of Oman, Iran, on March 12.
Japan’s fitness industry is catering to a new clientele: Health-conscious seniors
Masato Edamitsu, the 60-year-old founder of Shinshin Kenko Club, training and guiding his client
Kashima or Kashiwa: J. League title chase goes down to the wire
Kashima's Yuma Suzuki (center) takes a shot during a game against Kashiwa in March.
2025 was the year Japan’s box office returned
In 2025, “Demon Slayer” and “Kokuho” broke box-office records, while films such as “Renoir,” A Pale View of the Hills” and “Two Strangers, Two Seasons” garnered acclaim on the international film festival circuit. The year’s biggest loss was the death of Tatsuya Nakadai, an highly regarded actor who had worked with nearly all of the top directors of Japanese cinema’s postwar golden age.
The key points under discussion on policies affecting foreign nationals
Visitors head to Shirakawago, a popular tourist spot, in Gifu Prefecture in November.
A French cabbie behind the wheel in small-town Japan
A native of the Jura region of France, Severine Lamielle moved to Tottori Prefecture in 2024 and found a job as a taxi driver.
A new animation festival lands in Nagoya with big plans
Aichi Nagoya International Animation Film Festival director Shinichiro Inoue (left) and artistic director Tadashi Sudo (right) started the new event in Nagoya in part due to local government support and Aichi Prefecture’s ongoing investment in arts and culture.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Yumi Matsutoya began her decades-long career under her maiden name, Yumi Arai, but Japanese fans might know her better as “Yuming.”
Yumi Matsutoya’s human touch in an AI age
By Patrick St. Michel

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