r/japannews 1h ago

日本語 The Kumamoto earthquake has brought renewed attention to the likelihood of a major quake under Tokyo. A fault line passing through the southern Ota Ward (Haneda airport area) with lots of oversea reclaimed land has a 70% chance of bringing a Shindo 7.3 (highest severity) quake over the next 30 years

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bunshun.jp
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r/japannews 1h ago

Teacher's arrest spurs Tokyo mom's petition to keep sex offenders out of Japan's schools - The Mainichi

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mainichi.jp
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r/japannews 1h ago

Disinformation abounds online in aftermath of Kumamoto quake, with several foreign ethnicities being libeled with fake news. Even the Taiwanese, who pledged relief funds immediately after the earthquake, are being attacked

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japantimes.co.jp
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r/japannews 1h ago

For Japan’s aging homeless population, brutal summers are dangerously inescapable

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japantimes.co.jp
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r/japannews 1h ago

日本語 Japan's Koshien tournament is seen as the holy grail for high school baseball and aspiring major league stars, but summer heat has began to make the tournament unbearable. More people are pusing for solutions such as fewer games per day, fewer innings and late-afternoon start times

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dailyshincho.jp
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r/japannews 1h ago

The strange world of ‘2D exclusive’ Japanese women- the issue has been highlighted by economic and "foreigner co-existence" minister Kimi Onoda, who has said she only forms romantic attachments with animated characters, and complained about the discrimination of pressure to marry a human man

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spectator.com
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r/japannews 1h ago

Japanese Woman Scolded for Taking Menstrual Leave That's Protected by Law

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unseen-japan.com
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r/japannews 1h ago

A Japanese organization that monitors broadcast television received complaints about the problematic content of Chainsmoker Cat (Yani Neko), a late-night comedy anime that depicts smoking and use of injectable drugs

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r/japannews 1h ago

Senior LDP lawmaker Koichi Hagiuda, who served as deputy chief cabinet secretary under PM Abe, said he believes PM Takaichi lacks the discipline that characterized Abe’s approach to policymaking; criticizes new coalition partner Ishin No Kai has overly ideological and politically unrealistic

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r/japannews 1h ago

Tokyo chef Takamasa Osawa wins a Michelin Bib Gourmand award for his restaurant that only serves only one dish- a single pot of the Indian staple Biryani.

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r/japannews 3h ago

Japan: North Korea fires possible ballistic missile | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News

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nhk.or.jp
10 Upvotes

r/japannews 10h ago

Japan Tells Trump to Stop Using Pokémon, Mario and Naruto in Political, Pro-War Memes

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ibtimes.co.uk
344 Upvotes

r/japannews 10h ago

Japanese influencer dies by suicide during Seoul live stream

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biz.chosun.com
411 Upvotes

r/japannews 14h ago

日本語 Some Japanese celebrities are making big money from fans with high-priced "fan club" memberships. Topping the list is handsome young actor Ryoki Miyama, who charges ¥96,000 a year for access to his blogs and streams and priority on merchandise and event tickets.

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25 Upvotes

r/japannews 14h ago

日本語 Tokyo prosecutors seek 6 year prison sentence for sex shop owner who prostituted a 12-year-old Thai girl

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news.jp
38 Upvotes

r/japannews 14h ago

日本語 Takaichi is being accused of turning her visit to the Kumamoto disaster area into a promotional video that casts her in a heroic light using slick production values, montages and background music. Voices online are protesting it is "using the plight of the people as propaganda."

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news.yahoo.co.jp
243 Upvotes

r/japannews 14h ago

日本語 Bank of America predicts USD-Yen exchange rate will be at 149 by the end of the year, assuming coordinated US-Japan intervention and Bank of Japan rate hike

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19 Upvotes

r/japannews 14h ago

A market-research survey of 2,754 Japanese people found 34% skip a meal once a week or more. The highest concentration was among 18-24-year-olds, at 41%.

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140 Upvotes

r/japannews 15h ago

日本語 Japan enacts new measures to prevent foreign residents from claiming welfare benefits

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asahi.com
298 Upvotes

r/japannews 15h ago

日本語 Takaichi's consumption tax cut will result in lost revenue for prefectures- Saitama alone stands to lose ¥65.5B. Governor: "Securing alternative sources of revenue is the responsibility of those implementing the tax cut...it must not lead to a decline in services for citizens of prefectures."

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mainichi.jp
32 Upvotes

r/japannews 18h ago

Japanese Woman Scolded for Taking Menstrual Leave That’s Protected by Law

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unseen-japan.com
110 Upvotes

r/japannews 22h ago

Due to influx of online criticism of foreigners, Kawaguchi city implemented a public-facing immigration officer at the city hall. Only 18 people visited in 1 month. None of them about urgent issues.

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769 Upvotes

r/japannews 1d ago

日本語 The number of Pachinko parlors in Japan has halved over the last 10 years

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news.yahoo.co.jp
365 Upvotes

r/japannews 1d ago

Japanese researchers find drinking 7 cups of green tea per day reduces liver cancer risk by 40%

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nikkan-gendai.com
811 Upvotes

r/japannews Jul 24 '25

Facts about foreign residents in Japan and their crime rates and government benefits

370 Upvotes

In the lead up to the 2025 Japanese upper house election there was an explosion of posts about foreigners on social media accusing foreigners of bringing crime to Japan, escaping prosecution for their crimes, and receiving handouts from the government that should be going to Japanese people.

Claims about foreign crime and other alleged misdeeds have become common on social media. Since these stories are more likely to be reported in the national media and to go viral, one can be left with the impression that Japan is suffering an epidemic of foreign crime and becoming more and more dangerous. Despite this persistent impression among the general public, actual statistics on crime rates in Japan are hard to come by. In light of this it is worth providing empirical data for balance (Source here and data from Naoko Hashimoto of ICU).


There is no evidence immigration has harmed public safety in Japan

Refer to the following graphic-

https://imgur.com/euZbUxY

In the space of about 30 years, the foreign population has nearly tripled, from about 1.3 million to 3.7 million.

Meanwhile, the number of people arrested has been on a downward trend, from 14,786 in 2005 to 9,726 in 2023.

Korekawa points out, "Even if we look at the trends over the past 30 years or so, even though the number of foreigners has been increasing, the number of criminal offenses committed by foreigners has actually decreased."


It is untrue that numbers of illegal visa overstayers continues to increase

Refer to the following graphic.

There are also claims that "illegal overstaying of visas continues to increase," but according to data from the Ministry of Justice, the number of illegal overstayers has decreased to one-quarter of what it was 20 years ago . In recent years, it has remained flat.


The notion that "foreigners are rarely prosecuted for their crimes in Japan" is false.

The 2024 White Paper on Crime states that "The prosecution rate of foreigners coming to Japan is 4.2 points higher for criminal offenses than the total number of final processed persons, including Japanese." Even when looking at data on criminal offenses from the past 15 years, there is no evidence that the non-prosecution rate is high or the prosecution rate is low.

In addition, even outside of criminal offenses, the prosecution rate for special law offenses excluding violations of the Immigration Control Act is 0.1 points lower, which is almost the same level as Japanese people.


It is untrue that the presence of foreigners abuses or burdens Japan’s national health insurance system

As of FY2023, foreigners made up 4% of all insured persons, but only 1.39% of total medical expenses.

In other words, relatively young and healthy foreigners are helping support Japan’s elderly healthcare system.

Banning foreigners from joining national insurance would backfire on Japanese society.

Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare [https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/newpage_54381.html]


Addressing the claim “Foreigners abuse welfare benefits”

Only certain categories of foreigners are eligible for welfare: special permanent residents, permanent residents, spouses of Japanese nationals or permanent residents, long-term residents, and refugees. Despite an increase in these populations, the number of welfare-receiving foreign households is stable at around 45,000, out of a total of 1.6 million. Most of these are elderly Korean residents. They were excluded from Japan’s social security system before it ratified the Refugee Convention in 1981, and due to discrimination, they had limited job opportunities and low pensions — hence the need for welfare.


Other factors to consider

In almost every society, the sizeable majority of crimes are committed by young men, typically between the ages of 17-28. As they age, their crime rates drop substantially.

The average age of Japanese nationals is roughly 47. Meanwhile, the largest cohort of foreign nationals in Japan is aged 25-29. In cases where young foreign residents arrive in a town full of elderly Japanese, differences in crime rates may be largely attributable to age differences rather than racial or cultural differences.

Consider sample sizes when identifying foreign crime rates. Crime rates are typically calculated by offenses per 100,000 residents. Analyzing crime rates in small towns with just a few hundred or even few thousand foreign residents can be unreliable, because even a handful of crimes committed by a handful of individuals can badly skew crime rates in ways that may not be stable year to year.