Japan approves foreign resident visa renewal fee increases of up to 967 percent, starts soon

Fee for permanent residency jumps 1,900 percent.

At a cabinet meeting held on the morning of August 25, the Japanese government approved a measure significantly raising the mandatory fees foreign nationals must pay when renewing or extending their Japanese residency visas, including those seeking permanent residency in the country.

Under the current pricing structure, foreign residents of Japan pay a fee of 6,000 yen (US$38) when renewing their residency permit or changing its status, such as transitioning from a student visa to a working visa, or from a working visa to a spousal visa following marriage to a Japanese citizen. That flat rate will be ending, and in its place will be a series of much higher, swiftly increasing prices depending on the length of visa being applied for.

● 3 months or less: 10,000 yen (67 percent increase over current price)
● 3-6 months: 18,000 yen (200 percent increase)
● 6 months-1 year: 25,000 yen (317 percent increase)
● 1 year exactly: 33,000 yen (450 percent increase)
● 1-3 years: 48,000 yen (700 percent increase)
● 3-5 years: 64,000 yen (967 percent increase)
● More than 5 years: 75,000 yen (1,150 percent increase)

The increase is even larger for those applying for permanent residency in Japan, for which the fee will jump from its current 10,000 yen to 200,000 yen, a 1,900 percent increase.

▼ This fan formed by 10,000-yen bills still isn’t enough to pay the new permanent residency fee.

The higher fees are part of a continuing trend for the Japanese government. This past June, the decision was made to increase visa fees for travelers from countries requiring one to enter Japan by 400 percent, which was followed up by the July announcement that the departure tax travelers must pay when flying out of Japan will triple.

The increase in residency visa fees comes at a time of complex, arguably distorted perceptions by many Japanese people regarding the financial status of foreigners in Japan. The weak yen has resulted in a surge of foreign tourists visiting the country, many of whom are enthusiastically enjoying sightseeing, restaurant dining, and other luxuries that are becoming increasingly out of reach for Japan’s middle and lower-earning households as inflation surges and wages for many remain stagnant. The exchange rate is also making it easier than ever before for foreign nationals to leverage their home country savings into purchasing homes and real estate in Japan, either for personal use or to convert to Airbnb-style vacation rental properties, fueling anxieties that yen-wealthy foreigners will drive up prices for housing. Combined, these factors make it easy to perceive, or paint, foreigners as uniformly financially well-off and benefitting from being on the opposite side of the coin from Japanese locals in the current economic climate.

What often gets overlooked, or is conveniently ignored by politicians looking to curry favor with their voting (i.e. Japanese citizen) constituents, is that the economic conditions that are adversely affecting the average Japanese citizen are having the same effects on the vast majority of Japan’s preexisting foreign resident population. The foreign convenience store clerk, English teacher at a Japanese high school, or study abroad program participant who found an office job with a Japanese company and stayed in the country are all getting paid in yen, so they’re not at all living high on the hog these days. It’s hard to say whether executing such massive increases in residency visa fees at a time when so many are already dealing with tighter finances would be better described as ignorant or insensitive, but it’s definitely somewhere on that spectrum.

It’s not like the Japanese government is giving foreign residents much time to sort out how they’re going to manage these higher fees, either. Again, the new pricing structure was announced on August 25, and it will go into effect for renewal and permanent residency applications starting October 1.

At the August 25 meeting, the cabinet also said that measures will be taken to allow for reductions to the new fees for foreign residents judged to be facing financial hardships. They don’t appear to have gotten around to figuring out what the qualifying factors will be, how reductions can be requested, or how much the fees will be reduced, but surely those are top priorities for them…right?

Source: Nitele News
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Starbucks Japan adds new Customisation Bar to stores, with free ways to hack your food and drink orders

New bar helps to create up to 5.27 million possible combinations.

Starbucks has been leaning into its customisations recently, offering suggestions on how to hack new limited-edition releases and exploring new ways for customers to personalise their drinks.

Now the chain is taking things up a notch by introducing a new “My Customisation Bar” at Starbucks stores nationwide, with five free items that customers can add to their drinks and food after making a purchase. According to the chain, when combined with the customisation options already available when ordering, the bar creates up to 5.27 million possible combinations.

The customisation bar is based on a concept seen at stores in the chain’s earlier days, when customers were able to freely add extras like milk, honey and cinnamon to their drinks. These bars were scaled back during the COVID-19 pandemic, but now Starbucks is reviving the concept on a larger scale, with two familiar favourites making a return alongside three new creations.

The two returning are: Honey, which is said to pair particularly well with the chain’s cappuccinos, and Cinnamon Powder, which goes well with a White Mocha, and any drink or food item topped with foam or whipped cream.

▼  The new offerings are Vanilla Sugar & Salt, Pepper Cardamom Maple Sauce and Ginger Sugar Chips.

Vanilla Sugar & Salt combines pink salt flavoured with vanilla and granulated sugar, creating a sweet-and-salty flavour with a vanilla aroma that goes well with a Caramel Macchiato. Pepper Cardamom Maple Sauce is a maple-flavoured sauce combined with black pepper and cardamom that’s said to pair well with both coffee and tea, and is particularly good in a Cafe Misto. Ginger Sugar Chips are small pieces of sugar combined with ginger, adding a subtle ginger flavour and a crunchy texture, and are recommended for a Coffee Frappuccino.

If the choices seem a little overwhelming, baristas are happy to share their favourite combinations, and Starbucks is sharing some top tips from three of its store employees.

▼ Global Barista Champion Nobuki Shimoide recommends combining a Caramel Macchiato with Vanilla Sugar & Salt.

The vanilla aroma and pink salt work well to bring out the caramel flavour while adding a sweet-and-savoury note reminiscent of salted caramel.

The chain’s “19th Coffee Ambassador”, Asumi Yamaguchi, recommends a Cappuccino topped with Cinnamon Powder and Pepper Cardamom Maple Sauce.

This combination is said to highlight the sweetness of the milk while leaving a lingering spiciness on the palate.

Ayaka Okamoto, from Starbucks’ Ueno Onshi Park Store, suggests giving a Vanilla Cream Frappuccino a more grown-up twist with Ginger Sugar Chips and Pepper Cardamom Maple Sauce.

The crunchy ginger sugar adds texture, while the maple sauce brings together the aromas of ginger, cardamom and black pepper.

Just reading those recommendations has us thirsty for a taste, and with the new options being free of charge, we can easily try them out on our next visit. Starbucks also says that special limited-edition seasonal releases may be added to the range in future, giving us even more ways to customise our orders without having to go through the potentially complicated process of explaining what we need to baristas behind the counter.

The My Customisation Bar will be introduced at Starbucks stores nationwide from 2 September.

Source, images: Press release
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Ministop brings bulked up Okinawan-style rice balls to mainland Japan for one week only

If you’re craving massive meals on a budget, portion-boosted convenience store foods are the way to go.

On the days that you forget to bring your lunch with you, or you’re simply too busy to prepare one, Japanese convenience stores are like an oasis in a desert of hunger. Yet, while the portion sizes are reasonable for those with a moderate appetite, if you’re one of those with a penchant for big eating, the popular convenience store trend of boosted sizes is a welcome endeavor. From August 25 until August 31, the second phase of Ministop’s Zukkyun Increased Portion Fair will run, featuring five items that are guaranteed to leave you feeling stuffed.

Rushing over to our nearest Ministop, we checked out the latest lineup:
1. Tuna Salad, Ham, and Egg Salad Sandwiches for 321 yen (US$2.02), with an additional Egg Sandwich.

2. Okinawa-style Pork and Egg Rice Ball (with Barley) for 321 yen, with double fillings.

3. Super Spicy Mapo Tofu and Spicy Fried Rice for 645 yen, with 50 percent increased volume.

4. Spaghetti with Garlic, Chili Peppers and Sausages (also known as the Sausage Peperoncino) for 572 yen, with over 50 percent more pasta and an extra sausage.

5. Infinite Cream for 321 yen, with a more than 50 percent increase in the amount of fresh whipped cream.

Starting with the Sausage Peperoncino, which felt the heaviest upon picking up, the weight turned out to be an incredible 604 grams (or 1.3 pounds).

The taste didn’t give us any surprises, being a fairly regular convenience store peperoncino, but the addition of one extra sausage was pleasant. Rather than having an obscure ingredient boosted, the sense of getting a good deal was very forthright.

Next up was the Mapo Tofu and Fried Rice, also being quite hefty at 540 grams (1.19 pounds).

While it doesn’t quite reach the “super spicy” level it claims to be, it still has a fairly solid kick, being at a level that some people might not be able to tolerate. So, if you’re not comfortable with the heat, it’s best to steer clear of this one.

The selection of sandwiches may just have one extra egg sandwich added, but it is pleasing in its simplicity.

Unfortunately, the store we went to didn’t have the Infinite Cream available, so we were unable to include it in our testing, despite our tongues longing for the sweet, velvety texture of the whipped cream.

For our top recommendation out of the entire lineup, it has to be the Okinawa-style Pork and Egg, which is absolutely packed with fillings.

Taking inspiration from the classic Okinawan food of the Spam Rice Ball (“Spam Musubi“), this rice ball is definitely one you should try, without even having to leave the mainland. The secret to this dish is how they’ve focused on increasing the fillings rather than the total weight, delivering a very high level of satisfaction and capable of satisfying a light hunger with just a single piece.

So, if your stomach wants to join in the extra food fun, the Okinawa-style Pork and Egg is recommended for overall satisfaction, but the Sausage Peperoncino is best for its cost-mass ratio. The number of items in Ministop’s fair might not be large, but they make for an enjoyable lunchtime.

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Dragon Ball Z theme park, financed by Saudi Arabia, to be built in France

“You know of my interest in mangas,” says French president.

It’s unusual for a single franchise to get an entire theme park of its own. Disneyland, of course, is a place for not only the Disney animated catalog, but also the various live-action properties the company now holds the rights to, such as Star Wars and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Universal Studios’ attractions cover a wide variety of Hollywood movies, plus Nintendo’s Super Mario and a handful of other video game and anime IPs. Even Ghibli Park is a place for the celebration of the studio’s overall output, not one specific film.

But there’s a dedicated Dragon Ball Z theme park on the way, though it’ll be opening on the opposite side of the hemisphere from the anime/manga’s home country.

The office of French president Emmanuel Macron has announced that a Dragon Ball Z theme park will be built in the suburbs of Paris. The facility will be one of three new theme parks to be developed in Cergy-Pontoise, roughly 45 minutes northwest of downtown Paris, which will ostensibly sit on the site of the former Mirapolis, an amusement park which closed in 1991.

This news might have jogged your memory that there’s also a Dragon Ball Z theme park in development in Saudi Arabia, and the French park will also be built with Saudi money. The three-park project, with a total budget of 6 billion Euros, (roughly US$7 billion), is being spearheaded by Qiddiya Investment Company, a Saudi government fund with crown prince and prime minister Mohammed bin Salman as its chairman. Talks for the French Dragon Ball Z park began a year and a half ago, when Macron and bin Salman found out they had a shared love for Dragon Ball Z, and the announcement of the French park was timed to coincide with bin Salman’s latest visit to Paris.

Posting to his official Twitter account, Macron said “You know of my interest in mangas. You are also aware of my determination to attract investments in France that will create employment and make the most ambitious projects possible,” while claiming that the parks will create 22,000 new jobs (for comparison, Oriental Land, the company that manages Tokyo Disneyland, Disney Sea, and its associated hotels, currently employs around 27,000 people). Macron expressed his gratitude with “Thank you to Qiddiya and to Saudi Arabia for your confidence in our country, our talents, and our future.”

As for when that Dragon Ball Z-ified future is coming, there’s currently no timetable for the Franch park’s opening, but given the size of the project, it’s probably going to be at least a few years until it’s ready to start receiving guests, which should give Macron more time to practice his Kamehameha pose.

Source: Jiji, Asahi Shimbun, Reuters, Oriental Land Company, Twitter/@EmmanuelMacron
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Police in Japan looking for who’s responsible for dumping 80 loaves of bread on side of road [Video]

Weird crime could lead to seriously dangerous results.

Tottori Prefecture’s Daisen-Oki National Park is one of the most beautiful places in western Japan, offering visitors amazing views of mountains and forests. Bizarrely, though, this month the scenery has repeatedly featured huge amounts of dumped bread.

On August 14, National Parks Foundation workers discovered 30 loaves of bread that had been dumped along a 150-meter (492-foot) stretch of road that runs through the park. That might sound like the result of improperly secured cargo falling off a delivery truck, but the loaves were unwrapped, suggesting that they weren’t on their way to supermarkets or other retailers.

▼ As is the cultural norm in Japan, the collected evidence of suspected wrongdoing was arranged and photographed with care after being collected.

What happened next makes it even more unlikely that this was an accident, as loaves of bread were found dumped elsewhere along the road the next day, and the day after that, and then again on August 20. On those four days, maintenance workers picked up 80 loaves of bread from the side of the road, with a total weight of roughly 39 kilograms (86 pounds).

The repeated nature and large quantities might have one imagining that there’s a local bakery that’s tossing out the loaves that get screwed up during baking and aren’t fit for sale, but the abandoned loaves don’t appear to be malformed or otherwise obvious production failures. The discovery of 1.3 kilograms of dumped chicken livers and gizzards along the road on August 19 also suggests that this isn’t just a simple case of a bakery not wanting to pay for waste removal and deciding to litter the forest with bread instead.

Things get stranger still, as people on Tottori’s Hakuto Coastline, about an hour away from Daisen-Oki National Park by car, have also been finding loaves of bread dumped on the shore and in parking lots this month.

Now, if this were all taking place in a fairy tale world, where little children need to leave trails of bread to help them find their way home from an enchanted forest, there wouldn’t be cause for concern. In our real world, though, there are multiple problems that can come about from leaving large quantities of food waste in roadside and seaside areas. After enough time passes, the food will start to decay, becoming a smelly eyesore that’s also a health and sanitation issue.

Even before that happens, the food also has the potential to draw wild animals closer to human spaces, which can be dangerous for both people and the animals themselves. The Hakuto Coastline is a popular tourist destination, and anything that lures animals closer to roadways increases the possibility of accidents, either from them being struck by passing cars or motorists swerving crashing after swerving to avoid the wildlife. There have also been recent bear sightings near where the bread was dumped in Daisen-Oki National Park. With bear attacks having become increasingly common in Japan recently, the park’s administration, understandably, doesn’t want anyone dumping something that could attract the omnivores closer to roadways, and in response police have been stepping up patrols in the areas where bread has been found in an attempt to find who’s responsible, or at least dissuade them from continuing this bizarre behavior.

Source: FNN Prime Online, Yomiuri Shimbun, Nihonkai TV
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Pikachu and other Pokémon evolve into hydration types with Thermos drinkware collaboration [Pics]

A very cute, super effective way to keep your drinks as cold/hot as you want them.

Every Pokémon species has a “type” that reflects its powers and abilities. As an Electric-type, for example, Pikachu can use attacks like Thunderbolt and Electro Ball. Fire-type Charizard’s repertoire, meanwhile, consists of moves such as Inferno and Heat Wave.

But as of this month, several species of Pocket Monsters could also be called hydration types, thanks to a collaboration between the Pokémon franchise and Thermos.

Starting things off is a quartet of 600-mililiter (20.3-ounce) vacuum-insulated drink bottles, with the lovable and relatively small Pikachu, Eevee, Ditto, and Mew decorating their sides.

For especially thirsty fans, there are also larger 800-mililiter bottles. Two of the designs, with Charmander and Snorlax, feature jumbo-sized Pokémon in a thematic dovetailing with the larger bottle capacities, while Gengar and Mimikyu are here simply because they look cool.

All of the above will keep liquids cool at 8 degrees Celsius (46.4 degrees Fahrenheit) or warm at roughly 71 degrees Celsius for six hours. You don’t get quite as much six-hour temperature retention (10 degrees for cold liquids and 69 degrees for hot ones) with the following 500-mililiter three drink bottles, but in exchange you get flip tops, carrying straps, and multiple Pokémon per container.

▼ The designs here are Pikachu, the Eeveelutions, and one with a variety of species for Pokémon Trainers who’ve gotta love ‘em all.

All of these are great ways to keep your drinks at your desired temperature while on the go, but what about when you’re taking a coffee/cocoa/lemonade break at home or work? For those times, Thermos also has a line of insulated covered mugs, with Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Snorlax, and Ditto.

▼ Jigglypuff and Snorlax look like they’re already on break time.

And if you’ve got things other than drinks you want to keep insulated, like, say, some corn soup-flavored fried chicken or your boss’ frozen hat, Thermos can supply you with Pikachu, Psuduck, or Mimikyu insulated bags that measure 24 centimeters (9.4 inches) in length.

Prices for the bottles range from 4,400 yen (US$28) for the 600-mililiter models to 4,620 yen for the 800-mililiter and 4,950 yen for the 500-mililiter, while the mugs are 3,300 yen and the insulated bags 2,750 yen. The entire lineup is on sale now and can be ordered through the Thermos Japan online store here.

Source: PR Times, Thermos
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Turn octopus, spaghetti, and more of your favorite foods into crackers with Senbei Maker 2

You haven’t truly eaten a food until you’ve made it into a cracker.

Who doesn’t love a good cracker? They’re dry, portable, can be customized with a vast range of toppings, or be used as toppings themselves. But the current range of commercially available crackers could be better. It seems the cracker industry is largely hung up on cheese and salt for the most part.

But Japan’s premier random appliance maker Thanko has come out with a product that can unleash the full potential of crackers by allowing us to create flavors limited only by the human imagination. The machine is called Senbei Maker 2, wherein “senbei” is the Japanese word for cracker, although a senbei is typically thicker and harder than some conventional crackers like saltines.

The machine harnesses the patented technique of making any food of your choice into a cracker by heating it up and squeezing it really hard. The following video shows it in action, creating crackers out of French fries, melon pan, spaghetti, and whitebait.

With a little ingenuity, there’s no limit to what you can transform into a cracker. Note that while certain, highly mushable foods like french fries will naturally unify upon crackerification, some might need a little help. For example, in the video, a little batter is added to help the white bait stick together, and cheese can also make a sturdy and flavorful matrix.

▼ It’s easy as one, two, three.

Difficult-to-squish foods like walnuts or jawbreakers should also be avoided or pre-crushed into a finer crumb or powder so they don’t damage the machine. But other than that, you’re pretty much free to make crackers out of whatever you want. In fact, Thanko even suggests going ahead and tossing a whole octopus in there.

There’s no better feeling than being able to compress all your favorite dishes, whether it’s duck a l’orange or wasps, into edible discs that you can carry around in a file folder. Just don’t put a cracker in the cracker makers. That’s a paradox that might make reality collapse in on itself.

Senbei Maker 2 sells for around 5,500 yen (US$35) at various online retailers, including Thanko’s own website. It’s not clear what improvements were made on the original Senbei Maker for this model, making it kind of like the Evil Dead 2 of cracker makers, in which it’s hard to tell whether this is a true sequel or a reboot.

And also like Evil Dead 2, it doesn’t really matter, because its just a whole lot of gooey fun, so what are you waiting for? Pick one up and get crackering.

Source, images: PR Times
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Data suggests increased bear sightings have led to a decrease in mountain climbers across Japan

In one region, the number of climbers has even decreased by an unbearable 34 percent since 2024.

As bears have been increasingly encroaching on human spaces around Japan in recent years, the government has ramped up safety and awareness efforts and some entities have been going to extreme lengths to keep them away. The constant buzz of bear encounters on the news is why 熊 (“bear”) was even chosen as Japan’s 2025 Kanji of the Year. It seems that people themselves are also wanting to be cautious by staying away from mountainous areas, as data collected by behavioral big data platform Beacon Bank may suggest.

Beacon Bank tracked and compared trends in human movement patterns on Japan’s 100 Famous Mountains, a widely cited list compiled by a Japanese mountaineer in 1964, during the timeframe between April through June of 2024, 2025, and 2026 on national, regional, and individual mountain levels. The spring season was selected for comparison because bears are highly active then after awakening from hibernation to eat the plentiful mountain plants. To draw its conclusions, Beacon Bank analyzed the number of climbers who went within a 500-meter (547-yard) radius of a mountain’s summit using smartphone GPS location data.

▼ Bear warning sign on Mt. Bandai in Fukushima Prefecture

First, on the national level, the percentage of mountain climbers has decreased by 18 percent since 2024 (finalized data from spring 2026 is still forthcoming but preliminary figures suggest no net change since the previous spring).

On a regional level, the percentage of climbers has decreased most drastically in the past two years by 34 percent in the northeastern Tohoku region, where bear sightings have sharply spiked since 2023 when Japan’s Ministry of the Environment noted 20,513 sightings. In 2025, a bad harvest of acorns and other nuts that bears eat in Tohoku caused them to venture into more urban areas in the fall, resulting in a staggering 50,801 sightings. This year’s preliminary data as of August 6 indicates 6,260 sightings this past June, the highest level for the month since 2022.

In fact, Tohoku has consistently had the highest number of sightings across Japan since 2022, with 70 percent of them concentrated in the region during the surge in numbers last year. While we can’t confirm that the drop in climbers can be attributed to the rise in sightings, one might infer that locals have been playing it safe rather than sorry by choosing to engage in other activities than climbing.

Finally, on an individual mountain level, Beacon Bank published its findings of human movement patterns on 23 mountains with the most reliable data. As can be seen, out of all of these, Mt. Hachimantai in Tohoku’s Iwate Prefecture experienced the biggest percentage drop in climbers by 46 percent in the past two years. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Mt. Kaimon in Kyushu’s Kagoshima Prefecture actually experienced an 18-percent uptick in climbers over the same period.

▼ Much of the Tohoku region conjures up images of mountains and rice fields, such as in this view of Mt. Iwaki in Aomori Prefecture.

We should stress once again that the above data does not definitively prove that increased bear sightings have resulted in a decrease of mountain climbers across Japan as there could be other factors at play, but Beacon Bank calls the data “geographically consistent.” In any case, make sure to take all necessary precautions if you do plan on going mountain climbing in Japan in the near future by packing your bear spray and bells and downloading the bear sightings app before you hit the slopes.

Source: PR Times
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Winnie the Pooh cosplays as Yuzuru Hanyu for new plushie collaboration

Apparently it’s not a bother at all for Pooh Bear to dress up like the Japanese skating star.

Yuzuru Hanyu’s fondness for Winnie the Pooh is well known, and the Japanese figure skating legend’s fanbase has created a tradition of showering the ice with plushies of the character after his performances. But is Pooh Bear himself one of Hanyu’s fans?

That might seem like an impossible question to answer, given that Winnie the Pooh, like most fictional animated characters, isn’t in the habit of giving interviews. But as they say, actions speak louder than words, and so it’s probably safe to say that Pooh likes Hanyu too, since he’s now cosplaying as the skater.

Publisher Kodansha is getting set to release To Pooh-san: Yuzuru Hanyu and Pooh-san Memory Book. The 40-page book contains a photo collection and exclusive interview with Hanyu, and to sweeten the deal, it comes bundled with a 20.5-centimeter (8.1-inch) tall Winnie the Pooh plushie. For this collaboration, Pooh is forgoing his customary red polo shirt and instead going with more fantastic fashions.

The plushie comes with two outfits, recreating the costumes worn by Hanyu at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, where he won the second of his gold medals. The ensemble Pooh is wearing in the above image is the same as the one Hanyu wore for his free-skate program to the musical piece titled “Seimei.”

And if you change Pooh into his alternate included set of clothes, he’ll match what Hanyu was wearing for his short program skate to Chopin’s “Ballade No. 1.”

Also part of the package are a 51.5 x 72.8-centimeter poster and reproduction of a handwritten note that Yuzuru penned to Pooh.

Kodansha is asking 22,000 yen (US$138) for To Pooh-san: Yuzuru Hanyu and Pooh-san Memory Book and its bundled merch, and all units are being produced to order. On the one hand, that means that pre-ordering is required, but it also means that actual fans are guaranteed to be able to purchase the set without having to go through a scalper.

▼ Yuzuru posing with Pooh dressing as Yuzuru…honestly, this does seem like a missed opportunity for the skater to have worn the bear’s shirt.

Pre-orders are open between now and October 20 through Amazon Japan and Rakuten (here and here), with Amazon listing shipping as slated for late May of 2027. And if you need even more Yuzuru Hanyu/Winnie the Pooh crossover merch, there’s the pair’s also recently revealed Shower of Heart collection.

Source, images: PR Times
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