日本のためにオリンピック出てワールドカップ2回出て日本国籍をとったけどカテゴリA-2になった！ I competed in the Olympics for Japan, played in the World Cup twice, and got Japanese citizenship, but I ended up in category A-2!

Last year, New Zealand-born Lomano Lemeki pointed out he holds Japanese citizenship (his wife is also Japanese), has represented Japan at the Olympics and two World Cups, and yet is Category A2. Teams can employ him but there is a cap on the number of players in a squad with that status.

Under the new regulations, an overseas-born players who has naturalized, and already represented Japan will not necessarily have Category A1 status, which ensures a club team will have no restrictions on employing him.

However, officials running the game in Japan feel the sport needs a healthy number of home grown players. Consequently, they want to oblige elite teams to recruit and train players who have been in Japan for 6 of the 9 years of compulsory education. Roughly, been in Japan since the age of 9.

Screenshot of eight of the Japanese squad forwards. Six have katakana names, indicating overseas origin.

When you look at the website for Japan's national rugby side, the team photos looks like this. Now, most supporters appreciate these players. Michael Leitch and Warner Deans are particularly popular, and both speak Japanese. www.rugby-japan.jp/japan/member/

Elite club teams also recruit professional rugby players from overseas, and some of these people also get selected for the national team. Some naturalize but that's not an eligibility requirement under World Rugby rules.

For some years now, top rugby-playing schools and universities in Japan have offered educational opportunities to talented young players from overseas. A number of these players have gone on to build lives in Japan, and play for the Japanese national team. Many also naturalize.

Sheet showing old and new category rules

Under the current system, a Category "A" player is eligible for the national team. In rugby, foreign nationals can play for another country through residency, so they can be included as Category "A". All team squads must have at least 17 "A" players, and field at least 11 during a game.

In drafting its rules, Japanese rugby wants to ensure that club teams at the elite level give opportunities to Japanese players who are eligible to play for the national side. However, they are going about this in a manner which appear to rank ways of being Japanese.

Rule change leaves trio of naturalized Top League players in limbo The group, which includes two players who have represented Japan in sevens, is petitioning the Japan Rugby Football Union to recognize their status as local players.

This debate has been going on since 2020, when the highest professional rugby league in Japan penalized naturalized Japanese rugby players if they had already represented another nation earlier in their career. www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2020/...

Japan internationals prepare legal action over new League One rules A large group of overseas-born players who have Japanese citizenship are exploring legal avenues over controversial new player classification rules which come into effect in League One next season.Rug...

Japanese rugby is again looking to redefine what it mean to be Japanese, leading some overseas-born players, who hold Japanese citizenship, to consider a complaint to the Fair Trade Commission. www.rugbyjp.com/post/japan-i...

Telephoto lens shot of planes in front of Haneda terminal building, with Mt. Fuji in the background.

Longer shot of planes in front of Haneda terminal building, with Mt. Fuji in the background.

Shot shows the monorail in the foreground, looking across Tokyo Bay to the Rainbow Bridge, with Mt. Fuji in the background.

Shot from inside the monorail shows Tokyo office buildings and condos with Mt. Fuji in the background.

Sankei photographer went to Haneda Airport in February for some shots of Mt. Fuji. The first two here are from domestic terminal one, the third from the international terminal, and the fourth from inside the monorail. www.sankei.com/article/2025...

The Mainichi has a translation of a piece from earlier this month looking at the decision in Mie. mainichi.jp/english/arti...

Poster for the French Noodle Factory, showing a lobster bisque ramen.

Near Tokyo Dome, there's a place called the French Noodle Factory, serving lobster bisque ramen.

Menu blackboard showing details of a 2200 yen meal set. Among the four possible mains is Italian style udon.

International touch on the menu at a local diner with イタリア風うどん (Italian-style udon). Didn't pop in to find out what that might mean.

Neighbour saw me browsing food at 7-11 and recommended a mentaiko dish. I could have told her I don't care for it. Or, I could have picked it up, wandered around waiting for her to leave, then put it back. The second seemed easiest. She was in the store for a long time, so I was too.

'Spoiler' website operator guilty of copyright infringement | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis The Tokyo District Court on April 16 found the operator of a website offering “spoiler” articles about the plots and scenes from movies and anime guilty of violating the Copyright Law.

Asahi has an English write-up. www.asahi.com/ajw/articles...

Sakura Uchikoshi, a House of Councillors representative for the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, said on Tuesday that only 4% of foreigners holding business visa status have cleared the higher requirement. Kodama argues for a return to the old level, before damage is done.

Kodama also feels the capital requirement has been raised by bureaucrats who don't really understand the business function of capital. There are many small, productive businesses run by foreigners - especially restaurants and retail - which don't require that level of capital.

He also looked at legislation overseas and concludes that there is no general international standard, as countries have business visa legislation to suit their own specific requirements.

The Government also suggested its standards were more lenient than other nations, so this is a necessary international realignment. Kodama notes that the government doesn't usually draft othet domestic legislation to be in line with other nations.

The Government also says it listened to experts in the field. However, Kodama says he has went through the minutes of the consultations, and found several instances where experts warned against making the change.+

Kodama attack the change on many fronts. The Government claims the old system was being abused, yet Kodama says there was no real evidence provided of what the scale of abuse might have been.

「経営・管理」資本金6倍は合理性なし。デメリットしかない。｜koichi_kodama 2025年10月16日に改定された上陸基準省令により、「経営・管理」の在留資格は、それまでの資本金500万円から一気に6倍の3,000万円に引き上げられました。 同年8月の方針決定時に多数報道がされましたが、2026年2月12日、AERAの報道により、問題が再燃し、より広く問題が知られるようになっていきました。 インドカレー店はあと3年で激減、新大久保は「廃墟」になる？　経営・管理ビザ「厳...

Lawyer Koichi Kodama heavily criticizes new legislation which raises capital requirements for a foreign national to obtain a business visa from six million yen to thirty million yen. note.com/koichi_kodam...

Top spokesman shifts on having SDF singer at LDP event | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis The top government spokesman on April 15 signaled a change of tune regarding a uniformed Self-Defense Forces member singing the national anthem at the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's convention.

There was a minor backtrack on Wednesday when Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara restated that Tsugumi's appearance wasn't illegal but seemed to admit that it wasn't a good look. www.asahi.com/ajw/articles...

Guilty. The court ruled the extensive descriptions and spoilers captured the essential characteristics of the film, and so constituted an adaptation. The defence has lodged an appeal. www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/202...

【独自】父親が安達結希さんの殺害についても認める　捜査関係者　京都・南丹市　男子児童死体遺棄事件　養父の安達優季容疑者を死体遺棄容疑で逮捕〈カンテレNEWS〉 YouTube video by カンテレNEWS

Reporting says the father has now admitted killing the boy. www.youtube.com/watch?v=W41j...

結希君の遺体を遺棄した疑いで逮捕された父親の安達優季容疑者「私のやったことに間違いありません」 【読売新聞】　京都府南丹市で市立園部小の安達 結希 （ ゆき ） 君（１１）が行方不明となり、遺体で見つかった事件で、京都府警は１６日、遺体を遺棄したとして父親の会社員安達 優季 （ ゆうき ） 容疑者（３７）を死体遺棄容疑で逮捕し

The father has admitted he took the boy's body to the mountains. The circumstances leading to his death are under investigation. www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/202...

Newsflash says the father has admitted involvement, with an arrest in the pipeline.

An inflatable eel hangs above a refrigerated cabinet of fresh fish.

On a shelf behind a cabinet with trays of sushi and makimono are several stuffed toys, mainly octopus

On a shelf behind a cabinet full of sashimi are fish-related soft toys and ornaments.

A vsiting friend needed some shopping, so we went to a supermarket. She was astonished by the toys and ornaments in the fresh fish section. I must have stopped noticing them years ago.

死体遺棄容疑で安達結希君の自宅捜索…事件に巻き込まれた可能性、両親らから任意で事情聞く 【読売新聞】　京都府南丹市の山林で遺体で発見された市立園部小の安達 結希 （ ゆき ） 君（１１）について、何者かが遺棄した疑いがあるとして、府警が１５日、容疑者不詳の死体遺棄容疑で安達君の自宅の捜索を始めた。捜査関係者への取材でわ

Police are searching the boy's house, and interviewing the parents. Yomiuri mentions the charge of abandonment of a body, which is often the first step if foul play is suspected. www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/202...