The outline, featuring the establishment of two new types of residence status, was shown to related cabinet ministers in a meeting held at the prime minister's office for discussing measures to increase foreign workers in Japan as a way to tackle the country's serious labor shortages.
The ministers agreed on a plan to submit bills to revise related laws based on the outline, including the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act, to an extraordinary session of the Diet, Japan's parliament, to be convened on Oct. 24.
"As labor shortages are growing more serious, we urgently need to create a structure for accepting a wide range of work-ready human resources from abroad," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at the meeting.
Type one status, which will allow residence for up to five years, will be granted to foreign nationals with "considerable levels of knowledge and experience," as well as Japanese language skills adequate for everyday conversation. Families of holders of this status will not be allowed to accompany them to Japan in principle.
More than 40 people were injured on Sunday when an explosion caused a fire at a commercial building housing a pub in Sapporo City on Japan's northern main island of Hokkaido. Police suspect a gas leak may be the cause.
(NHK) 
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga has revealed that the government plans to open about 100 support centers for foreign workers across Japan.
(NHK) 
Japan's central government is pushing ahead with a controversial plan to relocate an American military base within the southern prefecture of Okinawa. They've started full-scale land reclamation work despite strong local opposition.
(NHK) 
A court on Friday sentenced a 26-year-old man to 18 years in prison for a highway road rage incident last year in which a couple died and their two teenage daughters were injured. (Japan Times) 
The government will temporarily suspend an extra medical fee that pregnant women were required to pay out of pocket to see doctors, health minister Takumi Nemoto said Friday. (Japan Times) 
Japanese education companies are expanding their language offerings overseas, seeing business opportunities in meeting growing demand for Japanese-speaking foreign manpower as the nation opens its doors to workers from overseas. (Nikkei) 
A Japanese government panel says a run of growth that began in December 2012 has now become the second-longest period of expansion in the post-war era. But that verdict comes as Japan struggles with sluggish wage growth and a chronic labor shortage.
(NHK) 
Traditional female entertainers in Kyoto have started offering early New Year greetings.
(NHK) 
The Japanese government plans to take measures to make regional labor markets accessible to foreign blue-collar workers to avoid them concentrating in large cities such as Tokyo when the country starts accepting them under the new visa system next year, the government's top spokesman said Thursday. (Japan Today) 
Sixteen-year-old shogi prodigy Sota Fujii has reached his 100th victory in official matches of the Japanese board game, becoming the youngest professional player to reach the milestone at the fastest pace in history. (Japan Today)