{
  "id": 10615978,
  "title": "Japan’s Specified Skilled Worker visa holders rise to record numbers",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/29/japans-specified-skilled-worker-visa-holders-rise-to-record-numbers",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-09-29T05:30:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Japan Times",
    "slug": "japan-times",
    "url": "https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/09/29/japan/specified-skilled-workers-number-record/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "Japan's Specified Skilled Worker (SSW) visa program has reached a record high of 444,256 holders as of the end of June, according to new data released by the Immigration Services Agency. This represents a 13.8% increase from the previous December's total of 390,296 and a 32.6% rise from the same time last year, when the figure stood at 336,196. Despite the strong growth, the pace of increase has slowed over the past six months, with a 13.8% rise compared to 16.1% growth in the previous six-month period and 18.2% in the six months prior to that.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}