{
  "id": 7890664,
  "title": "Japan police panel starts talks to allow more foreign security workers",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/16/japan-police-panel-starts-talks-to-allow-more-foreign-security-workers",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-16T23:00:08.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Mainichi",
    "slug": "the-mainichi",
    "url": "https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20260917/p2g/00m/0na/003000c"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Japan's National Police Agency has established an expert panel to explore the possibility of permitting more foreign nationals to work in the private-sector security service industry, grappling with labor shortages and an aging workforce. The panel will assess whether individuals with Specified Skilled Worker or Employment for Skill Development status should be eligible for security jobs. Currently, foreign nationals can only work in the industry if they hold specific residence statuses. Yoshitaka Yamada, head of the agency's Community Safety Bureau, highlighted the severe labor shortage in the security industry and emphasized the need for the panel, comprising university professors and industry representatives, to discuss how the sector should incorporate foreign workers. The panel aims to deliver a report by January 2027, and its recommendations will be discussed with the Justice Ministry and the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare regarding the specifics of any new regulations. According to Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry data, the job-to-applicant ratio for security-related occupations reached 6.55 in 2025, indicating 655 openings for every 100 job seekers, a stark contrast to the 112 openings per 100 job seekers across all occupations in 2024. Additionally, 47 percent of security guards were aged 60 or older in 2024.",
  "summary": "TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's police agency on Wednesday launched an expert panel to consider allowing more foreign nationals to work in the private-sector",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Mainichi",
        "title": "Foreign visitors to Japan in August fall 9.6% to 3.10 million",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/17/foreign-visitors-to-japan-in-august-fall-9-6-to-3-10-million",
        "published": "2026-09-17T00:00:08.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "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."
}