The Japan Times newsroom selected the following domestic news stories as the most important of 2018.
1. Help wanted: The Diet passed a controversial bill on Dec. 8 to overhaul the immigration control law, paving the way for an influx of an estimated 345,000 foreign workers in the five years after the new visa system comes into effect in April. Passions raged on both sides of the debate with protests breaking out in Tokyo.
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