Japan tightens permanent residency rules as anti-immigrant sentiment rises

Japan’s immigration authority is set to enforce tougher permanent-residency requirements, beginning in October, that raise the income threshold to above the country’s average, mandate a pension reserve equivalent to three decades of benefits, and require demonstrable Japanese language ability. These rules will be applied retroactively to files submitted from April onward, affecting applicants such as a Bangladeshi engineer in northern Tokyo and a U.S. citizen working in the entertainment sector.

Both fear rejection and are weighing citizenship, which would force them to abandon their original passports. Economists note the policy shift clashes with Japan’s demographic crunch and could make the nation less attractive to needed foreign workers. The change comes amid a rightward political swing, with the Liberal Democratic Party and Japan Innovation Party pledging stricter immigration enforcement, while public opposition to more foreigners has risen sharply in recent surveys.