Immigration How Japan’s immigration crackdown hit curry restaurants

[thomas]

We already have a thread on the impact of tighter business visa regulations on small foreign entrepreneurs in Japan. The NYT took a closer look not only at the numbers, but also at the concrete repercussions for foreign entrepreneurs and business owners in Japan.

Japan's prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, won office last year on a promise to more strictly regulate immigration and tourism. Now her government is trying to deliver, scrutinizing the roughly 47,000 foreigners like Mr. Dharmapriya who live in the country on so-called business manager visas. Japan has long been cautious about immigration; foreigners make up only about 3 percent of the population. Some experts argue that Japan needs to allow more immigrants to deal with labor shortages and offset its rapidly declining population. But a wave of nationalist sentiment has swept the country recently, with some activists calling for even stricter controls as part of a "Japan First" movement. Conservatives say that foreigners are exploiting Japan's visa rules to stay in the country indefinitely. The government has responded by making it harder to obtain business manager visas, requiring applicants to have $188,000 in capital, up from $31,000 previously, and to employ at least one full-time staff member.

JREF is gifting this article to the community:

How Curry Shops Got Caught in Japan’s Immigration Crackdown

Under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, new visa rules are forcing some foreign business owners, who have put down roots in Japan, to leave.

www.nytimes.com