The number of foreign residents in Japan reached 3.76 million last year, an increase of 350,000 from the previous year, marking a new record high. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi convened her first meeting on Tuesday (November 4th) to formulate a policy on foreigners, addressing issues such as crimes committed by foreigners. As a flagship policy of the Takaichi Cabinet, she plans to formulate basic policy guidelines by January 2026, including tightening regulations on land purchases by foreigners.
Takaichi named this meeting "Foreigners and 'Achieving Orderly' Coexistence," indicating that she will be more specific than the "Acceptance of Foreign Talent and Coexistence" goal set by the previous Ishiba administration. She announced the appointment of Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara as the chairperson of this policy task force, with Minister of Economy, Trade and Security Yukimi Ono responsible for promoting the policy.
At the meeting, she clarified the importance of foreign talent and tourists to the Japanese economy and emphasized that tightening regulations on foreigners is not "xenophobic," but rather a response to the problems caused to citizens by the behavior of some foreigners.
She stressed the need to focus on combating illegal residency and the failure of foreign residents to truthfully pay social insurance premiums. She also called for tightening some abused systems, such as the system for exchanging international driving permits for Japanese driving permits, which has been abused by foreigners. At the same time, she believes it is necessary to take strict measures to regulate land use. To prevent the unreasonable acquisition of state-owned land, she decided to tighten land transaction standards.
The issue of foreigners in Japan has been accused of being politicized. During the House of Councillors election in July, conservative parties raised the issue of crime committed by foreigners and their "Japanese First" slogan sparked controversy.
Further Reading
Currently, immigrants make up 3.2% of Japan's total population, a rate less than 10% in developed countries. However, the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research predicts that due to Japan's aging population and the need to attract foreign talent, the immigrant population will increase to 10.8% by 2070.
Commentary points out that foreign residents will become the backbone of Japan's workforce in the future. Therefore, when implementing policies regarding foreigners, it is necessary to foster mutual understanding between Japanese citizens and foreigners as a measure for coexistence with foreigners.
