Tokyo, Japan – Nearly eight years following moving to Japan for work, Abdul feels additional acquainted to existence in the East Asian nation than in his native Bangladesh.
But as the Japanese authorities moves to tighten the rules for imperishable residency and community opinion towards immigrants sours, Abdul is reconsidering his future.
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“I don’t cognize what the Japanese authorities volition do in the future, if they’ll create things stricter again,” Abdul, a tech engineer who lives in northern Tokyo alongside his Bangladeshi wife, told Al Jazeera.
Abdul, who is preparing to use for the two imperishable residency and citizenship, is conscious of the possible that he may shortly have to leave.
“I have to be prepared if the two of my applications are rejected,” stated Abdul, who asked not to be identified by his genuine name.
“Right now, I am starting to appearance for opportunities exterior of Japan.”
Under rules set to arrive into consequence in phases from October 1, applicants for imperishable residency volition need to display that their annual family earnings exceeds the Japanese average – a stipulation that volition be applied retroactively for applications submitted since April – and display Japanese-language proficiency.
Applicants volition additionally be required to have a pension pot equal to 30 years of payouts.
In an notice detailing the changes, Japan’s Immigration Services Agency stressed the need for foreigners to “live independently” and have “a stable existence without the hazard of becoming a burden”.
Sarah Nelkin, an American who has lived in Japan for the final 14 years, is among the many long-term residents who fear they volition not meet requirements under the new rules.
A beloved of Japanese animation and video games, Nelkin archetypal moved to Japan as a university pupil and has since built a occupation in the country’s bustling amusement industry.
Like Abdul, Nelkin, who submitted an use for imperishable residency shortly before the notice of the changes, is concerned concerning what the forthcoming holds.
If her use is rejected, she plans to use to rotate into a Japanese citizen – which would average giving up her US citizenship, as Japan does not recognise dual nationality.
“I’ve lived my complete grownup existence in Japan … I would fairly not provision up my American passport. My mother lives in the US, and I desire to keep my citizenship for a lot of reasons, akin visiting family,” Nelkin told Al Jazeera.
“But at this point, I power have to provision up my American nationality.”
Risa Hagiwara, a prof of economics at Meikai University in Urayasu, Japan, stated the changes indicate a change towards a “selective and conditional” immigration guideline that is in strain alongside Japan’s need for labor amid a shrinking population.
“Japan needs abroad workers since of labor shortages. But if the conditions for long-term colony rotate into substantially additional difficult, this could possibly decrease Japan’s attractiveness to abroad workers who are considering Japan as a location to build their long-term lives,” Hagiwara told Al Jazeera.
Hot-button issue
Immigration has rotate into an increasingly hot-button topic in historically homogenous Japan.
Japan’s abroad inhabitant community remains small compared alongside developed peers specified as the United Kingdom and France, anywhere 10 to 15 percent of residents were delivered overseas.
But it has been expanding fast, hitting a record 4.12 myriad people, or concerning 3 percent of the total population, as of the end of 2025, according to authorities data.
By several estimates, Japan’s foreign-born population could attain the OECD average of 10 percent by 2070.
Meanwhile, the figure of Japanese nationals cut by additional than 900,000 between January 2025 and 2026 amid the country’s rock-bottom birthrate, according to authorities figures.
Hagiwara stated that Japan is at a crossroads as foreign-born residents play an increasingly crucial function in Japanese society.
“If Japan wants to depend on abroad workers to location labor shortages, it additionally needs to regard what happens following they arrive to Japan,” Hagiwara said.
“The inquiry is increasingly not lone ‘how many abroad workers does Japan need?’, but additionally ‘what benevolent of community does Japan desire to build alongside the group who arrive here?’” she said.
Japan’s mooted immigration shake-up comes amid a broader rightward change in the country’s politics.
While campaigning for the guidance of the traditional Liberal Democratic Party final year, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said the nation should “reconsider, at smallest for now, policies that authorize in group alongside entirely distinct cultures and backgrounds”.
Takaichi’s subsequent coalition accord alongside the right-wing Japan Innovation Party (JIP) pledged a resolute stance against foreigners who interrupt the rules, as fine as steps to location “potential social friction” from a expanding abroad population.
At the identical time, the far-right, anti-immigration Sanseito gathering has gained dirt alongside its “Japan First” messaging, winning a document 15 seats at the most latest lower-house ballot to rotate into the third-largest opposition party.
Public opinion has additionally moved against immigrants.
In a latest study by the Institute of Social Science at the University of Tokyo, 56.3 percent of Japanese group stated they opposed accepting additional foreigners, up from 35.6 percent in 2024.
Nelkin and Abdul have the two felt the alter in sentiment.
“Before 2024, I never felt any bias against foreigners, but lately there has been a change … particularly online,” Abdul said.
Nelkin stated peers have rotate into outspoken in their dislike of foreigners.
“Even apparently decent group are fair saying racist stuff,” she said.
“I’ve worked for this nation and specifically avoided breaking any rules, and they’re saying you are never enough,” she added. “That’s really hard.”
