Tighter immigration regulations ¡ª from stricter business manager visa criteria to hikes?in fees ¡ª risk damaging Japan¡¯s international image and stoking xenophobia, an opposition lawmaker critical of the revisions introduced in recent months said Monday.
¡°This is having a huge impact on small business and small business operators who provide food that is loved by their local communities. It is impacting not only the foreigners who run those businesses, but also the community in which they live,¡± Sakura Uchikoshi, a Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan Upper House lawmaker, told the Foreign Correspondents¡¯ Club of Japan.
Last October, Japan overhauled its business manager visa requirements. Under the new rules, applicants must now have ?30 million ($187,300) in capital ¡ª a sixfold increase from the previous requirement of ?5 million. Businesses are also required to employ at least one full-time worker.
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