Japan moves to tighten rules for foreigners, throwing futures into doubt

Tokyo is raising the bar for permanent residency amid a broader rightward shift in the Asian nation’s politics.

x whatsapp-stroke copylink google Add Al Jazeera on Google info Passersby wearing protective face masks walk on the street at Shibuya shopping district in Tokyo, Japan, on July 28, 2022 [Issei Kato/Reuters] By Genevieve Mansfield Published On 25 Sep 2026 25 Sep 2026 Tokyo, Japan – Nearly eight years after moving to Japan for work, Abdul feels more accustomed to life in the East Asian country than in his native Bangladesh.

But as the Japanese government moves to tighten the rules for permanent residency and public sentiment towards immigrants sours, Abdul is reconsidering his future.

“I don’t know what the Japanese government will do in the future, if they’ll make things stricter again,” Abdul, a tech engineer who lives in northern Tokyo with his Bangladeshi wife, told Al Jazeera.