Nepalese entrepreneur Budhathoki Samjhana, who runs a successful Nepalese restaurant in Tokyo's Okubo district, faces expulsion from Japan because she may not be able to meet new, stricter business manager visa specifications implemented by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in late 2025. The 38-year-old spent a decade away from her young daughter to build a new life in Japan, but now says, "My dream is broken."
New visa rules impose higher capital requirements
The most significant change is the increase in the minimum capital requirement for business manager visas from 5 million yen ($30,000) to 30 million yen ($185,000). Budhathoki, who opened her first restaurant in 2023 after years of saving, now runs three eateries but says the new threshold is "impossible" to meet. She brought her 14-year-old daughter to Japan in January after a decade of separation, and the girl is now enrolled in a Japanese school. "Now, I'm very worried not about myself but about my daughter... What did I do to her?" she told AFP. "My heart pounds when I think about the next visa renewal."
Growing opposition to immigration amid labor shortages
Japan faces a rapidly aging population and severe labor shortages in many sectors, yet opposition to immigration is growing. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who took office in October, has pledged stricter screening of foreign nationals. Her government last month announced a sharp increase in visa fees for some tourists for the first time in nearly 50 years, hiking the cost for single and multiple entry permits five-fold. Some residents complain of overtourism and soaring land prices due to foreign investment, fueling a push for tighter regulations.
Indian restaurant owner denied visa renewal despite grace period
Indian restaurant owner Manish Kumar, who has lived in Japan for three decades, has already been told his business manager visa will not be renewed, despite a three-year grace period. He does not know the exact reason, but visa experts say immigration officials have become more rigorous, demanding more documentation including tax receipts and social insurance premiums. "My children only speak Japanese … and we're told to go back to India," Kumar tearfully explained at a gathering about the visa issue last month. Petition organizer Taro Tsurugashima, who launched a petition calling for suspension of the new rules that has gathered over 67,800 signatures, said of Kumar: "What happened to him was shocking. He is one of my friends, and he is a trusted member of a business community."
Zero illegal residents plan and political context
The tightening of regulations follows the justice ministry's May 2025 announcement of a "zero illegal foreign residents" plan to address public concern. Foreigners were a major issue in last year's upper house election, which saw the sharp rise of the "Japanese-first" Sanseito party, which describes immigration as a "silent invasion." The business manager visa, intended to attract entrepreneurs, had become an easy route for would-be immigrants without real business plans, said Kazuki Yuda, an administrative affairs adviser. Its popularity surged, with around 46,000 holders by mid-2025 — up 70 percent from 2020. About half were Chinese nationals, according to government data.
Impact on small businesses and young entrepreneurs
Yuda and another adviser, Daisuke Komori, warned that the tougher measures are impacting "small restaurant owners" and "young entrepreneurs" as well as abusers of the system. Komori said he had declined potential clients, "many of whom were Chinese," seeking to move chiefly for their children's education or to leave China. Another new requirement mandates that a business manager visa holder must employ a Japanese national or long-term resident. But with the shrinking population, a 30-year-old Bangladeshi man who runs a trading business in Tokyo told AFP: "There's not enough Japanese workers. Under these circumstances, who will apply for a job at a company whose manager's status is unstable with a visa that has to be renewed every year?"
Government stance and future outlook
At an April parliament session, Justice Minister Hiroshi Hiraguchi said he had no plan to review the rules, but his ministry intends "to respond based on individual circumstances." Budhathoki, who came to Japan as a student in 2016 and saved for years to open her first restaurant, now fears for her daughter's future. "I always wanted to become a bridge between Japan and Nepal … but my dream is broken," she said, surrounded by the smell of Nepalese momos in her Okubo restaurant, which sits alongside Vietnamese cafes, Indian curry houses and Korean barbecue joints.
