Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2026 October 7 - 13 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Commerce and industry group calls for protection of foreign businesses and workers

The National Federation of Traders and Producers Organizations (Zenshoren) is calling for a review of the stricter requirements for “Management and Administration” visas for foreign business owners in order to safeguard the business continuity of foreign business owners and the employment of foreign workers.

Accompanied by Japanese Communist Party Senator Nihi Sohei, Zenshoren representatives handed a written request to this effect to officials of the Immigration Services Agency at the Senators’ Office Building on October 8.

Last October, Japan tightened the eligibility criteria for the “business manager visa” for foreign nationals operating businesses in Japan, raising the minimum capital requirement from the previous five million yen to 30 million yen. A new requirement was also introduced, mandating the employment of full-time Japanese staff.

Since then, Zenshoren and the Democratic Commerce and Industry Organization (Minsho) have received numerous inquiries from foreign business owners who claim that these changes will make it impossible to continue with their businesses in Japan.

Zenshoren argues that the Japanese authorities should handle individual cases flexibly by comprehensively evaluating businesses based on factors such as how long they have operated in Japan, their business performance, how many employees they hire, whether they have properly paid taxes and social insurance premiums, and their contributions to the local community.

Past related articles:
> Only 1% of business manager visas obtained fraudulently: Tokyo immigration bureau data [May 25, 2026]
> Immigration Agency complains about fraud by self-employed foreigners, but it doesn’t know how many cases there are [ May 14 & 16, 2026]