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'My Dream Is Broken': Japan's Stricter Visa Rules Threaten Foreign Residents
🇵🇰 Pakistan /Culture & Society

'My Dream Is Broken': Japan's Stricter Visa Rules Threaten Foreign Residents

From Dawn · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Japan is tightening visa rules for business managers, potentially forcing foreign residents like restaurant owner Budhathoki Samjhana to leave.
  • The new rules, introduced in late 2025, increase capital requirements significantly and clash with Japan's need for labor amid an aging population.
  • Stricter regulations are partly a response to complaints about overtourism and rising land prices linked to foreign investment.

Budhathoki Samjhana, a Nepalese national who built a successful restaurant business in Tokyo, faces an uncertain future as Japan implements stricter visa regulations for business managers. The new rules, introduced by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in late 2025, threaten to expel long-term foreign residents who may not meet the revised criteria.

I always wanted to become a bridge between Japan and Nepal … but my dream is broken.

— Budhathoki SamjhanaExpressing her disappointment and the impact of the new visa rules on her aspirations.

Samjhana, who spent a decade apart from her daughter to establish a new life in Japan, feels her dream of bridging Japan and Nepal is now "broken." The 38-year-old restaurateur, who owns Chitwan Rhino Restaurant and Bar in Tokyo's Okubo district, a hub for immigrant communities, fears she will be unable to meet the updated specifications.

Despite Japan's rapidly aging population and labor shortages, opposition to immigration is growing. The stricter visa rules are partly a response to domestic concerns about overtourism and soaring land prices, which some residents attribute to foreign investment. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's government recently increased visa fees for tourists significantly for the first time in decades.

The biggest problem is the increase in capital requirement to 30 million yen ($185,000) from 5 million ($30,000).

— Budhathoki SamjhanaHighlighting the significant increase in the capital requirement for business manager visas.

While business manager visa holders have a three-year grace period to comply, many, including popular eateries in Okubo, worry about meeting the new capital requirement. "The biggest problem is the increase in capital requirement to 30 million yen ($185,000) from 5 million ($30,000)," Samjhana explained, deeming it "impossible."

It’s impossible.

— Budhathoki SamjhanaReacting to the new capital requirement for her business.

Samjhana, who arrived in Japan as a student in 2016 and opened her first restaurant in 2023, recently brought her 14-year-old daughter from Nepal after a decade of separation. Now enrolled in a Japanese school, the daughter's future is also in jeopardy. "Now, I'm very worried not about myself but about my daughter… What did I do to her?" Samjhana expressed, her heart pounding at the thought of the next visa renewal.

Now, I’m very worried not about myself but about my daughter… What did I do to her?

— Budhathoki SamjhanaExpressing her deep concern for her daughter's future due to the visa changes.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Dawn in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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