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From Asharq Al-Awsat · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • Japan's new visa rules for business managers threaten to expel long-term foreign residents who built successful businesses.
  • The stricter regulations, including a significant increase in capital requirements, are causing distress among foreign entrepreneurs.
  • Critics argue these rules contradict Japan's need for labor amid a declining and aging population.

Budhathoki Samjhana, a Nepalese national who built a life and business in Tokyo over a decade, faces expulsion from Japan due to newly tightened visa rules for business managers. Despite Japan's labor shortages and aging population, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party introduced stricter regulations in late 2025, impacting foreign entrepreneurs like Samjhana.

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

— Budhathoki SamjhanaThe Nepalese national expressed her distress over the new visa regulations potentially forcing her to leave Japan.

Samjhana, who spent ten years apart from her daughter to establish her business, expressed heartbreak over her broken dream of bridging Japan and Nepal. "I always wanted to become a bridge between Japan and Nepal... but my dream is broken," she told AFP. The new rules, which some residents link to concerns about overtourism and rising land prices, are causing significant anxiety.

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

— Budhathoki SamjhanaShe explained the financial burden imposed by the new visa requirements.

The most challenging aspect for business owners is the increased capital requirement, jumping from 5 million yen ($30,000) to 30 million yen ($185,000). "It's impossible," said Samjhana, who opened her third restaurant in January and had finally reunited with her 14-year-old daughter. She worries deeply about her daughter's future and her own visa renewal.

Now, I'm very worried not about myself but about my daughter... What did I do to her? My heart pounds when I think about the next visa renewal.

— Budhathoki SamjhanaSamjhana voiced her deep concern for her daughter's future and her own precarious situation.

Indian restaurant owner Manish Kumar, a resident of Japan for three decades, has also been informed his business manager visa will not be renewed, despite a grace period. Visa experts note increased scrutiny and documentation demands from immigration officials. "My children only speak Japanese... and we're told to go back to India," Kumar stated tearfully. A petition to suspend the new rules has garnered over 67,800 signatures, highlighting widespread opposition to the policy's impact on long-term foreign residents.

My children only speak Japanese... and we're told to go back to India.

— Manish KumarThe Indian restaurant owner shared his emotional distress at the prospect of deportation.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Asharq Al-Awsat. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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