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The Japanese government is on the brink of tightening its immigration policies by making it more challenging for foreigners to acquire citizenship. This move includes extending the required residency period in Japan and introducing a mandate for Japanese language proficiency.
Currently, Japan’s Nationality Law sets the baseline for foreigners seeking citizenship, requiring at least “five years or more” of residency. Besides this, applicants must be at least 18 years old, financially independent, and maintain a clean legal record.
Under the leadership of Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae, the government plans to extend the residency requirement from five to ten years and enforce a basic Japanese language proficiency criterion. Notably, these changes will not modify the Nationality Law itself but will be enforced as administrative procedures.
This adjustment allows the government some flexibility, enabling it to grant exceptions to individuals who have made significant contributions to the country. For instance, athletes residing in Japan and representing its sports teams might qualify for such exemptions.
A senior official from the Justice Ministry highlighted that the Nationality Law merely outlines the minimum conditions for citizenship. “It is not as if we have always granted citizenship with just five years of residence,” the official told The Asahi Shimbun on Monday, emphasizing the discretionary nature of the process.
These impending changes have been pushed by the Japan Innovation Party, commonly referred to as “Ishin,” meaning “renewal,” as detailed in their policy paper released in September 2025.
Ishin is a fairly young party that quickly grew into the third-largest party in the Japanese legislature, the National Diet, in part by attracting disgruntled voters from the long-dominant Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
Ishin, which is more fiscally conservative and reformist than the LDP but agrees with many of the older party’s positions, became a key player in the 2025 election for prime minister, stepping in to become LDP’s coalition partner after its longtime ally Komeito bolted. With Ishin’s help, the LDP was able to elect Takaichi as Japan’s first female prime minister.
Komeito disagreed with LDP’s tough stance against mass migration and LDP lost some voters to an upstart party that takes an even tougher stance against immigration than LDP does, the Sanseito party. Ishin is tougher on immigration than Komeito, but a bit softer than LDP.
Ishin’s policy paper in September pointed out that under the Nationality Law, naturalization only requires five years of residency — but obtaining permanent residency takes ten years.
Ishin argued this was illogical and naturalization should require at least as long to obtain as permanent residency. Ishin also suggested creating a mechanism for revoking nationality after judicial review “in cases where serious falsifications of applications or antisocial behavior are discovered.”
Takaichi stirred up some controversy during her run for office by criticizing bad behavior from foreign tourists — specifically their alleged habit of abusing the beloved deer at a public park in her hometown of Nara. This burnished Takaichi’s reputation for hostility to immigration, which was a net plus for her politically because the Japanese public was concerned about rumors that large numbers of workers from Africa would be imported to make up for Japan’s demographic decline.
Since becoming prime minister, Takaichi has said she wants to “draw a line between xenophobia” and reasonable restrictions on immigration. According to Asahi Shimbun’s report, the LDP is preparing to release its own policy proposals for immigration in January, and a final package of proposed rule changes will probably be ready for Takaichi’s signature by the end of the month.
