Hello, this is Hamamoto from TIMEWELL. Day to day, I work on what we call our vision of "building the world's number-one infrastructure for ambition," supporting intrapreneurs and startup founders. Because I spend so much time talking with mission-driven entrepreneurs — including many founders who came to Japan from abroad to build their companies here — I felt I could not write around this topic.
In late March 2026, the Cabinet Secretariat published a progress report on its "Comprehensive Measures for the Acceptance of, and Orderly Symbiotic Society with, Foreign Nationals."[^1] To be honest, government documents are rarely an easy read. They pile on jargon, weave through tangled timelines, and leave you wondering halfway through, "Wait, what actually changed?" But if you read it carefully, what becomes clear is that Japan has pushed through a remarkably ambitious set of reforms in just one year. For founders and executives, this is not a peripheral story — it speaks directly to how we engage international talent.
In this article, I'll distill the essence of that report through the lens of someone working in the startup trenches. This is not a dry summary; my goal is to answer two questions an operator actually cares about: "Why is this happening now?" and "How is it going to land in our businesses and daily lives?"
1. Why "Symbiotic Society" Became a National Top Priority
Right after the Takaichi administration took office in October 2025, a brand-new cabinet position was created: the Minister in Charge of Promoting an Orderly Symbiotic Society with Foreign Nationals.[^2] In other words, this is now serious enough to merit a dedicated minister. The Cabinet Secretariat houses a dedicated promotion office, and discussion is running on multiple parallel tracks — a ministerial council, an expert panel, and a review panel on land-acquisition rules.
Two contradictory realities sit underneath all of this. The first is Japan's shrinking population and acute labor shortage. Eldercare, construction, restaurants, logistics — and increasingly, our own startup ecosystem — are approaching the point where they cannot function without overseas talent. The second is a rising public anxiety as the foreign-resident population grows. "Are the rules actually being followed? Are systems being abused?" Specific concerns — speculative land buying, unpaid medical bills, unlawful overstays, and concentration in particular public housing complexes — have surfaced across the country.
The comprehensive package threads the needle between these two realities by signaling: "We will keep welcoming people, but we are going to put the rules in proper order." The keyword is "orderly symbiosis." Rather than slamming the door shut, the government is trying to clarify how people walk through it. The report is structured around three pillars: tightening of immigration and residency administration, refinement of related systems, and proper use and management of national land. Let's go through them in turn.
2. Tightening Immigration Administration: What Changes at the Front Door
JESTA Will Launch During Fiscal Year 2028
The first centerpiece is JESTA, an electronic travel authorization system. Visitors from visa-exempt countries and regions will be required to apply online before their trip — the same logic as the U.S. ESTA, Korea's K-ETA, and Canada's eTA.
Originally targeted for fiscal year 2030, the launch has been moved forward; the new policy is to go live during fiscal year 2028.[^3] At the latest, operations should begin by the end of March 2029. The relevant bills were submitted to the 221st Diet session in March 2026.
I file an ESTA every time I travel to the U.S. — it is a five-to-ten-minute exercise. Even so, simply having the "pre-cleared" status at arrival dramatically shortens the airport queue. Capturing inbound demand without giving up on it, while pre-screening for unlawful-overstay and security risks at the same time, is an entirely sensible piece of system design.
The Business Manager Visa: Big News in the Founder World
This is the area I watch most closely as someone working in the startup space.
As of October 16, 2025, the bar for the "Business Manager" status of residence — the visa used by foreign nationals running or managing a company in Japan — was raised significantly.[^4] The minimum capital requirement, previously 5 million yen, was lifted in one stroke to 30 million yen or more. On top of that, applicants must employ at least one full-time staff member, demonstrate Japanese language proficiency at B2 (roughly JLPT N2), have at least three years of management experience or meet an academic credential, submit a business plan reviewed by a qualified expert, and — barring exceptional cases — they cannot use a home office. The hurdles are now stacked one on top of the other.
The numbers tell the story. According to the report, monthly Certificate of Eligibility filings dropped from around 1,700 to around 70 — roughly a 96% decline. It is an almost startlingly steep drop. The classic playbook of "set up a paper company, get the visa" has effectively been shut down.
For overseas founders who genuinely want to plant their flag in Japan, the bar has obviously gone up. Existing visa holders get a three-year transition period until October 16, 2028, but at renewal they are now required to submit a written explanation of actual operations, with closer scrutiny of tax and social-insurance compliance. You can call this exclusionary, or you can call it a deliberate shift "from quantity to quality." I lean toward the latter. For founders truly committed to building value in Japan, 30 million yen of capital is not an insurmountable barrier. If anything, with the cohort of "founder-flavored" thin-and-wide entries cleared away, the ecosystem becomes healthier — capital and opportunity flow toward the people who are actually playing the game.
Engineering Talent, Students, Intra-Company Transferees: Quiet but Effective Tightening
For the "Engineer / Specialist in Humanities / International Services" status — the visa most engineers and marketers come in on — the screening of dispatched-worker arrangements is being tightened from March 2026, and from April 2026 the bar rises specifically for roles whose primary language of work is Japanese. From April, the actual study activities of international students who hold side jobs will also be reviewed jointly with Japanese-language schools. Intra-company transfer applications are getting a refresh of the documentation requirements at the same time. None of these is dramatic on its own, but together they are sealing the gaps in the system one by one.
Permanent Residency, Naturalization, and Unlawful Overstays: Recalibrating Rights and Duties
On permanent residency, the previous transitional rule allowing applications after three years instead of the standard five has been abolished. From April 2027, the government will also begin operating a regime under which permanent residency can be revoked when an applicant has been delinquent on public dues — taxes or social insurance premiums. The naturalization residency requirement is being raised from five to ten years, harmonizing it with the ten-year requirement for permanent residency.
The unlawful-overstay agenda has gone further than many expected. Under the "Zero Unlawful Overstay Plan," the population of unlawful overstayers fell from 74,863 in January 2025 to 68,488 in January 2026 — a decline of 6,375 people (-8.5%). At the same time, apprehensions rose from 1,378 to 1,837 (+33.3%), and government-funded deportations from 249 to 318 (+27.7%).[^1] More enforcement, more removals, fewer people remaining in the country illegally — as policy outcomes go, this is close to an ideal pattern.
Higher Fees: Funding the Workload, Discouraging Casual Filings
This has not received much attention, but operationally the fee revisions matter. The fees for status changes and period renewals are set to rise from 10,000 yen to 100,000 yen, permanent residency from 10,000 yen to 300,000 yen, and single-entry visas from 3,000 yen to 15,000 yen. The increases are scheduled within fiscal year 2026; the legislation was submitted to the Diet in March, and the cabinet order revising visa fees went out for public comment in March and April. The additional revenue is earmarked for strengthening review capacity.
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3. Refining the Surrounding Systems: What's Happening on the Ground
Unpaid Medical Bills: Information-Sharing Threshold Drops to 10,000 Yen
Tourists who receive treatment and then skip out on the bill — for healthcare workers on the front line, this is no small matter. Until now, the threshold for sharing information on medical-fee non-payment was 200,000 yen, but from April 2026 it drops to 10,000 yen.[^5] The underlying logic is that even small amounts, repeated, become abusive behavior. Looking ahead, from fiscal year 2027 the government has indicated it will, in principle, refuse status changes and renewals for foreign nationals who are delinquent on insurance premiums.
Japanese readers may feel this change is "long overdue." But it is also a serious matter for employers. For companies that hire foreign workers — including under the Specified Skilled Worker program — proper enrollment in social insurance and clean payroll deductions become a retention issue tightly tied to operational management.
Japanese Language Education and Pre-Class: Investing in the Support Side
On the other hand, the government is steadily putting money behind support as well. In 2025, 58 organizations received funding for community-based Japanese-language education infrastructure, and support for Japanese-language teaching assistants has expanded to 221 municipalities.[^1] From fiscal year 2027, a fundamental strengthening of the "Pre-Class" (initial-support) program is under consideration, and from fiscal year 2026, local public-finance measures will begin to support the learning of community rules. A project team chaired by the Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Justice was launched in March 2026.
The headlines tend to fixate on the restrictive measures, but investments in Japanese-language learning, opportunities to learn local norms, and initial support are advancing in parallel. Looking only at one side leads you to misread the whole picture.
Enrollment Management for International Students; Tuition Support for Foreign Schools
Universities and other institutions with insufficient enrollment management are now formally designated by the central government, with notifications and public disclosures rolled out in February 2026; analogous measures for vocational schools are scheduled for April. As for the High School Tuition Support Fund, the amendment that legally excludes foreign-curriculum schools from coverage was passed in March 2026. At the same time, the law explicitly requires "verification and review within three years of enforcement." Drawing a clearer line while building in a review mechanism strikes me as honest policy design.
Public Housing Tenant Management
In some areas, particular public-housing complexes have ended up with heavy concentrations of foreign residents, putting strain on neighboring schools. A practical gap underlies this: many municipalities have not been recording the nationality or residency status of tenants. In February 2026, the central government issued guidance asking municipalities to record the nationality and residency status of new tenants and to register an emergency contact who can communicate in Japanese. Similar requests have been made on a continuing basis to UR (the Urban Renaissance Agency).
4. Proper Use and Management of National Land: The Other Conversation
The Land-Acquisition Rules Panel Gets Underway
On March 4, 2026, the "Review Panel on the State of Rules for Land Acquisition by Foreign Nationals" held its first meeting.[^6] A second session followed on April 9. The government plans to compile the framework of new rules by the end of summer 2026. The legislative core will be how to regulate land acquisition near defense facilities, nuclear facilities, remote islands, and other areas critical from a national-security perspective.
In parallel, ministerial ordinance and notification revisions for nationality-tracking under the real-estate registration and forestry-related regimes were enacted between January and March 2026.[^7] As an anti-money-laundering measure across real-estate transactions, a "risk assessment manual" for practitioners was also issued in February.
The Real-Estate Base Registry: Foundational Infrastructure
"Even the Japanese ourselves cannot say with certainty who owns which piece of land." That, fundamentally, is the problem. From fiscal year 2027 onward, the government is exploring a "Real-Estate Base Registry" — an information backbone giving public agencies and citizens access to land-ownership information. This should be read less as a foreign-acquisition regulation and more as the digital transformation of how Japan understands its own land.
Curbing Speculative Condominium Trading: A Framework That Includes Japanese Buyers
What I find most interesting here is the survey work on condominium transactions. In November 2025, the government published the results of a study on short-term turnover of new condominiums and acquisitions from outside Japan; in response, the Real Estate Association decided on a policy package to curb speculative trading that includes Japanese buyers as well. Rather than singling out foreign nationals, the design targets speculative behavior itself — and that distinction matters.
Groundwater and Remote Islands
On the worry that "foreign nationals are buying up the country's water sources," the government published the results of a study on groundwater extraction in December 2025, and an expert panel began discussing appropriate use from March 2026. The nationalization of unowned remote islands, and tailored land-acquisition rules for islands as warranted, are also on the agenda.
5. The Numbers (As of End of March 2026)
| Indicator | Change | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Business Manager Certificate of Eligibility filings | Approx. -96% | ~1,700/month → ~70/month |
| Unlawful overstayers | -6,375 (-8.5%) | 74,863 → 68,488 |
| Unprocessed asylum applications | -3,531 (-18.1%) | 19,500 → 15,969 |
| Government-funded deportations | +69 (+27.7%) | 249 → 318 |
| People apprehended | +459 (+33.3%) | 1,378 → 1,837 |
Numbers don't lie. Apprehensions and deportations are up, the underlying overstay population is down, business-manager filings have plunged, and the asylum backlog is being worked down. These are metrics with the unmistakable feel of policy actually moving the dial.
6. Four Messages I Read as a Founder
1. Restriction and Support Are Moving Together
Strict treatment of unlawful overstays and system abuse on one hand; expanded investment in Japanese-language education, daily-life support, and pre-class programs on the other. Look at one side and the picture seems exclusionary. Take both together and you can read it differently: the position of foreign nationals who live by the rules is being strengthened. When the line is sharper, it is the people playing it straight who benefit most.
2. Understanding Reality Is Now the Starting Point of Policy
Land, groundwater, condominiums, foreign-curriculum schools, public housing — areas where "vague unease" used to be the substitute for analysis are now being entered with surveys and data infrastructure. In startup language: administration is moving toward being data-driven. Decisions made on the basis of numbers rather than impressions are finally starting to ship.
3. Three Time Horizons Are Running in Parallel
Quick-acting measures effective in April 2026; JESTA in fiscal year 2028; the Real-Estate Base Registry from fiscal year 2027 onward; and a deeper underlying debate about "how Japan should accept foreign nationals" in the long run. Different time horizons advancing on the same table — structurally, this is similar to how a startup runs OKRs. Hit the short-term numbers while keeping the long-term vision in motion.
4. Some Measures Are Not "Foreign-National-Only"
The condominium-speculation framework explicitly includes Japanese buyers. The transparency push on land ownership improves information access for the entire population. What the report quietly insists on is this: a symbiotic society is not about giving foreign nationals special treatment, but about building rules everyone can live with.
7. From the "Infrastructure for Ambition" Perspective: What I Want to Leave You With
At TIMEWELL we hold up the idea of "democratizing ambition." Building social infrastructure where anyone with a real mission — regardless of nationality, organization, or background — can take their shot. That's why we exist.
For that reason, what I take away from reading this comprehensive package is the following: the gate of ambition has not been narrowed; the way through it has been clarified. A 30-million-yen capital threshold for the Business Manager visa undoubtedly came as a shock to some overseas founders. But for anyone who is genuinely committed to making a serious play in the Japanese market, it is not a bar that cannot be cleared. If anything, with shell-company entries now filtered out, the playing field for serious contenders is clearer than before.
For those of us who are Japanese, this is also an invitation to step beyond the crude framing of "foreign = anxiety." Specific issues are being addressed institutionally. Unlawful overstays are coming down. The net for unpaid medical bills is finer. Land rules are being put in order. On top of those facts, the most powerful contribution any of us can make is the most analog one — offering our foreign neighbors a place to learn the language and local norms together, exchanging greetings, speaking up when someone seems lost. Profoundly low-tech, profoundly effective.
The essence of orderly symbiosis is that institutions and human practice need to spin together as two wheels of one cart. On top of the institutional scaffolding the state has built, how each of us behaves is the question now on the table.
I'd be glad if this article serves both as an entry point into the original government report and as a nudge to think about what symbiosis looks like in our own neighborhoods.
For executive teams thinking through strategy and the use of overseas talent against this policy backdrop, our AI consulting service WARP at TIMEWELL also handles individual engagements. Themes that bear directly on executive decisions are exactly the ones worth opening up to outside experts. You can start with a 30-minute online conversation.
For related policy and regulatory reading, see our pieces on the revised Three Principles on the Transfer of Defense Equipment and Technology, Japan's anti-espionage legislation and its impact on business, and penalties and case studies under the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act.
References
[^1]: Cabinet Secretariat, "Comprehensive Measures for the Acceptance of, and Orderly Symbiotic Society with, Foreign Nationals: Progress on Initiatives for Public Safety and Security (As of End of March 2026)" — https://www.cas.go.jp/jp/seisaku/symbiotic_society/pdf/sougoutekitaiousaku_shinchoku_gaiyo.pdf
[^2]: Cabinet Secretariat, "Office for the Promotion of an Orderly Symbiotic Society with Foreign Nationals" — https://www.cas.go.jp/jp/seisaku/symbiotic_society/index.html
[^3]: Ministry of Justice, "Press Conference Summary by the Minister of Justice (JESTA Launch Within Fiscal Year 2028)" — https://www.moj.go.jp/hisho/kouhou/hisho08_00613.html
[^4]: Nikkei, "Government Tightens Business Manager Visa Requirements: Capital Threshold Raised from 5 Million to 30 Million Yen" — https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOUA120140S5A810C2000000/
[^5]: Immigration Services Agency, "Roadmap Toward the Realization of a Symbiotic Society with Foreign Nationals" — https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/support/coexistence/04_00033.html
[^6]: TBS NEWS DIG, "Expert Panel on Land-Acquisition Regulation Holds First Meeting (March 4, 2026)" — https://newsdig.tbs.co.jp/articles/-/2507498
[^7]: TMI Associates, "New Regulatory Trends Surrounding Real-Estate Acquisition by Foreign Nationals" — https://www.tmi.gr.jp/eyes/blog/2026/18051.html
Ryuta Hamamoto Co-founder & CEO of TIMEWELL Inc., Specially-Appointed Associate Professor at Shinshu University. Born in Okayama Prefecture, Japan. Joined Panasonic in 2011, where he worked in sales, ran the company's internal new-business program, and led technology and data strategy. He went on to co-found TIMEWELL Inc. under the vision of "building the world's number-one infrastructure for ambition." He is also the founder of CHANGE by ONE JAPAN.