{"id":41294,"date":"2026-06-15T20:55:27","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T20:55:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/41294\/"},"modified":"2026-06-15T20:55:27","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T20:55:27","slug":"government-panel-proposes-mandatory-integration-program-for-foreign-residents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/41294\/","title":{"rendered":"Government panel proposes mandatory integration program for foreign residents"},"content":{"rendered":"

A government panel of experts is recommending that Japan create a mandatory integration program for foreign residents and collect data on real estate ownership by non-citizens, in a report submitted to \u201cimmigration minister\u201d Kimi Onoda<\/a> on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The report was submitted by the panel\u2019s chair, Reiko Hayashi, the director-general of the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research.<\/p>\n

The meeting between economic security minister Onoda \u2014 who is also \u201cminister in charge of a society of well-ordered and harmonious coexistence with foreign nationals\u201d \u2014 and Hayashi took place as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi\u2019s administration moves to reset Japan\u2019s direction for policies related to foreign nationals, including by conducting better language programs and implementing new restrictions on real estate purchases on national and economic security grounds.<\/p>\n

The panel, in its report, underscored Japan\u2019s lack of a national program for educating immigrants on the country\u2019s language, culture, customs and legal framework.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a result, some foreigners are having a hard time adjusting to Japanese society,\u201d the panel said. \u201cIt is the government\u2019s responsibility to provide foreign residents with a program to continually learn Japanese language and social norms.\u201d<\/p>\n

The panel proposes an integration program that takes into account the needs of not only individuals, but also their family members as a unit. In the program, which foreign nationals intending to live in Japan would be required to take part in before and after entering the country, participants would gain basic knowledge about Japanese society and administrative procedures. The panel suggests that participation in the program be made a condition of residence.<\/p>\n

As for integration programs provided in the private sector, the report noted that while big firms are well organized, mid- to small-size companies lack the capital and human resources to establish support systems for foreign employees.<\/p>\n

To close the gap between companies\u2019 levels of support for foreign employees, the report said that local municipalities and businesses must coordinate to provide consultation services and Japanese language education.<\/p>\n

On the topic of land ownership by foreign nationals, which is on the rise, the report praised the government\u2019s plan to require new property owners to disclose their nationality in a real estate registry<\/a> starting in fiscal 2026.<\/p>\n

It also underscored the importance of creating a standardized way to collect data on the usage of groundwater amid growing concern over foreign nationals\u2019 use of the resource.<\/p>\n

In December, the government released data on foreign national-owned land near important facilities, including those of the Self-Defense Forces and nuclear power plants, as well as islands near Japan\u2019s maritime borders. In fiscal 2024, 3.1% of 113,827 acquisitions were made by foreign nationals and companies.<\/p>\n

Another government survey on property acquisitions by foreign nationals found…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A government panel of experts is recommending that Japan create a mandatory integration program for foreign residents and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41295,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[176],"tags":[3448,3446,1578,177,179,5763,16178,180,178],"class_list":["post-41294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-politics","tag-expats","tag-foreign-workers","tag-immigration","tag-japans-politics","tag-japanese-politics","tag-kimi-onoda","tag-living-in-japan","tag-politics","tag-politics-of-japan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41294\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}