Stick over carrot approach doesn’t help foreign residents integrate, professor says

Foreign residents in Japan were widely discussed in 2025, as their population reached a record high of 3.9 million in June.

In July’s Upper House election, all parties included policies on foreign nationals in their manifestos. Sanseito, campaigning under the slogan “Japanese First,” won big.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration is drafting ad-hoc immigration measures to achieve a “well-ordered and harmonious coexistence” with foreign residents.