The anti-immigration protest in Japan in early September 2025 is just a start. Organizers plan to work on several protest activities in other cities after a successful march in the streets of Osaka. These demonstrations followed growing fears that the government is planning to massively increase the numbers of African visa recipients in the country.
The demonstrators, waving banners and placards that read "end mass immigration" and "protect the Japanese people", were entirely peaceful. However, the fact that such action occurred at all is a sign of a growing nervousness among the Japanese that their country’s traditionally strict immigration policy and low number of yearly arrivals may not be guaranteed in the future.
The protesters’ concerns centred on a poorly explained government programme from JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) which proclaimed the creation of "home towns" for four African countries — Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania and Mozambique — in Japanese cities.
Fears were compounded by a since-deleted post by the Nigerian embassy that the government planned to create a special visa category for "highly skilled, innovative and talented young Nigerians [...] to live and work [in Japan]". Apparently, public broadcaster NHK was bombarded with emails and phone calls from angry residents of the city of Imabari, the Mozambique "home town."
This prompted a swift clarification from the highest levels of the Japanese government. The new programme appears to be about greater investment in Africa and the provision of short-term internships for African workers rather than a major relaxation of visa rules.
According to a Foreign Ministry statement, "there are no plans to take measures to promote the acceptance of immigrants or issue special visas for residents of African countries and the series of reports and announcements concerning such measures are not true." Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi added that interns admitted under the scheme would be returned to their home countries after training.
The episode illustrates several things about Japan’s views on immigration which the government would do well to notice. First, it is a further reminder of how fundamentally opposed large sections of the Japanese population are to any significant increase in the number of arrivals. The protests come in the wake of surging poll numbers for populist party Sanseito — which has a "Japan First" agenda and a pledge to keep immigration levels low — and a succession of stories in the press about growing public weariness over high levels of tourism.
It also shows how little trust there is in official policy pronouncements concerning immigration. Sanseito leader Sohei Kamiya has talked about a "silent invasion of foreigners", and claimed that immigrants to Japan receive special treatment and privileges not afforded the locals (without providing evidence). He has also questioned official figures and pronouncements, suggesting that a mass immigration policy is being introduced by stealth.
Successive Japanese governments have been forced to accept more migrants due to the shortage of workers in both skilled and unskilled sectors. With a million more deaths than births last year, the Japanese population is both ageing and shrinking at an alarming rate. Despite increasingly desperate efforts by the authorities, including the introduction of government dating agencies, the young — for a variety of reasons — are stubbornly refusing to do the decent thing and procreate.
This has led to an increasingly febrile situation. A particularly sensitive issue is crime. Incidents such as the murder of a 40-year-old woman by a Vietnamese immigrant in Saga in July are nightmarish for the Japanese and provoke a widespread perception that their culture and country is under attack from foreign elements. The government is certainly aware. In July it launched a task force to monitor over-tourism, and it announced stricter visa requirements for permanent residence.