'My dream is broken': Japan visa rules push out foreign residents

In a tiny Tokyo restaurant filled with the smell of Nepalese dumplings, Budhathoki Samjhana surveys the business she built from scratch but may now have to give up as Japan tightens visa rules. Even though Japan has a rapidly ageing population and is suffering labour shortages in many sectors, opposition to immigration is growing and the new rules for business manager visas were introduced by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in late 2025. Nepalese national Budhathoki, who spent a decade away from her young daughter to create a new life for them in Tokyo, faces expulsion from the country because she may not be able to meet the specifications. “I always wanted to become a bridge between Japan and Nepal… but my dream is broken,” the 38-year-old told AFP from the capital’s Okubo district, where her restaurant is nestled alongside Vietnamese cafes, Indian curry houses and Korean barbecue joints. Budhathoki Samjhana, a restaurant owner and business manager visa holder at Chitwan Rhino Restaurant and Bar, looks on inside her bar in the Okubo–Shin area, one stop north of Shinjuku, in Tokyo on June 12, 2026, a neighbourhood known for its large immigrant communities, including Korean, Southeast Asian and South Asian residents. — AFP The stricter rules come as some residents complain of overtourism and soaring land prices in part due to foreign investment, prompting a push by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi for tighter regulations on foreign nationals. Her government announced last month a sharp increase in visa fees for some tourists for the first time in nearly 50 years, hiking the cost for single and multiple entry permits five-fold. And while business manager visa holders have a three-year grace period to meet the new conditions, some thriving businesses — including many popular eateries in Okubo — fear they won’t manage. “The biggest problem is the increase in capital requirement to 30 million yen ($185,000) from 5 million ($30,000),” said Budhathoki, leafing th