Chan Ka Yee and her Hong Kong-style “congee” restaurant in Tokyo’s Nerima Ward survived the COVID-19 pandemic and had just turned a profit when the death-knell sounded in October.
The Immigration Services Agency raised the requirements for “business manager” residence status, including having 30 million yen ($190,000) in capital.
Unable to overcome that “wall,” Chan, 47, who is from Hong Kong, decided to close the restaurant, San Mai San Nerima, located near Nerima Station on the Seibu Ikebukuro Line, after its final day of business on May 20.
“I didn’t want to easily give up on the restaurant, but I couldn’t avoid it,” she said.
Chan is not the only one who has struggled with the new requirements for the visa.
A March-April survey conducted by Tokyo Shoko Research Ltd. showed that 45 percent of 299 companies run by non-Japanese nationals said they would be impacted by the stricter conditions for the business manager visa, including Japanese language ability.
The main concern was the sixfold increase in minimum required capital, from 5 million yen to 30 million yen.
For renewals of the status, transitional measures will allow a grace period of three years, until October 2028.
Even after that, approval may still be granted if the requirements are not fully met.
However, many business owners live in fear that their applications will be rejected. And some have decided to close shop before that happens.
Chan grew up watching Japanese dramas and had long dreamed of living in Japan. After saving money, she applied to operate a franchised restaurant in Japan and opened it in August 2020.
Although the restaurant recently became profitable, she could not see any way to meet the 30-million-yen requirement.
When Chan consulted a certified legal specialist on administrative procedures, she was told, “You simply have to meet the new requirements.”
Although a business manager visa can be valid for up to five years, Chan has had to renew her status every year.
She decided that she would close the business and settle everything in Japan while her visa was still valid, and then return to Hong Kong.
She understands the need for stricter measures to prevent malicious use of the business manager visa. But she wishes that business performance would be considered in the applications.
“I’ve decided to close my restaurant, but I still believe in future possibilities and want to prepare when I’m back in Hong Kong,” she said.
POSSIBLE LOST COMMUNITY
Tokyo’s Edogawa Ward has the largest Indian population in Japan. And more than half of the 8,400 Indian residents in the ward live around the Nishi-Kasai subway station, where Indian restaurants line the streets.
“There is no way we can come up with 30 million yen,” said a 53-year-old Indian man whose wife runs an Indian restaurant in the neighborhood. “We have no choice but to close the restaurant.”
His wife opened the eatery three years ago in the area known as “Little India” with 5 million yen in capital.
About half of its customers are Indian, and the other half are Japanese. The business is doing well, with annual sales of about 40 million yen.
But that is not enough to secure 30 million yen in capital.
“Why don’t they see our efforts? We are working so hard to operate our businesses. If foreigners cannot eat their country’s food, they will stop coming to work in Japan. If foreign workers disappear, it is the Japanese who will be in trouble,” the man said.
He said most of the nearby ethnic restaurants are in a similar situation and will likely be forced to close because the owners cannot renew their residency status.
Jagmohan S Chandrani, 73, chairman of the Edogawa Indian association, who also runs trading businesses, said he has heard concerns from Indian and Nepalese owners of restaurants and food import businesses since October.
He said many Indians in the ward rely on local businesses for vegetarian diets to meet their religious needs. If these businesses disappear, their daily lives could become unsustainable.
“Many Indians will no longer be able to continue living in Japan. The community we have built together could be lost,” he said.
Kazuhiko Yamada of Future Design, a certified administrative procedures legal specialists office in Tokyo’s Chuo Ward, has been supporting foreigners seeking to obtain or renew the business manager visa for running restaurants or export businesses in Japan.
“The 30-million-yen requirement is extremely difficult,” Yamada said. “Even among Japanese people, not many can invest that much capital. Some businesses that were profitable and doing well have already given up and gone home.”
His office previously handled two to three consultations per month for new applications of the business manager visa. However, since the revision, no such clients have come in.
He said other administrative scriveners are in a similar situation, and he predicted a decline in foreign entrepreneurs who choose Japan.
“People who can come up with 30 million yen would likely choose countries like the United States or those in Europe, where costs are higher but profits are greater and English is widely spoken,” Yamada said.
Atsushi Kondo, a professor of constitutional law at Meijo University who specializes in immigration policy, said the higher capital requirement may prove ineffective in thwarting misusers, and it may even have negative consequences.
“Those who set up shell companies often have much money. So, even if the requirement is raised to 30 million yen, they may still be able to get around it,” he said.
He said immigration policy should not only strengthen regulations to prevent illegal entry or push out overstaying foreigners, but it should also emphasize accepting and fostering individuals who can contribute to Japanese society.
“The visa requirement changes will eliminate honest and hardworking individuals,” Kondo said. “The system should be revised so that such people can continue running their businesses, while also allowing new entrants.”
(This article was compiled from reports by Yuka Suzuki, Masahide Miyajima and Takae Kumagai.)
AloJapan.com