Government Adopts Comprehensive Measures for Accepting Foreign Nationals and Achieving Orderly Coexistence
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On January 23, 2026, the government held a meeting of the Ministerial Council on Realizing a Society of Orderly Coexistence with Foreign Nationals and adopted the "Comprehensive Measures for Accepting Foreign Nationals and Achieving Orderly Coexistence." The measures are based on a report compiled by an expert panel and are aimed at addressing challenges that have arisen alongside the expansion of foreign worker acceptance.
The measures include the systematic strengthening of Japanese-language education, the introduction of a "Specified Residence Card" that integrates the residence card with the My Number system, and efforts to grasp the actual state of land acquisition by foreign nationals. The Specified Residence Card is scheduled to be introduced starting in June 2026.
The government expects to accept a combined total of 1,231,900 foreign workers under the Specified Skilled Worker and Employment for Skill Development programs by March 2029, and appears intent on rapidly building institutional frameworks to achieve "orderly coexistence" alongside this expansion in acceptance.
These comprehensive measures appear to have been formulated against the backdrop of friction with local communities that has emerged alongside the expansion of foreign worker acceptance (related coverage), as well as the need to build up administrative services. The introduction of the Specified Residence Card is said to aim at both streamlining administrative procedures and tightening management by integrating the functions of the existing residence card and My Number card.
On the same day, the Cabinet also approved the addition of new fields to the Specified Skilled Worker program (related coverage), with measures to expand acceptance and measures to promote coexistence being advanced in parallel.