Japan's Ruling Bloc Delivers Foreign Resident Policy Proposals to PM

Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner separately submitted policy proposals on issues concerning foreign residents to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Thursday, ahead of the Feb 8 general election. The proposals submitted by Yoshitaka Shindo, chair of the LDP's panel on foreign national policy, called for "zero" illegal immigration, stricter rules on land purchases by foreigners and expanded Japanese-language education. Takaichi, known as a conservative lawmaker who champions Japanese traditions, said the proposals cover a wide range of topics and that her government plans to decide on its response on Friday, the day she will dissolve the House of Representatives. Fumitake Fujita, co-leader of the Japan Innovation Party, handed over its proposals to Takaichi, including one to introduce a cap on the proportion of foreign residents in the total population to curb the pace of increase in the number of foreigners accepted. The LDP and the JIP, known as Nippon Ishin, have agreed to draft a "population strategy" by March 2027 that will set numerical goals for foreign acceptance, potentially shaping the scope of future immigration policy. How to better engage with foreign residents in Japan is one of the key campaign issues for the upcoming lower house election, pundits said. © KYODO