Photo/Illutration The Tokyo building housing the Immigration Services Agency (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

The Immigration Services Agency announced on Dec. 22 that it will ease restrictions for “yonsei,” fourth-generation Japanese immigrants, who wish to return to the land of their ancestors.

The measure will amend a visa program created in 2018 that allows people of fourth-generation Japanese descent to enter Japan for five years to work while also studying the culture.

The eased restrictions will raise the age limit for prospective entrants from 30 to 35, although they will have to demonstrate a certain Japanese-language proficiency.

Those entering will still be allowed to stay in Japan for five years initially, but can obtain long-term resident status after that if they can pass the second highest level of a Japanese-language test.

These updates are mainly designed to assist fourth-generation Japanese immigrants living in South America, but are not restricted to applicants from that region.

The agency plans to revise its notification regarding the conditions for this visa on Dec. 28.

When the visa program was first created in 2018, only applicants between the ages of 18 and 30 who had a “supporter” in Japan willing to provide free assistance in their daily lives were accepted.

They could remain in Japan for five years under the “designated activities” status, but had to return home after that if they were unable to change their visa status to one allowing for a longer stay.

The government initially envisioned that 4,000 people a year would enter Japan this way, but as of the end of 2022, only 128 people were here on that visa program.

Groups representing descendants of Japanese immigrants have lobbied for the conditions of the visa program to be relaxed.

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