JAKARTA - Japan's Liberal Democratic Party is reportedly pushing to make foreign residents prove they can speak Japanese before getting permanent residency. 

The LDP will include the language requirement in policy recommendations they plan to submit to the government next month. People applying for permanent residency would also have to take programs that teach them how to fit into local communities.  The party has not said what level of Japanese they want applicants to pass.

The LDP also says too many foreign residents cause problems in neighborhoods and with government paperwork because they don't speak Japanese. The party wants to expand a revised immigration law taking effect in April 2027 that already lets the government cancel permanent residency if someone deliberately skips paying taxes or fees. 

Right now, permanent residency just requires living in Japan for at least 10 years and showing they can support themselves financially.

The push for tougher rules comes as Japan hit 3.96 million foreign residents in June 2025, up nearly 200,000 from the end of 2024, according to the Immigration Services Agency.

That number keeps breaking records but still makes up only 3 percent of Japan's total population. Chinese residents lead with 900,738 people, followed by Vietnamese with 660,483 and South Koreans with 409,584.

Japan faces a growing contradiction. The country projects it will lack 11 million workers by 2040 as its population shrinks and ages. Workers over 65 already make up 13.6 percent of employees. 

The working-age population dropped 16 percent from 87.0 million in 1995 to 73.7 million in 2024. Construction alone has 4.6 job openings for every one applicant. Japan relies heavily on foreign workers in manufacturing, with 552,000 filling jobs in tech and factory sectors, but now wants to make permanent residency harder to get just as labor shortages hit record levels.