KYODO — Chinese residents who moved to Japan seeking greater freedom are increasingly concerned that tighter visa rules could force some of them to leave, with critics warning the changes risk driving away people who have become an important bridge between Japan and China.
Among them is Li Jinxing, a 52-year-old human rights advocate whose law licence was revoked in China amid a broader crackdown on lawyers and democracy activists under President Xi Jinping.
"People who have lived in Japan for a long time are being pushed out," Li said.
The concerns centre on Japan's tightening of requirements for the business manager residence status, a visa category used by many foreign entrepreneurs.
Last October, Japan raised the minimum capital requirement for companies sponsoring business manager visas to ¥30 million (US$185,700) from ¥5 million and required at least one Japanese or permanent resident to be employed full time.
An official at Japan's Immigration Services Agency said the changes were needed to ensure proper screening and prevent foreigners from abusing the system.
Li worked as a lawyer supporting disadvantaged members of Chinese society before authorities revoked his license in 2019. The Xi leadership, which took power in 2012, intensified pressure on human rights lawyers and democracy activists whom it viewed as potential threats to Communist Party rule.
In 2020, during the coronavirus 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, Li moved to Tokyo with his family in search of a better educational environment for his children.
He later established the Tokyo Humanities Forum, which hosts lectures and reading groups and has become a base for discussion among people advocating democratic reform in China. The family's travel agency in Tokyo, which caters to Chinese tourists, was established to obtain a business manager visa.
As of the end of June 2025, about 45,000 foreigners held business manager status in Japan, roughly half of them Chinese.
One reason for the tighter rules was concern that some foreigners were obtaining residence status by establishing shell companies with little or no business activity.
Li argues the changes will not solve that problem.
"Even if requirements are tightened, loopholes will remain," he said. "A fundamental solution cannot be reached."
Instead, he said, the tougher requirements would disproportionately affect people running small businesses such as restaurants.
"Shutting out people who came to Japan seeking greater freedom is also a loss for Japanese society," he said.
Some Chinese residents say they are already reconsidering their future in Japan.
A Beijing-born man in his 40s who frequents Li's office said he moved to Japan from the United States because of what he saw as growing anti-immigrant sentiment there. He said requiring businesses to employ full-time Japanese citizens or permanent residents was unrealistic in a country facing labour shortages.
If he is unable to renew his visa, he worries he could eventually be forced to return to China. "Japan appears to be going down the same road as the United States," he said.
Another Chinese man in his 40s from Hunan Province, who moved to Japan with his family in 2022, decided to return to China after learning about the stricter requirements during a visa renewal consultation last year.
He said Japan appeared to be trying to drive out people who had fulfilled their tax obligations and contributed to the economy.
"I no longer find it attractive," he said.
Tomoko Ako, professor in the University of Tokyo's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, said Japan had become an important base for Chinese intellectuals who had lost opportunities to work freely in China.
"They are important figures who could serve as intermediaries in the often strained relationship between Japan and China," she said. "Excluding them would be extreme."
