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Two amendments to the Designated Activities notice add Panama to Japan's working holiday system from 1 November 2026 and Brazil from 1 December 2026, though neither country's age range, quota or paperwork has been published yet.
The Immigration Services Agency is consulting on deleting a designated-activities category that has had no users since 2018, with comments closing on 29 October 2026.
A Cabinet Secretariat working group is designing a two-course Japanese and daily-life learning programme for mid-to-long-term residents, with the trial set to begin from April 2028 and completion checks proposed at renewal, permanent residence and naturalisation.
A cabinet-level basic policy on how many foreign nationals Japan accepts is due in March 2027, preceded by a population strategy at the end of 2026 that will set the labour-force figure it has to fit.
The Immigration Services Agency is consulting on adding dental technicians and speech-language-hearing therapists to the Medical status of residence, with comments due by 15 October 2026 and the change planned for November 2026.
The Immigration Services Agency published a reinforced Zero Overstayers package at the end of August, while figures showed nearly 1,000 Business Manager visa holders left Japan in the first half of 2026.
The Justice Ministry published a new Basic Plan for Immigration Control in July — the document that frames immigration policy for the years ahead, including JESTA by 2028.
A Justice Ministry project team set out in July how a structured programme teaching Japanese and the country's rules would work — the mechanism behind January's panel recommendation.
The Diet passed the immigration bill on 29 May. It creates Japan's electronic travel authorisation system and lifts the statutory ceiling on residence procedure fees to ¥300,000.
A late-January policy package points at zero illegal overstays, land purchase rules, expanded language education and a possible cap on the foreign share of the population.
A government expert panel's final report in January 2026 recommended structured language and civics learning for foreign residents, and floated tying it to long-term status.
Worker intake targets, a naturalisation review and a fee overhaul were all settled before the year began. Here is what foreign residents in Japan should expect in 2026.