Japan cities overwhelmed by complaints after false immigration claim

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TOKYO – Japanese cities have been inundated with complaints from residents confused by an initiative to designate them the "hometown" of African countries, following false claims that this was a new immigration policy.

The complaints came after the initiative by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, or JICA, this month to promote international exchanges between four Japanese cities and African nations.

This prompted the Nigerian government to issue a statement saying Tokyo "will create a special visa category", and some media reports and online posts claimed the programme was designed for immigration settlement in Japan.

One post on social media platform X that claimed the city of Kisarazu "is seriously considering handing over the city to Africans" received 4.6 million views.

But top Japanese government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Tuesday that such claims were baseless.

"There are no plans to promote accepting immigrants or issue special visas," he told reporters.

Foreigners make up just three percent of the workforce in Japan but last month, the "Japanese first" Sanseito party made strong gains with its calls for "stricter rules and limits" on immigration.

The four cities -- Kisarazu, Sanjo, Imabari and Nagai -- received thousands of complaints from confused residents, officials said.

"Our team of 15 officials spent a whole day, handling hundreds of phone calls and thousands of emails from residents yesterday," an official of northern Sanjo City told AFP.

The city has so far received 350 phone calls and 3,500 emails since Monday, the official said.

Imabari city in western Japan received 460 calls and 1,400 emails from anxious residents asking if this was a new immigration policy, a local official said.

The mayors of the four cities also issued statements denying the false claim.

"Our initiatives will involve cooperating in the education of young people based on discipline through baseball and softball, and it's not a programme that will lead to relocation or immigration," Kisarazu Mayor Yoshikuni Watanabe said.

A Kisarazu city official said the phones had been "ringing non-stop".

"Residents are confused which government is telling the truth," he said.

The "African hometowns" initiative was launched by JICA at the Tokyo International Conference on African Development held last week.