Japan restaurants face labour squeeze

Japan’s restaurant labour squeeze is coming from two different visa tracks at once. On April 13, Japan’s Immigration Services Agency and the agriculture ministry moved to halt new certificates of eligibility for Type I specified skilled worker visas in the restaurant sector after the number of workers in that category approached the government’s ceiling. (moj.go.jp) At the same time, campaigners are pressing Tokyo to revisit tougher business-manager visa rules that affect many foreign-owned small restaurants, after a video of an Indian restaurant owner’s speech spread online. Together, the two issues have sharpened concern among operators that hiring, expansion and even continuity of service will become harder in a sector already short of staff. (channelnewsasia.com) ### Why did Japan stop processing new restaurant-worker visas? March 27 guidance published by the Immigration Services Agency said the number of Type I specified skilled workers in the restaurant field had reached about 46,000 at the end of February, a preliminary figure close to the sector’s 50,000 cap. The agency said the total was on course to exceed the ceiling around May. April 13 was the date authorities chose to suspend issuance of certificates of eligibility for new overseas applicants in the restaurant category. The agriculture ministry said applications received on or after that date would not be issued, while status changes filed on or after April 13 would in principle be denied, with limited exceptions. (moj.go.jp) The same guidance said renewals would continue to be examined as normal. Transfers by people already in the restaurant field and some applicants moving from related training or transitional statuses can still be processed within the cap, according to the ministry and immigration agency. (moj.go.jp) ### Which restaurant companies have said they are affected? Skylark Holdings was cited by Kyodo as one of the companies affected by the suspension. The company employs 32 exchange students from countries including Myanmar as part-time workers and had been helping them prepare for the Type I status examination scheduled for June, the report said. (moj.go.jp) Mos Food Services, operator of the Mos Burger chain, has also expressed concern, according to the same report. Kyodo said the company had been supporting people in Vietnam seeking specified skilled worker visas for restaurant jobs in Japan. (moj.go.jp) A Skylark official told Kyodo some workers might return to their home countries rather than switch into one of the other eligible fields. That risk matters for restaurant operators because the suspended route had been one of the channels for turning part-time student workers into longer-term staff. (scmp.com) ### How is the separate business-manager visa dispute linked to restaurants? May 15 reports from AFP said tens of thousands of people had signed petitions calling for a review of newly tightened business-manager visa requirements. The campaign gathered pace after a video of an Indian restaurant owner speaking emotionally about the rules circulated widely online. (scmp.com) Late-2025 rule changes raised the capital requirement for the business-manager visa to 30 million yen from 5 million yen, according to AFP and summaries of the revised framework. The visa is used by foreign nationals who establish and run businesses in Japan, including many small restaurant operators. (scmp.com) NHK data cited by AFP said business-manager visa holders had risen to 45,000 by June last year, with about half Chinese and the total 2.7 times the level a decade earlier. Japanese authorities tightened the rules after concerns the category was being abused, AFP reported. (channelnewsasia.com) ### Who is the restaurant owner at the center of the online backlash? May 13 was the date of the speech that spread online, according to widely circulated reports. Secondary reports identified the speaker as Manish Kumar, an Indian restaurant owner who said he had lived in Japan for more than 30 years and feared the new rules could force him out. (nampa.org) AFP excerpts carried by other outlets quoted the owner saying his children spoke only Japanese and asking why he was being told to return to India. That testimony became a focal point for campaigners arguing that the revised rules hit long-term residents and small operators, not only sham businesses. (msn.com) ### What happens next for restaurants and applicants? June is the next near-term milestone for some employers because candidates already in Japan are still preparing for restaurant-sector status exams and related processing, according to the Kyodo report on Skylark. But the government’s March 27 and April 13 measures mean new overseas applications in the Type I restaurant category remain blocked unless policy changes. (hindustantimes.com) The agriculture ministry’s restaurant foreign-worker page says operators and applicants can use its published Q&A and immigration offices for case-specific guidance. (article.wn.com) For business-manager visa campaigners, the next step is a review of the tightened rules they are seeking through petitions and public appeals directed at Japanese authorities. (maff.go.jp) (scmp.com)