[Blog]The History of Permanent Residence — From --Foreigners Intending to Reside Permanently-- to --Foreign Residents Rooted in Society--

2026-08-18

What Cannot Be Seen from the Current System Alone

Looking only at the current system, permanent residence in Japan appears to be a status granted, after examination, to foreign nationals who have lived in Japan for a substantial period, established a stable basis of life, and properly fulfilled their public obligations. Indeed, the current Guidelines for Permission for Permanent Residence emphasize not only good conduct, independent livelihood, and conformity with the interests of Japan, but also the proper fulfillment of public obligations, including taxes, public pension contributions, public health insurance premiums, and notifications required under immigration law. Yet permanent residence was not originally designed as a system for recognizing foreign nationals who had become deeply settled in Japanese society. Looking back at its history reveals an institutional logic different from the one we tend to assume today.

The 1951 Immigration Control Order

The origin of the present Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act lies in the Immigration Control Order enacted in 1951. Created as part of the postwar reconstruction of Japan’s immigration administration, the Order classified foreign nationals according to the purposes of their entry and residence and established the basic structure of controlling their stay through statuses of residence and periods of stay. That structure remains visible today. Article 1 of the present Act identifies as one of its purposes the equitable control over the entry into and departure from Japan of all persons and the residence in Japan of all foreign nationals. The Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act therefore continues to reflect the postwar concept of managing foreign nationals’ entry and residence through defined legal categories.

“A Person Who Intends to Reside Permanently in Japan”

A striking feature of the original Immigration Control Order is that permanent residence was not conceived solely as a status for foreign nationals who had already lived in Japan for many years. The system included a category for a person who intended to reside permanently in Japan, meaning that permanent residence could be contemplated from the stage of entry into the country. Materials concerning the historical development of Japan’s immigration control system also show that, before the major 1989 revision, the legal framework allowed a foreign national to acquire permanent resident status in connection with landing procedures. The National Diet Library’s overview of Japan’s immigration control system illustrates that permanent residence was not originally conceived exclusively as a status obtained after long-term residence within Japan.

Not Recognition of Settlement, but a Category of Permanent Foreign Residence

This history suggests that permanent residence at the time of the system’s creation had a different character from the contemporary idea of recognizing settlement after years of residence. Activities such as tourism, business, employment, research, and education were categorized according to their purposes, and alongside them existed the category of living permanently in Japan. The central logic was therefore not primarily to assess how successfully a foreign national had integrated into Japanese society and then reward or recognize that integration. Rather, it was to classify foreign nationals according to whether their residence was temporary or permanent.

Permanent Residence Was Never Unconditional

This did not mean, however, that any foreign national who wished to remain in Japan permanently was simply free to do so. Permanent residence was subject to conditions, including the ability to maintain an independent livelihood and a determination that the person’s permanent residence accorded with the interests of Japan. The concept that permanent residence must serve Japan’s interests, which remains central to the current system, therefore has roots reaching back to the early stages of the postwar framework. Permanent residence was from the beginning a legal status subject to state selection. Yet the existence of selection criteria is different from the existence of a clearly articulated institutional purpose explaining what permanent residence is intended to achieve for society.

Postwar Japan and the Starting Point of Immigration Control

The historical context of 1951 is also essential. Japan was still under Allied occupation and had not yet restored full sovereignty. The country faced complex questions concerning the legal status of people from Korea and Taiwan who had lived in Japan before and during the war, postwar population movements, and the reorganization of nationality and legal status. A unified framework for controlling the entry and residence of foreign nationals had to be constructed within this environment. The Immigration Control Order emerged from these circumstances. Permanent residence is therefore better understood as part of a broader system for classifying and managing the legal position of foreign nationals in postwar Japan than as a component of a deliberate policy of social integration.

The Separate Historical Logic of Special Permanent Residents

In examining this history, ordinary permanent residents must be distinguished from Special Permanent Residents. Former colonial subjects and their descendants who continued to live in Japan were placed in a distinct legal category reflecting their particular historical circumstances, culminating in the establishment of the Special Permanent Resident system in 1991. In their case, the reasons for providing an especially stable residence status can be explained comparatively clearly through historical circumstances. Indeed, the special legislation governing this status expressly refers, in connection with the administration of re-entry permission, to respecting the purpose of contributing to the stability of the lives of Special Permanent Residents in Japan. The Special Act on the Immigration Control of, Inter Alia, Those Who Have Lost Japanese Nationality Pursuant to the Treaty of Peace with Japan therefore contains at least an explicit institutional value of “stability of life.” The contrast with ordinary permanent residence is revealing.

The 1989 Reform Changed the Position of Permanent Residence

A major turning point came with the 1989 revision of immigration law. This reform established the status-of-residence structure that largely continues today, systematically organizing statuses based on activities and those based on personal status or position. In this process, the previous framework under which a person could enter Japan in connection with permanent residence disappeared, and permanent residence increasingly became a status acquired by foreign nationals who were already residing in Japan and who satisfied certain conditions after a period of residence. The social meaning of permanent residence therefore changed substantially.

From “Coming to Reside Permanently” to “Becoming Permanent Through Continued Residence”

Put simply, the earlier system contemplated foreign nationals who came to Japan with permanent residence itself as their intended form of stay. The contemporary system, by contrast, primarily concerns foreign nationals who enter and reside under another status and later obtain permanent residence after living in Japan for an extended period. This is an important conceptual shift. In the former model, permanent residence was essentially a category of entry and residence. In the latter, it is a legal status granted after evaluating years of residence, the stability of a person’s life, relationships with society, and the fulfillment of public obligations. In this sense, the system gradually moved from classifying “foreign nationals who reside permanently” toward assessing “foreign nationals who have become settled in Japanese society.”

Permission Criteria Increasingly Measure Settlement

The current Guidelines for Permission for Permanent Residence make this development particularly visible. The examination considers not merely continuous residence over a certain period but also conduct, livelihood, taxation, public pension contributions, public health insurance, and compliance with notification obligations under immigration law. The decision is therefore no longer merely a prediction about whether a person should be allowed to reside permanently in Japan in the future. It also evaluates the person’s past record: how that individual has actually lived within Japanese society.

Permanent Residents Came to Be Understood as Highly Settled in Society

Government explanations and Diet deliberations have also increasingly distinguished permanent residents from other foreign nationals on the basis of their high degree of settlement in Japanese society. This reflects a gradual movement from the original administrative category of a “permanent foreign resident” toward recognition of a foreign national whose legal position corresponds to a substantial social reality. A person who has lived in Japan for many years may have developed multiple layers of relationships through family, employment, housing, local communities, and social security. Granting such a person a status outside ordinary period-of-stay controls has gradually acquired a meaning that goes beyond the original classification of immigration status.

2012: Permanent Residents Remain Subject to Residence Management

Yet the movement toward recognizing permanent residents as deeply settled members of society did not remove them from immigration control. When Japan introduced its new residence management system in 2012, ordinary permanent residents became subject to the residence card system as mid- to long-term residents. This demonstrates that even though permanent residents are free from restrictions on their period of stay and generally from restrictions on their activities, they remain legally situated within the immigration-law framework governing foreign residents. Permanent residence is not an exit from immigration control. It is one of the most stable positions within that system.

The 2024 Reform Raised a New Question

The 2024 amendment concerning the proper administration of the permanent residence system has brought the nature of permanent residence into renewed focus. The Immigration Services Agency has pointed to the fact that permanent residents are not subject to periodic examinations for extensions of their period of stay, meaning that there has been no regular opportunity to review situations in which public obligations cease to be properly fulfilled after permanent residence has been granted. The Immigration Services Agency’s Q

Author: Kenji Nishiyama (Certified Administrative Procedures Legal Specialist(Gyoseishoshi), Registration No.20081126)

Kenji Nishiyama is an Immigration and Visa Specialist who has supported many foreign residents with visa applications in Japan. On his firm’s website, he publishes daily updates and practical insights on immigration and residency procedures. He is also well-versed in foreign employment matters and serves as an advisor to companies that employ non-Japanese workers.