[Anchor]

As the Japanese government drastically tightens residency requirements for foreigners, a growing number of individuals, including South Roreans, are leaving the country. However, the situation is quite different in regional areas heavily dependent on manufacturing.

Correspondent Mun Junmo reports from the front lines struggling with severe labor shortages.

[Reporter]

Choi Seok-jin has run a restaurant in Tokyo for eight years.

Reporting to work day after day, he is now preparing to welcome his last customers at the shop.

[Choi Seok-jin / Restaurant Owner: Tears just well up.]

The decision to close down the restaurant came after the Japanese government significantly tightened business visa requirements for foreigners.

The capital requirement surged sixfold, and conditions were attached requiring the hiring of hard-to-find Japanese employees.

[Choi Seok-jin / Restaurant Owner: It is essentially a message telling us they won't grant permits anymore. This means they are telling us to go home.]

In fact, the number of foreign business owners who left Japan in the first half of the year surged fourfold compared to the same period last year.

Beyond that, the Japanese government has effectively set out to reduce the number of foreigners by lowering the threshold for revoking permanent residency and launching intensive crackdowns on illegal stays.

This phenomenon unfolded following the surge of right-wing parties shouting "Japanese First" and the launch of the Takaichi cabinet.

However, the reality in regional areas is entirely different.

Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture.

Although it is a manufacturing city that gave birth to giants like Suzuki, Yamaha, and Honda, its population drops by thousands every year, meaning the city cannot function without foreigners.

At Sakurai Seisakusho, famous for precision parts for automobiles and aircraft, one in every five employees is a foreign national.

[Shirasawa Takeshi / Executive, Sakurai Seisakusho: Foreign employees are indispensable. Because Japan is facing a labor shortage, we will continue to actively hire them moving forward.]

Automaker Suzuki employs foreign workers from 15 countries and has even changed its cafeteria menu for Indian employees, whose numbers have recently grown.

This is actually the Indian-style curry sold at Suzuki's employee cafeteria.

As you can see here, some ingredients, including rice, are directly imported from India to make it. Word of mouth has spread among Indian employees that it tastes like "the flavor of home," making it so popular that it is even being manufactured as a retort product.

[Aditi / Suzuki Employee (from India): I missed my family, but eating this curry brings to mind the taste of home-cooked food made by my mother, which puts me at ease.]

The Hamamatsu City Assembly submitted a written opinion to the Prime Minister last March calling for the elimination of discrimination against foreigners.

[Nakano Yusuke / Mayor of Hamamatsu: Hamamatsu's experience of coexisting with foreign residents for over 30 years can be helpful.]

Even in Tokyo, immigrants have formed a political party for the first time, bringing small changes to politics.

[Jeong Jae-wook / Co-representative, Shinseidan: It is becoming harder for young people to enter Japan. This is not good for Japan's future either.]

While Japan's population decreased by a record-largest margin of about 3.17 million over five years, the foreign population increased by 40% to reach a record high of 3.84 million.

As foreigners fill the vacancies left by citizens, the challenges and changes recently faced by Japan offer implications for us as well.

(Video Reporting: Han Chul-min, Moon Hyun-jin | Video Editing: Jeon Min-gyu | Design: Lee Ga-jin)