On the final day of TICAD 9 in Yokohama (Aug. 20–22, 2025), Japanese officials unveiled a quietly radical experiment in migration diplomacy: four Japanese municipalities were designated as official “hometowns” for residents of four African countries - Kisarazu in Chiba Prefecture for Nigerians, Nagai in Yamagata for Tanzanians, Sanjo in Niigata for Ghanaians, and Imabari in Ehime for Mozambicans.
The move, announced alongside plans for a special visa track, aims to bind African talent pipelines to specific Japanese cities, deepening ties far beyond the transactional grammar of conventional work permits.
Japan’s pitch is simple but ambitious. Rather than funnelling migrants into anonymous labour pools, it wants to cultivate place-based communities that can anchor social networks, local services, and employer relationships - while also revitalizing regional cities hollowed out by demographic decline.
From work visas to place-based diplomacy
Several strands come together in this policy moment. First, the demographic arithmetic is unforgiving. Japan’s population continues to shrink at a rapid clip; the share of people aged 65+ sits around 29–30% (36.2 million in 2024), while the working-age share has fallen to about 60%.
That imbalance is pushing more sectors - from manufacturing to eldercare - to seek overseas talent. Second, Tokyo has been stress-testing new migration channels since 2019, notably the “Specified Skilled Worker” system (SSW), and is preparing a broader overhaul to replace the much-criticized Technical Intern Training Program with the “Employment for Skill Development” framework starting 2027.
The broader idea is to move from short-term, low-mobility labour schemes to longer-term pathways that actually retain talent.
Third is timing. TICAD - co-hosted by Japan with the UN, World Bank, UNDP and the African Union Commission - has long been the stage for Tokyo’s Africa strategy.
Under Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who chaired this year’s conference, the government sought to frame engagement less as aid and more as co-creation around human capital, green industry and connectivity.
Within this context, the “hometown” designations are both symbolic and operational. The symbolism: a respectful nod to diaspora identity, suggesting community and permanence rather than itinerant labour. The operational bet: municipal governments - closer to employers, schools, and hospitals - are better placed than central ministries to orchestrate the everyday work of integration. “Cities are where migration succeeds or fails,” noted a city official from a coastal municipality in eastern Japan. “We need stable cohorts, not churn.”
What’s actually been announced?
The Japanese and Nigerian sides first highlighted Kisarazu as an official “hometown” for Nigerians, paired with a special visa track aimed at highly skilled applicants and upskilling artisans; at the ceremony, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) also identified three additional pairings - Nagai (Tanzania), Sanjo (Ghana) and Imabari (Mozambique).
Nigerian and Japanese officials, including Nigeria’s Chargé d’Affaires in Tokyo and the mayor of Kisarazu, received the certificate; reports emphasize the goal of two-way manpower development and long-term municipal exchange.
The choice of partner countries, and what it signals
Nigeria, Tanzania, Ghana and Mozambique reflect a spread of Anglophone and Lusophone markets with growing tech and industrial footprints, plus deepening ties with Japanese companies.
Nigeria brings scale and a tech-savvy youth cohort; Ghana supplies skilled artisans and engineers for precision industries; Tanzania offers logistics and agriculture links in East Africa; Mozambique carries energy and maritime potential that matches Imabari’s shipbuilding heritage.
Officials haven’t published a formal rationale for the quartet, but JICA and municipal histories suggest existing ties and practical fit drove the pairings.
A telling detail is that Sanjo, in Niigata, is Japan’s famed metalworking cluster - home to artisans whose skills map well to Ghana’s manufacturing ambitions. Imabari is Japan’s shipbuilding and towel-manufacturing hub, a match for Mozambique’s blue-economy aspirations.
Nagai sits in Yamagata, with industrial parks that can absorb Tanzanian technicians and nurses under structured training. Kisarazu, near Tokyo Bay, combines industrial access with commuter connectivity - useful for Nigerians entering advanced manufacturing and IT roles.
The politics: selling the idea at home
The Ishiba government’s approach to Africa is unfolding alongside high-stakes regional diplomacy - Tokyo is managing security cooperation with Seoul and Washington, and facing domestic economic headwinds.
Articulating a migration-forward Africa policy, therefore, needs a careful domestic pitch: neighbourhood safety, fair employment standards, and visible benefits for local residents. Recent summits and official statements underscore the balancing act: openness to foreign talent paired with tight regulatory design.
“Japanese voters don’t want abstract targets,” said a political strategist in Tokyo. “They want to see that the clinic down the street has a Filipino nurse today and a Tanzanian nurse tomorrow so their parents get care. The hometown idea makes national policy feel local.”
Risks to manage
Japan’s migration policy history is littered with cautionary tales: trainees constrained to single employers, wage suppression, and limited mobility. Without enforcement, a “hometown” could morph into a labour enclave lacking upward mobility.
There’s also the social dimension: in smaller cities, sudden demographic shifts can spark tension if local government neglects community dialogue. Tokyo’s planned overhaul of the trainee system - and the SSW framework - shows policymakers recognize these pitfalls, but implementation is everything.
“This is a pivot away from transactional visas towards what we might call ‘place-based diplomacy,’” points out Chisomo Banda of the Africa-Asia Policy Forum in Nairobi. “The risk is that without safeguards, ‘hometowns’ could become branded enclaves. But if designed well, they could transform migration from a labour stopgap into a tool of regional development.”
The African calculus
For African governments, the upside is clear: structured channels for skills upgrading; remittances; and alumni who can seed joint ventures at home. But capitals in Abuja, Accra, Dar es Salaam and Maputo also need to negotiate reciprocity - recognized skill qualifications, clear wage floors, and portability of pensions.
The Nigerian State House framed Kisarazu’s designation precisely in these terms: two-way manpower development and long-term cooperation. If those guarantees are real, “hometowns” could be a lever for Africa’s own industrialization.
A Ghanaian entrepreneur might choose Sanjo for precision-metal internships, then return to Kumasi to expand a tooling business with Japanese partners. A Tanzanian nurse could rotate through Nagai’s clinics, later training cohorts back home under a bilateral program.
A Mozambican maritime engineer could apprentice in Imabari’s yards and then help stand up vocational programs in Nacala. “The key is circularity,” argued a West African skills-policy advisor. “If people can move back and forth without losing status, both sides gain.”
“Japan is effectively testing whether immigration can double as industrial policy,” said Dr. Keiko Yamashita, an economist at the Policy Research Institute in Tokyo. “By tying migrants to municipalities with defined industrial clusters, you’re not just filling labour gaps—you’re aligning human capital with local economic revival.”
What the “hometowns” reveal about Tokyo’s strategy
First, Japan is experimenting with place-based soft power. Rather than pursuing influence only via stadiums, ports or large loans, it’s investing in the everyday human infrastructure of cooperation - schools, labs, shop floors. The ambition isn’t to manufacture loyalty, but to make collaboration habitual.
Second, the government is trying to solve two problems at once: demographic decline at home and a global competition for talent. By giving African migrants an identity anchor and a plausible path to long-term residence (via SSW and forthcoming reforms), Tokyo signals seriousness.
Third, the choice of secondary cities speaks volumes. If the model works in Kisarazu, Nagai, Sanjo and Imabari, it can scale to a dozen other municipalities facing similar challenges. That would echo the emerging playbook in places like Hamamatsu, which is already positioning immigration as a lever for revival.
Finally, anchoring the announcement at TICAD 9 ties the program to a broader diplomatic narrative. With Ishiba at the helm and high-level UN participation, Japan can present “hometowns” as part of a strategic re-set in its Africa engagement - private-sector led, youth-focused, and connectivity-driven.