Nippon Ishin no Kai, a major opposition party, is proposing the government set a cap on the percentage of foreign residents in the country, saying such a measure is crucial to avoid a clash and a chasm with the local community.

Although the policy proposal on foreign residents did not include a specific figure for such a cap, it said a foreign national proportion that exceeds 10% of the total population will risk Japanese society being fundamentally altered.

Nippon Ishin’s proposal joins growing calls by lawmakers to impose stricter regulations on foreign residents and visitors in Japan that have emerged in the past few months.

Issues related to foreign nationals — such as stricter rules for the conversion of drivers licenses issued overseas to Japanese ones, and foreign residents' unpaid premiums for the national health care system — were in the spotlight during campaigning for the Upper House election in July. The Justice Ministry also announced a review of the country’s immigration policy in August.

Nippon Ishin’s proposal states that the government must act now to prevent an uncontrollable influx of foreign nationals into the country, citing a forecast that their proportion will exceed 10% of Japan’s population by the 2040s if it continues to grow at the current rate.

“Looking at Europe’s experience, it is clear that once the proportion of foreign residents exceeds 10%, various social issues become more pronounced in local communities as tensions rise,” the proposal read.

The policy proposal was handed to Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki on Friday.

It specifically suggested that the government should establish a maximum proportion of foreign residents and work to ensure that immigrants don’t exceed that level.

“We did not specify what percentage it should be set to. However, we conveyed the message that the ratio should be kept as low as possible and that the current rapid pace of increase must be properly curbed,” said Nippon Ishin co-leader Fumitake Fujita.

“We recommend, for example, examining the impact (foreign residents would have) on social security, on labor shortages and rather than allowing inflows to proceed unchecked, managing them in a planned way — while keeping the ratio as low as possible — is critical,” he added.

Other ideas in the proposal include creating a ministerial position in charge of policies concerning foreign nationals, as well as an administrative office under such a minister that would oversee such policies.

While the government established a task force to look into policies concerning foreign nationals earlier this year, Nippon Ishin said there should be an entity with greater authority.

It also called for a firm crackdown on businesses that facilitate illegal immigration, such as fake marriages, as well as stricter monitoring and response over unpaid social insurance premiums and medical expenses among foreign nationals, among other things.

The government should be able to revoke the status of naturalized Japanese citizens if the individual included false information in the application process, or has engaged in acts of terrorism, it said.

Fujita said on Wednesday that this proposal was a summary of calls they have made in parliament since before the Upper House election to tackle issues relating to foreign residents in Japan.