Japan’s PM Shigeru Ishiba Resigns as Critics Call His ‘African Hometown’ Program a Gateway to Mass Migration



by Simon Kent 7 Sep 2025

Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announced Sunday he will step down as his Liberal Democratic Party slumps in the polls and critics blast his government over its “African Hometown” program seen as a backdoor scheme to enable mass migration from Africa to Japan.

Ishiba, who took office in October, had resisted resignation demands within his own party for more than a month, saying such a step would cause a political vacuum when Japan faces key challenges in and outside the country, AP reports.

His departure came one day before his Liberal Democratic Party was to decide whether to hold an early leadership election, a virtual no-confidence motion against him if approved.

It also follows what is seen as an attempt by Ishiba, 68, to quietly open the borders of Japan to mass migration schemes, as Breitbart News reported.



Japan’s PM Shigeru Ishiba (L) shakes hands with Namibia’s Prime Minister Elijah Ngurare (R) during their bilateral meeting on the final day of the 9th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9) south of Tokyo on August 22, 2025. (RICHARD A. BROOKS/AFP via Getty)

Last month the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) designated four Japanese cities to participate in the Africa Hometown program with four cities in Mozambique, Nigeria, Ghana, and Tanzania.

The Nigerian government immediately announced Japan would “create a special visa category for highly skilled, innovative, and talented young Nigerians who want to move to Kisarazu to live and work.” Kisarazu is the Japanese city chosen to pair with Nigeria.

“Artisans and other blue-collar workers from Nigeria who are ready to upskill will also benefit from the special dispensation visa to work in Japan,” the Nigerian statement said.

The Japanese public erupted in fury at the announcement, their anger further heightened when they discovered Google Maps was suddenly identifying the Kisarazu city office as the “Nigerian city office.”

Residents of the other three Japanese cities involved in the program – Sanjo, Nagai, and Imabari – flooded their own municipal governments with inquiries as news of the Nigerian statement about work visas for Kisarazu spread, the Breitbart report set out.

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The Japanese government is struggling to convince a public nervous about demographic decline that its “African Hometown” program is not a backdoor scheme to set up mass migration from Africa to Japan.

2:30 PM · Aug 29, 2025

Japan is suffering from one of the worst demographic declines in the world and was once cited as the premier example of a society and economy deformed by low birth rates, although some other countries have since found themselves in even worse predicaments.

The Japanese government has identified population decline as one of the most urgent crises faced by the world’s fourth-largest economy.

The controversy reflects the growing wave of anti-immigration sentiment in Japan mirrored in the rise of the right-wing Sanseito party which saw big wins in recent parliamentary elections after campaigning on a “Japanese First” message.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/202...ass-migration/