Visas, jobs: Are they really what Japan’s ‘Hometown’ project promises Nigerians?

When news broke that Nigeria had been linked to a city in Japan under a new “Hometown” scheme, many young people thought their prayers had been answered. Talk of special visas, new jobs and easy relocation to Japan spread like wildfire.

But is that really the deal?

During the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9) in Yokohama, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) named four African countries “partners” with four Japanese cities:

Nigeria with Kisarazu (Chiba Prefecture)

Tanzania with Nagai (Yamagata Prefecture)

Ghana with Sanjo (Niigata Prefecture)

Mozambique with Imabari (Ehime Prefecture).

The idea is basically to exchange visits, training, and person-to-person ties.

But that’s not what people heard.

Across social media, and even in official statements from Africa, the programme was hyped as a pathway to special visas and easier immigration. Nigerians, in particular, were told artisans and skilled youths could soon pack their bags for Japan.

That claim has now backfired.

Sanjo city officials say they’ve received nearly 300 phone calls and thousands of emails, while Kisarazu’s mayor admitted his office phones didn’t stop ringing — with over 700 emails flooding in, from worried residents who feared an influx of foreigners. He was forced to issue a public statement: no, the city is not opening its gates to immigrants.

JICA itself has now denied the “visa rumours,” stressing that the programme has nothing to do with immigration or residency. “We are extremely puzzled that the programme has been reported and understood in a completely different way,” one city official said.

So far, the agency has urged African governments and the media to correct the misleading reports that sparked the frenzy.

For Nigerians who were already daydreaming about boarding flights to Kisarazu with a fresh visa in hand, the message is clear: this is about friendship, not migration to Japan.