Japan's immigration authority has told several Japanese language schools that students from China, Vietnam, Nepal, Myanmar and Sri Lanka will meet stricter incoming inspection standards to avoid illegal stays. The policy will go into effect next month according to CRI.

The students are now required to offer new financial evidence, such as detailed bank account information including copies of bankbooks.

"There are many students from the five countries, and the number of illegal stays is increasing. We have heard of students illegally working in Japan," said a Justice Ministry official.

According to reports, South Korean people make up the largest group in that demographic that has been staying in Japan illegally, with the number coming in at about 13,000 in 2015. That group is followed by those from the Chinese mainland (8700), Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam.
Nepal, Myanmar and Sri Lanka were not on the top-ten list.

Foreign students who would like to study in Japan need to study at a language school for half a year. After that, they can apply to a university, and after that they can apply for a student visa.

"In Vietnam and Myanmar, it is very difficult to make students prepare new commercial certificates. The chaos in expanding", said an employee of a language school in Japan.

Japan started a "G30" project in 2008 to attract foreign students to study at Japan's universities, aiming to have 300,000 foreign students before 2020.

The project resulted in an increase in the numbers of language schools in Japan. For example, in Kyushu, there were 64 Japanese language schools as of September of last year, twice the number of ten years ago.