Registration Act Enforcement Ordinance (Cabinet Order No. 339 of 1992) and the Alien Registration Act Enforcement Regulations (Ministry of Justice Ordinance No. 36 of 1992) that provide for the details of alien registration procedures.

(*) A bill for partial amendment of the Penal Code and relevant laws, encompassing the Immigration Control Act, which includes enforced measures to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons, measures against the smuggling of migrants and against the terrorism, was submitted to the 162nd Ordinary Session of the Diet session, and was enacted after being passed by the House of Representatives at a plenary session on June 16, 2005. It was promulgated on June 22, 2005 (Law No. 66 of 2004) and in accordance with Article 3 the Immigration Control Act was amended by its Article 3.

## (2) Immigration Procedures for All Persons

### a. Procedures for Entry and Departure of Foreign Nationals $ ^{1} $

When a foreign national who does not have Japanese nationality (including stateless individuals) wishes to gain entry into Japan, he must, in principle, carry a valid passport bearing a visa $ ^{2} $ obtained at a Japanese embassy or consulate abroad, apply for landing to an immigration inspector at the port of entry $ ^{3} $ and receive a landing permission stamp. Upon departure from Japan, the foreign national must receive confirmation of departure.

As a result of the landing examination, the immigration inspector will deny landing to the foreign national if any of the grounds for denial of landing (Article 5 of the Immigration Control Act) apply to the foreign national. For example, the foreign national would be denied landing if he were to present a passport or visa that had been forged or altered and that was therefore invalid, he were to make a false statement in his application concerning the activities he planned to be engaged in while in Japan, or had been convicted of a crime, including those related to drugs. Such grounds for denial of landing are stipulated to prevent the entry and residence of foreign nationals who may damage the interests or security of Japan.

1 A foreign national is deemed to have “entered” Japan when he has entered the territorial sea or aerial domain of Japan and has “landed” in Japan when he has set foot on the land territory of Japan. Therefore, the permission for entry or residence given to foreign nationals after immigration examination at the port of entry is referred to as “landing permission”. For a country where borders separate it from its neighbors, “entry” means a foreign national has crossed the border and proceeded into the land territory. In this case, therefore, it is not necessary to distinguish “entry” from “landing”. Since Japan is surrounded by sea, however, a distinction is made between the two terms.

2 “Visa” refers to an endorsement in a specified format in a passport given by a Japanese consular or another government official that certifies, under certain conditions, the foreign national holding the passport is traveling for proper reasons and has qualifications based on the application submitted by the passport holder.

3 The “port of entry” refers to certain seaports and airports where foreign nationals can enter into or depart from Japan (Article 2, Item (8) of the Immigration Control Act). The Immigration Control Act Enforcement Regulations name specific ports of entry or departure. As of April 1, 2004, the number of ports of entry or departure was 126 seaports and 25 airports, excluding temporarily designated seaports and airports.