for Structural Reform", which was passed at the 189th session of the Diet, stipulated the "Project for Facilitation of Acceptance of Foreign Entrepreneurs in the National Strategic Special Zones" and the "Project to Accept Foreigners Conducting Housekeeping Services in the National Strategic Special Zones" as special measures, and these measures came into effect on September 1, 2015.

## ☐ Smooth and Strict Implementation of Immigration Examinations at the Port of Entry

• Government-wide efforts are currently underway in Japan toward achieving a tourism-oriented country, and the Immigration Bureau has been further promoting smoother immigration examinations by installing and increasing the number of automated gates and streamlining the immigration examinations for cruise ship passengers through such measures as operation of the system of landing permission for cruise ship tourists.

• The Trusted Traveler Program, which was introduced through an amendment of the Immigration Control Act in 2014, expands the scope of foreign nationals eligible to use the automated gates through to include foreign nationals with the status of residence of “Temporary Visitor”, who fulfill certain criteria and who have been registered having been certified to be a “trusted traveler”, and operation of the expanded scope will commence through an amendment of the Immigration Control Act in November 2016.

- Consideration is currently being given towards introducing facial recognition technology in the departure and return confirmation procedures for Japanese nationals in order to streamline and facilitate the departure and return confirmation procedures for Japanese nationals and in order to be able to reassign the capacity of immigration inspectors made available through such measure to the immigration examinations for foreign nationals. To introduce this measure in FY 2018, the Immigration Breau conducts research studies in FY 2016 pertaining to the installation of facial recognition gates.

• Devices (dubbed Bio Carts) to acquire personal identification information (fingerprints and a facial photograph) in advance, making use of the waiting time for the landing examinations, were introduced in October 2016 at Kansai, Takamatsu and Naha airports where we expected they were effective to further reduce the waiting time for the landing examinations, and the use of these devices is scheduled to be expanded in the future.

• The Immigration Bureau will continue to implement strict immigration examinations utilizing personal identification information, ICPO’s database of stolen and lost travel documents and APIS as well as other information in order to be able to reliably prevent the entry of terrorists and other suspected persons posing as tourists, etc. at the border. In addition, the 2014 amendment of the Immigration Control Act has enabled the Immigration Bureau since January 1, 2015 to request the airline companies to provide reports on the passenger name records (PNR), and moreover from January 1, 2016, it has become possible to electronically receive the PNRs via NAACS. Also, we have been strengthening our border measures through such means as having mobile teams composed of immigration control officers conduct patrols at the seaports and coastal areas and searches onboard ships.

• “The Center of Collection and Analysis of Intelligence”, which was established in the Immigration Bureau of the Ministry of Justice on October 1, 2015, has reinforced its intelligence functions relating immigration control by the collection and analysis of information.

• The Immigration Bureau has implemented the cross-checking of the facial photographs provided by foreign nationals at the time of landing examination at airports and seaports across the country against the facial images of terrorists and other related persons, etc. kept by the Immigration Bureau since October 2016.

## ○ Measures Against Illegal and Imposter Foreign Residents in Japan

• The number of foreign nationals overstaying their authorized period of stay had been steadily decreasing since 1993 owing to past measures that had been taken, but this trend saw an increase in 2015 for the first time in 22 years, and since it is estimated that there were about 63,000 foreign nationals overstaying their authorized period of stay in Japan as of January 1, 2016, which was an increase for two years running. Therefore, efforts are being