Overseas Demand Development in National Strategic Special Zones" were established in the "Act for Partial Amendment of the Act on National Strategic Special Zones and the Act on Special Zones for Structural Reform" (Act No. 71 of 2017) enacted at the 193rd session of the National Diet (effective from September 22, 2017).

## ☐ 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 at airports and seaports by measures such as installing and increasing the number of automated gates and streamlining the immigration examinations for cruise ship passengers through operation of the system of landing permission for cruise ship tourists, etc.

• In October, 2016, devices to obtain personal identification information (fingerprints and facial photos) while waiting in line for a landing examination, referred to as “Bio Carts” were introduced to Kansai Airport, Takamatsu Airport and Naha Airport, which are the airports where the reduction of waiting time was deemed to be the most effective, and from April 2017, the use of Bio Carts will also commence at 12 airports such as Narita Airport, thereby further promoting smoother examinations.

- The Trusted Traveler Program(TTP), 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 are certified and registered to be a “trusted traveler” under certain criteria, and began operations on November 1, 2016.

In addition, in order to contribute to expediting the immigration examinations between Japan and the United States, the immigration authorities of Japan and the United States discussed specific operations of TTP, and agreed that US citizens who, on the premise of being enrolled in the U.S. Global Entry Program (GEP), have applied for TTP, will not be required to meet some of the requirements.

• In order to expedite the immigration procedures by enhancing the entry and departure examinations for foreign nationals through streamlining and facilitating the departure and return procedures for Japanese nationals using facial recognition technology, facial recognition gates were developed in the two years of FY 2016 and FY 2017 based on the results of the research survey to prepare optimal facial recognition technology conducted in FY 2016, and advance operations of facial recognition automated gates in procedures for Japanese nationals have been commenced at Haneda Airport on October 18, 2017.

- 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 to reliably prevent the entry of terrorists and other suspected persons posing as tourists, etc. at the border.

• 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.

- The “Center of Collection and Analysis of Intelligence” established in the Immigration Bureau of the Ministry of Justice in October 2015 has been promoting information sharing with the related organizations in Japan and other countries, utilizing the information and conducting