In Tokyo, protests emerged in front of the JICA headquarters as debates over scrapping the Africa-focused Home Town Initiative continued amid concerns it could promote immigration. The four designated towns are Nagai (Yamagata) with Tanzania, Kisarazu (Chiba) with Nigeria, Sanjo (Niigata) with Ghana, and Imabari (Ehime) with Mozambique, with certificates issued at a TICAD-aligned meeting. Nigeria announced a special visa, but some local media later corrected that the towns are not destinations for immigration. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hagiwara said the program involves time-limited internships with return to home countries, not immigration promotion. Domestic concerns about missing migrant workers and long-term asylum claims persist, while Imabari frames the effort as addressing population decline with Mozambique. Gaps remain between municipalities’ expectations and official explanations, warranting further verification.