TOKYO, JAPAN - JAPAN'S Foreign Minister has approved new immigration rules which give preferential visa treatment to foreigners who speak Japanese.

The government, which is trying to moderate Japan's reputation as a country closed to outsiders, is trying to encourage educated professionals to emigrate to the country.

One plan is to extend the period of stay from three years to five years for foreigners who know the Japanese language, Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura told reporters at a briefing in Tokyo yesterday.

Also, visa requirements on professional experience and academic qualifications will be eased.

The Justice Ministry now generally issues one-year and three- year visas to foreign employees.

'Considering Japanese language skills means the government is easing immigration policy, not tightening,' said Mr Komura.

But he added: 'We will never deny those who were previously accepted to Japan simply because of their lack of Japanese ability.'

Mr Komura, who believes proficiency in Japanese will help foreigners fit in at their workplaces and local communities, said Bills on the new rules would be submitted at the parliament session starting next January.

The new approach is the result of a study done by the Foreign Ministry and the Justice Ministry which began in January.

The level of proficiency in Japanese required for an extended visa will not be high, according to a Foreign Ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Assessment is likely to be based on the results of the Japan Foundation's Japanese Language Proficiency Test and other tests, said the official.

The new language measures will initially target foreign nationals in specialised professions, such as interpreters, translators and cabin crew on international flights, who use the Japanese language at work, the Asahi Shimbun said.

However, the wish to stay on in Japan will likely motivate non-Japanese to keep improving their Japanese, said the official.

'Our intention is to have more foreign nationals come to Japan,' he said.

Business lobbies have asked the government to expand the immigration quota to ease a feared labour shortage in Japan, whose population is declining as fewer people have children.

But Japan, where most people see the country as ethnically homogeneous, has long rejected wide-scale immigration.

The number of foreign residents in the country had risen to 2.1 million in December 2006, making up just 1.63 per cent of the population, according to the latest available statistics.

Japan officially bans immigration of unskilled workers, except for people of Japanese descent.

But a growing number of companies have used a loophole under which people from developing countries can enter Japan for 'training'. A record 93,000 foreign trainees, most of them recruited for lowly paid jobs, entered the country in 2006.