For three years, Mahendra Dharmapriya, a Sri Lankan restaurateur, filled the streets of his neighborhood in rural Japan with the smells of his homeland: creamy lentils, fish curry, egg hoppers and black tea with ginger.

三年来，斯里兰卡餐馆老板马亨德拉·达尔马普里亚一直让他家乡的味道弥漫在日本乡村街巷中：奶油扁豆、咖喱鱼、蛋碗饼和生姜红茶。

But on a recent Saturday, Mr. Dharmapriya cooked the last meal at Daiya Ceylon, his Sri Lankan curry shop in the Japanese town of Shimotsuke, about 66 miles north of Tokyo, and shut its doors. He was forced to close the restaurant because he could not satisfy new visa rules meant to restrict the flow of foreigners into Japan. He plans to return to Sri Lanka this week.

但在最近的一个周六，达尔马普里亚在下野——东京以北约66英里处的一座小城——的斯里兰卡咖喱店Daiya Ceylon做了最后一顿饭，随后关门歇业。被迫关闭餐厅是因为他无法满足旨在限制外国人流入日本的签证新规。他计划本周返回斯里兰卡。

“I felt so alone,” Mr. Dharmapriya, 40, who moved to Japan in 2015, said in a recent interview at his restaurant, where he was handing out unopened bags of spices and cassava chips to friends. “I have no hope for the future right now.”

“我感觉孤立无援，”现年40岁的达尔马普里亚说。2015年移居日本的他最近在店内接受采访，同时还在忙着将未开封的香料和木薯片分发给朋友们。“我现在对未来没有任何希望。”

Japan’s prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, won office last year on a promise to more strictly regulate immigration and tourism. Now her government is trying to deliver, scrutinizing the roughly 47,000 foreigners like Mr. Dharmapriya who live in the country on so-called business manager visas.

日本首相高市早苗去年上台时承诺将更严格地监管移民和旅游业。如今，她的政府正试图兑现承诺，对像达尔马普里亚这样持所谓“经营管理签证”居住在日本的约4.7万名外国人进行严格审查。

Japan has long been cautious about immigration; foreigners make up only about 3 percent of the population. Some experts argue that Japan needs to allow more immigrants to deal with labor shortages and offset its rapidly declining population. But a wave of nationalist sentiment has swept the country recently, with some activists calling for even stricter controls as part of a “Japan First” movement.

长期以来，日本对移民一直持谨慎态度；外国人仅占总人口的约3%。一些专家认为，日本需要允许更多移民来解决劳动力短缺问题，并抵消其人口的急剧下降。但近期民族主义情绪席卷全国，作为“日本优先”运动的一部分，一些活动人士呼吁采取更严格的管控措施。

Conservatives say that foreigners are exploiting Japan’s visa rules to stay in the country indefinitely. The government has responded by making it harder to obtain business manager visas, requiring applicants to have $188,000 in capital, up from $31,000 previously, and to employ at least one full-time staff member.

保守派人士称，外国人正在利用日本的签证规则无限期滞留日本。政府的应对措施是提高经营管理签证的获取难度，将所需的注册资本从之前的3.1万美元提高到18.8万美元，并要求雇佣至少一名全职员工。

东京新宿区一条遍布餐厅的街道。

The change has left many foreign restaurant owners in limbo. For decades, workers from India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, China, Vietnam, Thailand and other countries have relied on business manager visas, setting up small restaurants in Japanese cities and rural areas that serve curry, fried rice, noodles and other favorites.

这一变化让许多外籍餐厅老板陷入困境。多年来，来自印度、尼泊尔、斯里兰卡、中国、越南、泰国等国的工作者一直依赖经营管理签证在日本的城市和农村地区开设小餐馆，供应咖喱、炒饭、面条和其他深受喜爱的美食。

Chan Ka Yee, who managed a branch of San Mai San, a Hong Kong-style congee chain, in Tokyo, closed her restaurant last week after more than five years because she said she could not meet the new visa requirements. She plans to return to Hong Kong this summer.

陈嘉怡（Chan Ka Yee，音）在东京经营的一家名为“3米3”(San Mai San)的港式粥铺连锁店上周结束了营业。在经营了五年多后，她无法满足新的签证要求。她计划今年夏天返回香港。

On her final day, customers brought flowers and snapped photos of Ms. Chan as she made pork congee, waffles and milk tea. She thanked them and waved goodbye.

结业当天，顾客们送来鲜花，并在陈女士制作猪肉粥、华夫饼和奶茶时争相拍照。她感谢了大家并挥手告别。

The next morning, she wrote on social media, “My eyes are incredibly swollen from crying so much last night.”

第二天早上，她在社交媒体上写道：“昨晚哭得太多，眼睛肿得很厉害。”

“I can’t believe it’s over,” she said. “I wanted to stay there forever.”

“我不敢相信就这样结束了，”她说，“我本来想永远留在那里的。”

Chie Taniguchi, 50, a regular at Ms. Chan’s restaurant, called the new visa requirements “sloppy politics.”

50岁的谷口千惠（Chie Taniguchi，音）是陈女士餐厅的常客，她称新的签证要求是“草率的政治操作”。

“Now it will become impossible for Japanese people to discover new flavors and food cultures,” she said.

“这样一来，日本人就不可能发现新的口味和饮食文化了，”她说。

港式粥铺连锁店“3米3”最后一天营业。

Japanese activists are pushing Ms. Takaichi’s administration to reconsider the changes. A petition has gathered more than 60,000 signatures.

日本活动人士正敦促高市早苗政府重新考虑这些变更。一份请愿书已收集了超过6万个签名。

Manish Kumar, an Indian restaurant owner, went public this month with his criticism of the rules. He spoke in an emotional video about living in Japan for 30 years, studying Japanese and raising his children in the country.

印度餐馆老板马尼什·库马尔本月公开批评了这些规定。他在一段情绪激动的视频中讲述了自己在日本生活了30年、学习日语并在这里抚养孩子的经历。

“They haven’t done anything wrong,” he said of his children. “I think it’s cruel to suddenly be told: ‘The rules have changed. You must go back.’”

“他们没有做错任何事，”谈到自己的孩子时他说，“突然被告知‘规则变了，你们必须回去’，我觉得这太残忍了。”

The video prompted intense backlash, with some commentators accusing Mr. Kumar of exploiting the system by staying in Japan for so long.

这段视频引发了强烈的反弹，一些评论人士指责库马尔利用制度在日本停留了如此之久。

Ms. Takaichi’s administration says the new rules have been a success. There are now an average of 70 applications per month for business manager visas, compared with 1,700 under the old system, a 96 percent drop.

高市早苗政府表示，新规取得了成功。目前每月平均收到70份经营管理签证申请，而在旧制度下为1700份，降幅达96%。

Kimi Onoda, the minister who oversees economic security and policies on foreigners, said at a recent news conference that the changes had helped dispel concerns that the visas “might be abused as a means of immigration.”

负责经济安全和外国人政策的大臣小野田纪美在最近的新闻发布会上表示，这些变化有助于消除人们对签证“可能被滥用为移民手段”的担忧。

The abrupt shift in policy has been tough for many restaurant workers, who have to pack up their lives in about a month.

政策的突然转变对许多餐饮业工作者来说打击沉重，他们不得不在大约一个月内收拾行囊，结束在这里的生活。

达尔马普里亚在下野的餐厅经营了三年。

Mr. Dharmapriya recalled his visit to an immigration office in April, when he learned that his visa renewal application had been rejected because he did not hire an additional employee. He was so devastated that it took him seven hours to drive back home — it usually takes two.

达尔马普里亚回忆起今年4月去一个移民办公室的经历，当时他得知自己的签证续签申请被拒，原因是他没有雇佣额外的员工。他深受打击，开车回家花了七个小时——平时只需两小时。

He said he was saddened by the perception among some Japanese that immigrants are a source of problems. “We don’t cost anyone money, we pay our taxes, we pay our bills,” he said.

他说，一些日本人认为移民是麻烦的来源，这种看法让他感到难过。“我们不花别人的钱，我们纳税，我们支付账单，”他说。

In early May, Mr. Dharmapriya held a farewell buffet for his customers, serving dishes like red rice and dal curry. He was expecting about 20 people, but more than 70 attended, bringing Japanese sweets and other gifts.

5月初，达尔马普里亚为顾客举办了一场告别自助餐，供应红米饭和木豆咖喱等。他预计会有大约20人来，结果来了70多人，大家都带来了日式点心和其他礼物。

He will soon return to his hometown in Sri Lanka. He has not yet told his family why he is leaving.

他很快就要回到斯里兰卡的家乡了。他还没告诉家人自己为什么要离开。

“If I have the chance,” he said, “I would come back to Japan tomorrow if I could.”

“如果有机会，”他说，“只要能回来，我明天就想回到日本。”