Nepal, Aug. 26 -- Japanese cities have been inundated with complaints from residents confused by an initiative to designate them the "hometown" of African countries, following false claims that this was a new immigration policy.

The complaints came after the initiative by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, or JICA, this month to promote international exchanges between four Japanese cities and African nations.

This prompted the Nigerian government to issue a statement saying Tokyo "will create a special visa category", and some media reports and online posts claimed the programme was designed for immigration settlement in Japan.

One post on social media platform X that claimed the city of Kisarazu "is seriously considering hand...