Population of Foreign Residents in Japan Growing
For a nation known for its homogeneous identity, Japan's resident foreign population is on its way from about 1 in 40 today to 1 in 10 by 2070.
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What’s new: Population statistics from the latest full census in 2020 and some subsequent studies on the growing number of foreign residents in Japan have just been released, and the data show a 43.6% increase from 2015 to 2020. Including foreign workers and students who have been in Japan for more than 90 days, the latest update shows that foreign residents currently number approximately 3.16 million people, or about 2.5% of the total population of 124,352,000.
Why it matters: For a country that was almost completely closed off for nearly 300 years until the mid-1800s, and still remains highly skeptical of immigrants as its own native population shrinks, Japan has experienced an explosion of fellow "real gaijin1" or foreigners who, like me, now call the island nation home. While Japan remains very homogeneous, with foreign-born residents still making up just over 2.5% of the population (1 in 40), mostly concentrated in the major cities, the country as a whole is rapidly adapting to the “new normal” of a more diverse population.
By the numbers: How many foreigners live in Japan today? Where do they reside? Where do they come from? How many are here permanently?
How many foreigners live in Japan? According to the 2020 census, there were 2.4 million foreigners living in Japan. This compares to only 1,310,545 in 2000 and 668,675 in 1980. Including foreign workers and students who have been in Japan for more than 90 days, the latest update as of October 1, 2023 shows that foreign residents currently number approximately 3.16 million people.
What percentage of the population do they make up? The 2020 census showed that Japan's population as of October 1, 2020 was 126,146,000, a decrease of 949,000 or 0.7% from the previous census. Meanwhile, the percentage of foreigners in the total population increased to 2.2% from 1.5% in the previous census in 2015. That represents an increase of 43.6%. Based upon the most up-to-date figures from October of last year, foreign residents now comprise about 2.5% of the total population of 124,352,000.
Where do most foreigners live in Japan? Of all foreigners living in Japan in 2020, 71% lived in the Tokyo (41%), Kansai (16%), and Chubu (14%) metropolitan areas2, which collectively accounted for 1.7 million foreign residents. The next largest concentration was in Fukuoka Prefecture, which is home to nearly 67,000 foreigners, representing 3% of Japan's total foreign population.
What are the most common nationalities? Chinese passport holders make up the largest group of foreigners living in Japan, with more than 762,000, and their number is increasing by about 45,000 per year at the rate of approximately 5%. In second place were Vietnamese nationals, who now number about 490,000 (growing at a rate of more than 12% per year). In third place was “Korea” with approximately 410,000 people (flat to slightly declining growth rate)3. The Philippines was #4, followed by #5 Brazil, #6 Nepal, #7 Indonesia, #8 U.S. (including the author), #9 Taiwan, and #10 Thailand.
Which communities have the most foreigners? Foreigners already make up well over 15 ~ 20% of the total population in certain cities.
Osaka: According to the 2020 census, Ikuno Ward, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture (大阪府大阪市生野区), had the largest percentage of foreign residents in its total population in 2020, at 21. 8%, and Naniwa Ward, Osaka City (大阪府大阪市浪速区), ranked fifth. Ikuno Ward is home to a historic and vibrant “Korea Town.” This area has attracted Koreans since the early 20th century and offers a familiar environment with Korean shops, restaurants, and cultural centers.
Kawakami Village in Nagano Prefecture (長野県川上村, 19%): During the period of high economic growth in the 1960s and 1970s, many rural areas, including Kawakami Village, faced a severe shortage of agricultural labor. As a result, Kawakami Village began to accept agricultural trainees from Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand and Vietnam through the Foreign Trainee Program. In recent years, Kawakami Village has also made efforts to revitalize international exchange. By opening Japanese language classes for foreigners in the village and holding international exchange events, this area promotes exchanges between foreign residents and Japanese people. It also provides housing and employment support initiatives for prospective immigrants. As a result of these efforts, Kawakami Village has seen an increase in the number of foreigners staying for various purposes, including not only agricultural trainees, but also migrants and foreign students.
Oizumicho, Gunma Prefecture (群馬県大泉町, 18.4%): In the 1980s, the city of Oizumi faced a labor shortage in the manufacturing sector during a period of rapid economic growth and actively recruited foreign workers. At the time, Japan had revised its immigration control law and introduced a technical internship program for people of Japanese descent. Oizumi Town formed its own organization, funded by more than 70 local companies, to recruit human resources overseas, mainly in Brazil, and welcomed many nikkei4 to the town. Brazil has the largest nikkei population in the world, and in the 1990s, due to economic downturn and political turmoil, many Brazilians immigrated to Japan in search of a better life. Oizumicho's close ties to Brazil made it an attractive place to live for Brazilian immigrants.
Minamimaki Village in Nagano Prefecture (長野県南牧村, 14%): Similar to Kawakami Village, Minamimaki Village is facing a shortage of labor in industries such as agriculture and tourism. Therefore, the village has accepted technical interns from Thailand, Vietnam, and other Southeast Asian countries through the foreign technical internship system.
How many foreigners are permanent residents? According to data as of October 2023, approximately 925,000 foreigners have permanent resident status in Japan. This represents approximately 0.7% of the total population. To become a permanent resident, a foreigner must reside in Japan for a period of time and meet certain requirements. Permanent residents contribute significantly to Japanese society. They work in the labor force, establish businesses, and contribute to cultural exchange. In the future, the Japanese government aims to improve the permanent resident system and admit more foreigners.
By nationality: Most permanent resident foreigners are from other parts of East Asia, including about 310,000 Chinese (about 1/3), 180,000 Koreans (just under 20%), 120,000 Vietnamese (13%), 80,000 Filipinos (9%), and 70,000 Brazilians (8%).
By age: There is a fairly broad age distribution. 200,000 (22%) are in their 20s, 250,000 (27%) are in their 30s, 220,000 (24%) are in their 40s, 150,000 (16%) are in their 50s, and 100,000 (11%) are over the age of 60.
By gender: The ratio of men to women is fairly even. 480,000 (52%) are male and 440,000 (48%) are female.
Go Deeper: The two prefectures with the highest percentage of foreign residents in 2020 were Tokyo and Aichi (in and around Nagoya).
No. 1 Ranked Tokyo: The foreign population was 581,112, or 4.2% of the total population. About 1 in 10 people living in central Tokyo are non-Japanese. The most common nationality among foreigners living in Tokyo as of January 2023 was Chinese, followed by South Korean and Vietnamese. By ward, city, town, and village, Shinjuku Ward had the largest number of foreign residents with 40,279. Edogawa Ward had 38,446, followed by Adachi Ward with 36,048.
No. 2 Ranked Aichi Prefecture: The foreign population was 278,116, accounting for 3.7% of the total population. By nationality, Brazil accounted for 20.5% of the total population, followed by Vietnam at 17.8% and China at 15.1%. Nagoya City has the largest number of foreign residents, accounting for 30.5% of the total for the prefecture.
Fastest Growing Foreign Population: Sorted by prefecture, Oita Prefecture in Kyushu, where I live, had the fastest growing foreign population between 2022 and 2021. While the overall numbers are still small, Oita is now home to 15,500 foreigners, a growth rate of 30.8%. The next fastest growing foreign population was Hokkaido, which is now home to 45,500 foreigners. After that, the third, fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth fastest growing foreign populations were all in Kyushu. As a big proponent of the island of Kyushu in the southwestern part of Japan, I can understand the attraction. It is encouraging to know that I am in good company!
Commentary: Especially since the native-born Japanese population has been shrinking for almost 20 years and is expected to continue to decline for most of the rest of this century, the bottom line is that despite relatively high barriers to permanent residency, the country must allow more foreigners to live and work in Japan simply to try to maintain its population and ensure economic growth. There is no doubt, however, that integrating foreigners into society will not be easy for Japan. It will require an adjustment in the expectations of both Japanese and non-Japanese residents in order to live in harmony.
Some worry that immigrants will take jobs from Japanese citizens or put a strain on social services. There is also a misconception that immigration leads to higher crime rates. Sometimes this view can lead to unfortunate consequences, such as racial profiling by the police. Read "Three Black and Brown Foreigners to Sue Japanese Police for Alleged Racial Profiling" for more details. The statistics do not support these views.
The Japanese government is slowly changing its stance on immigration. The need for more workers is pushing the government to be more open, and policies are being implemented to attract and retain skilled foreign workers. As a fellow "real gaijin," it is my hope that the Japanese people will not only view resident foreigners as a source of labor, but also become more open to accepting their foreign neighbors as a means of adding an abundant mix of perspectives and experiences to enrich Japanese society.
Foreign residents in Japan have come a long way since the days when we were confined to the small outpost of Dejima in Nagasaki, and we are here to stay to help revitalize Japanese society.
What’s next: Long-term projections of the number of foreign residents in Japan are at best a guess at this point. However, some research organizations have made reasonable projections based on a variety of factors and assumptions. According to the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research's "Projection of Future Population (January 2023 Estimate)," the number of foreign residents in 2070 is estimated to be approximately 10.82 million. This figure would account for 12.4% of the total population in 46 years. According to the Nomura Research Institute, a private think tank, the number of foreign residents will be around 8 million in 2050 and could reach 12 million in 2070. These projections could change significantly depending on what kind of immigration policy the Japanese government implements in the future, but they certainly provide food for thought.
What do you think? Will foreigners in Japan play a role in the country's future? All answers are completely anonymous, even to the author.
Links to Japanese Sources: https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/63fa039769b8e11ab4de3ff92d0c7aa3637bdde4, https://www.e-stat.go.jp/en/regional-statistics/ssdsview/prefectures, and https://manabu.orixbank.co.jp/archives/292.
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The Japanese abbreviation gaijin (外人) and the more formal term gaikokujin (外国人) both mean "foreigner."
For the purposes of this analysis, the Tokyo metropolitan area includes Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba. Kansai includes Osaka, Hyogo, Kyoto, Shiga, Nara, and Wakayama. The Chubu metropolitan area includes Aichi, Gifu and Mie.
Japan has a long and troubled history with people of Korean descent, many of whom are now 4th or 5th generation descendants of the first people in their family to immigrate to Japan from the Korean Peninsula. Many of these people speak only Japanese. Despite this fact, they are still considered foreigners and are not counted as Japanese citizens in official statistics.
The difference between zainichi kankokujin (在日韓国人) and zainichi chosenjin (在日朝鮮人) is nationality. Zainichi kankokujin are citizens of South Korea living in Japan. Zainichi chosenjin, on the other hand, are citizens of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea living in Japan. This difference, however, does not necessarily reflect their identity or self-perception. People from the Korean peninsula began living in Japan during the Edo period (1603-1867), but large-scale migration did not begin until the annexation of Korea in 1910. After the annexation, Koreans were not given the same rights as Japanese citizens and suffered discrimination and oppression. After World War II, when the Korean Peninsula was divided into North and South Korea, Koreans in Japan were divided into North Korean and South Korean citizens, and when the Japan-Korea Basic Treaty was signed in 1965, South Korean citizens became Korean citizens while North Korean citizens remained Korean citizens. There is still an ongoing debate about the names that distinguish between zainichi kankokujin and zainichi chosenjin.
Koreans living in Japan do not have Japanese citizenship. They have Korean citizenship and a residence status called Special Permanent Resident or tokubetsu eijusha (特別永住者), which allows them to reside permanently in Japan, a special residence status available only to zainichi kankokujin and zainichi chosenjin. They have been granted many rights, such as employment and education. However, they do not have the right to vote or hold public office.
It is possible for zainichi kankokujin and zainichi chosenjin to acquire Japanese citizenship, but they must be naturalized and lose their Korean citizenship. Recently, many zainichi kankokujin and zainichi chosenjin have chosen to go through the process of becoming naturalized Japanese citizens in order to become more deeply rooted in Japanese society, to feel less anxious about the future, to provide more educational opportunities for their children, and to avoid discrimination and prejudice.
The Japanese term nikkei (日系) means “Japanese descent.”
Good info and article, thanks!
The only thing that seems to jut be regurgitated all over MSM and people online is that the only solution to fix Japan's population is to import foreigners, which won't really help much. Most young foreigners aren't having kids either similar to Japan. Just bringing people into the country won't fix anything. And I do fear that Japan will lose its cultural traits that make it unique, that make it Japan.
But I do think Japan should still let more foreigners in, but only on investment & entrepreneurial grounds. Keep the minimum requirements fairly strict, but once someone qualifies make the timeline from application to residency a streamlined process.
I speak about this a lot around Japan. My belief is International residents will reach 10 percent of the whole during the 2030s. There will be huge challenges and friction but also lots of chances for business and companies/communities to revitalize.