These Stats on FOREIGNERS in JAPAN are CRAZY!

Summary

Jake Nolton discusses Ministry of Justice figures on foreign residents in Japan from 2012 to 2025. He says the total grew from about 2.03 million to 4.125 million—roughly doubling—and rose by more than a million between 2022 and 2025. He estimates that foreign residents now make up around 3% of Japan’s population.

Changes by nationality

The increase varies greatly by nationality. Among the figures Nolton cites, Vietnamese residents grew from about 52,000 in 2012 to 681,000 in 2025, and Nepalese residents from 24,000 to 300,000. He also highlights rapid recent growth among Indonesian residents, from about 199,000 in 2024 to 266,000 in 2025.

Chinese residents rose from about 652,000 to 930,000, while the number of Korean residents fell from roughly 489,000 to 407,000. Nolton says Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean residents make up about half of the foreign-resident population. Adding Filipinos, Nepalese, and Indonesians brings the share to around three-quarters.

Labor needs and public attitudes

Nolton connects the growth to Japan’s need for workers, pointing to foreign staff in convenience stores and restaurants, as well as shortages in sectors such as transport, care work, and agriculture. He questions how Japan will manage this reliance over time, including what opportunities will be available to workers who want to move beyond low-paid jobs. He distinguishes between multiculturalism as cultural exchange and immigration driven mainly by labor demand.

He also warns that poor service or individual incidents can lead people to unfairly generalize about foreigners. He illustrates this with an anecdote about a restaurant where orders were delayed and employees seemed to struggle, while acknowledging that blaming foreigners as a group would be harmful.

Visa categories

Permanent residents are the largest category, at about 23% of foreign residents. Nolton adds another 6.5% for “special permanent residents,” putting the two categories together at close to 30%. Students account for about 11.3%.

He gives examples of how permanent-residency rates differ by nationality: they are relatively high among Peruvians, Brazilians, and Koreans, and low among Vietnamese, Sri Lankan, and Myanmar residents.

Nolton presents the figures as material for discussion rather than a definitive answer to whether Japan has “too many” foreign residents.

Presenter: Jake Nolton