Foreign Residents in Japan Grow in All Prefectures

Tokyo, July 29 (Jiji Press)–The number of foreign residents in Japan grew 9.62 pct to 4,031,159 as of Jan. 1 from a year before, increasing in the country’s all 47 prefectures for four years in a row, the internal affairs ministry said Wednesday. The number of foreigners who moved to Japan increased to 720,988 in 2025, the highest since the ministry started gathering such statistics in fiscal 2012. Many of them apparently came to Japan for employment purposes. By prefecture, Tokyo saw the largest increase, with 62,479 more foreign residents, followed by Osaka, with 41,401, and Saitama, with 28,606. Hokkaido posted the highest growth rate, at 14.89 pct. Okinawa ranked second, at 14.36 pct, and Oita third, at 13.9 pct. Among cities, Osaka saw the largest increase in foreign residents, up 25,056. Among towns and villages, Kutchan, Hokkaido, recorded the largest increase, up 652, driven mainly by more foreign workers employed at ski resorts popular with inbound tourists. Tokyo posted the highest share of foreign residents among Japan’s prefectures, at 5.57 pct, followed by Aichi, at 4.66 pct, and Gunma, at 4.62 pct. Akita had the lowest share, at 0.7 percent, followed by Aomori, at 0.79 pct, and Iwate, at 1.08 pct. The largest age group of foreign residents was people aged 25 to 29, who accounted for 17.7 pct of the total. Those aged 20 to 24 ranked second, at 16.54 pct, followed by those aged 30 to 34, at 13.29 pct. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]