Number of foreign residents in Japan hits record

This photo taken on January 1, 2024 shows a tourist posing in front of a convenience store with Mount Fuji in the background, in the town of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi prefecture. A huge black barrier to block Mount Fuji from view will be installed in a popular photo spot by Japanese authorities exasperated by crowds of badly behaved foreign tourists, it was reported on April 26, 2024. —AFP FILE PHOTO

The number of legal foreign residents in Japan has topped 3.95 million, a new record, government data showed Friday, as the country accepts more foreign workers in the face of a severe labor shortage.

According to the Immigration Services Agency, 3,956,619 foreign nationals resided in Japan as of the end of June, up 5 percent, or 187,000, from the end of 2024, with the number of those on the specified skilled workers visa introduced in 2019 surging by 18.2 percent, or about 51,000.

By residential status, permanent residents comprised the largest group at 932,090, up 1.5 percent, followed by a visa category for engineers, specialists in humanities and international services, including interpreters, which rose 9.4 percent to 458,109.

Training program

They were followed by trainees under Japan’s much-criticized Technical Intern Training Program at 449,432, down 1.6 percent, ahead of the program’s scheduled abolition in April 2027.

Specified skilled workers ranked fifth in number, totaling 336,196. Among them, 3,073 held the No. 2 category of the visa, which requires advanced skills and offers a pathway to permanent residency, a sharp increase from 832 at the end of last year, the data showed.

The majority of foreign residents were from China, Vietnam, and South Korea, in that order, while the number of those from Myanmar rose 19.2 percent and from Nepal by 17.2 percent compared with the end of 2024, with both countries ranking among the top 10.

The number of foreigners entering Japan topped 21.3 million in the first half of 2025, and at the current pace, the total could reach a record-breaking 40 million, the agency said.

As of July 1, the number of illegal residents was 71,229, down 4.9 percent from six months earlier. The largest group consisted of Vietnamese at 13,070, followed by Thais at 10,924 and South Koreans at 10,286.