AlwaysAisle

Ministry of Internal Affaires and Communications has surveyed number of non-Japanese living in Japan using Jyumin Kihon daicho (住民基本台帳, list of people establishing a resident) of each local government. This survey excludes tourists and short term visitors not establishing permanent address/residents in Japan. According to the survey as of January 1 this year number of non-Japanese living Japan reached 2 667 000 people, which is 2.09% of Japanese population, exceeded 2% for the first time.

Prefecture with most number of non-Japanese living was Tokyo prefecture, no. 2 was Aichi Prefecture (Nagoya), and third was Osaka prefecture. Prefecture with least number of non-Japanese living was tied between Akita prefecture and Kochi prefecture. Next least was Tottori prefecture,followed by Aomori prefecture, Tokushima prefecture, and Miyazaki prefecture.

Shimane prefecture showed increase of 15.4% non-Japanese living compare with a year ago, followed by Kagoshima prefecture of 15.2% increase.

joejones

If Japan allowed dual nationality, there would probably be far fewer "non-Japanese" in these statistics. A huge proportion of the total (around 50%) consists of long-term/permanent residents.

AlwaysAisle

Ministry of Justice has number of non-Japanese based on their status. Number of permanent residents in Japan is 749 191, which is 28% of total non-Japanese living in Japan. Number of "special permanent residents", permanent resident status given after Word War II to citizens of Korea and Taiwan who lived in current Japanese land is 329 822, which is 12% of total non-Japanese living in Japan. Combining both permanent residents together add up to 40% of total non-Japanese living in Japan.

joejones

I would also count spouses of Japanese nationals and "long-term residents" as being basically equivalent to permanent residents.

5khours

It's a little hard to tell much from the numbers, but they seem generally consistent with what you see just looking around. I think the number of non-permanent residents is the most interesting as this is most indicative of Japan's openness and attractiveness to foreigners. I'd also be interested in the number of foreign students as this is often a pre-cursor and on the path to employment and longer term residency in Japan.

groovbusta

There are about 300,000 foreign students in Japan, although many that come for language studies are actually here to work.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion.../#.XSfkWOgzY2w

Aichi and Shimane prefectures have lots of manufacturing jobs which are attracting foreign workers too.

hailstorm

You wouldn't get away with talking about "spics" living in America.
You shouldn't get away with talking about "gaijin" living in Japan.

jib71

Give it another year.

joejones

I am not as offended by the lack of a 国 in the word as I am by the practice of lumping all foreigners together regardless of nationality, background, or connections to Japan. A lot of these foreigners are breadwinners supporting otherwise Japanese families. A lot of them are Korean special permanent residents who have lived in Japan for generations, function essentially as Japanese people, and simply don't have nationality. Others are students who are in and out in a matter of months and never learn the language or integrate with the culture. Yet the Japanese government, and many Japanese people, think it's somehow useful or significant to treat "foreigners" (non-nationals) as a lump sum. I rarely hear people talk about "foreigners" categorically in the US or Europe; even the Trump administration tends to focus its ire on "illegals"/specific nationalities rather than foreign nationals in general.