Ethnic Issues in Japan - Demographic

Demographic

About 1.6% of Japan's total legal resident population are foreign nationals. Of these, according to 2008 data from the Japanese government, the principal groups are as follows.

Nationality Number Percentage
China (PRC) / Taiwan (ROC) 655,377 29.6%
South Korea / North Korea 589,239 26.6%
Brazil 312,582 14.1%
Philippines 310,617 14.0%
Peru 59,723 2.7%
United States 52,683 2.4%
Thailand 42,609 1.9%
Vietnam 41,136 1.9%
Indonesia 27,250 1.2%
India 22,335 1.0%
United Kingdom 17,011 0.8%
Nepal 12,286 0.6%
Bangladesh 11,414 0.5%
Canada 11,016 0.5%
Malaysia 7,910 0.4%
Others 141,440 6.4%
Total (as of 2008) 2,217,426 100%

The above statistics do not include the approximately 30,000 U.S. military stationed in Japan nor illegal immigrants. Moreover, the statistics also do not take into account minority groups who are Japanese citizens such as the Ainu (an aboriginal people primarily living in Hokkaido), the Ryukyuans (who may or may not be considered ethnically Yamato people), and ethnic Koreans and Chinese who have adopted Japanese citizenship.

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