Record 2.73 mil foreign residents registered living in Japan in 2018

Audrey WooToday  10:13 am JST

Is Korean special permanent status the same as permanent residency for other foreigners ? Or is Korean a seperate category from other foreigners in general ?

Of special permanent resident certificate holders, 99% is Korean and remaining 1% is Chinese, Taiwanese, American, others. You can google search by special permanent resident (+certificate) and know the difference.

Is Korean special permanent status the same as permanent residency for other foreigners ? Or is Korean a seperate category from other foreigners in general ?

There is no “Korean special permanent” status as such. There is 特別永住者 status. It is heavily Korean but there are also Chinese who hold this status. To learn more about this status and how it came about, read Erin Aeran Chung, Immigration and Citizenship in Japan (Cambridge University Press, 2010). There have been no major changes related to this issue since this book was published.

> The falling birth rate means ….

The birth (fertility) rate is not falling. It bottomed in 2005 and has been rising since then. Fewer babies are being born because the number of women in the fertile age cohort is shrinking, not because the birth (fertility rate) is falling.

I see a lot of mixed race children whenever I go to town. How do they count?

I’m not sure what “mixed race” means. If a Japanese says something nasty about Koreans or Chinese, they are called out as as “racists” but children born of Japanese-Chinese or Japanese-Korean unions are not recognizable as “mixed race.”

In any event, if you have a Japanese parent, either mother or father, you have Japanese nationality and are not counted as foreign. That is also the case for people who have naturalised. You are just Japanese.

I naturalised in 2014. On all official records I am simply Japanese. In my dealings with Japanese government officials, I am simply Japanese.

The Japanese census asks nothing about about your ethnic or national background. That is also the case for all government forms I have encountered. If nationality is asked, I write Japanese. No one questions this.

When I go to vote, I present the standard card that every voter gets. I have voted in every election I could since 2014. I have never been asked for additional identification although I am completely European in appearance.

I nearly always get a sad laugh at this statistic. This is more than likely based upon people who entered the country and the government has no data of them leaving. It does not mean that there are that many people here illegally, just that the government cant keep accurate records.

Full agreement. The statistic is ridiculous if for no other reason than it is practically impossible to know how many people are in any country legally or illegally at any point in time because this number is constantly changing.

Is Korean special permanent status the same as permanent residency for other foreigners ? Or is Korean a seperate category from other foreigners in general ?

I have seen in three languages, from different midias, articles close to advertisement about how to immigrate to Japan, legally, once the airports are open. 

That's most encouraging and I welcome Japan's opening up. There's room for us all to live, love and learn from each other.

All people leaving and arriving via a port are recorded. Not possible to leave without the record. The numbers of over stayers are known just maybe not their exact locations.

And I take it that you believe the statistics put out by the government are infallible? The government here is not known for accuracy and it is also known for covering up prudent facts as well.

What doesnt surprise me is that there does not seem to be any concern about the increase . In many other areas that statistics for illegal activities, many if not most show a down trend, but this increase I can see being used in the future to point to closing any further increases in immigration.

One other thing, I have no doubt people are "recorded" leaving the country, my point is the accuracy in which records are kept and recorded throughout the country. I have no illusions that the immigration control people are perfect.

I have seen in three languages, from different midias, articles close to advertisement about how to immigrate to Japan, legally, once the airports are open. I wonder if Japan will be t he structured New York of the future, or the London of the ilegalls?

Unless they're absconding; not dead!

"Reread what I wrote. Never said "if a foreigner comes in and there are no records".

Please stop attempting to put words into my mouth. To refresh your memory here I wrote;"

Nice attempt at "spin-doctoring"; the Tories could use someone like you in the attempt to dress Brexit in a nice pink mini-skirt and high heels!!!

The premise remains the same, whether the entrants are Japanese, gaijin, or animals!!! There will records of them leaving, unless they're dead!!! There are records even for the abductees, let alone any Tom, Dick and Harry entering the country. It's not like they've swam all the way to Korea, China or Russia, is it?! Maybe ET would be able to do what you're suggesting though.

Close but no cigar.

@zichi

Robots don't pay income taxes......

That's true, and I think that's one of the big challenges in regards to automation. Maybe more automation in the public sector as well will offset the potential reduction in income taxes. Levies on general production activities may also be a suitable remedy to any loss of taxes, as long as the overall cost of production when automated still remains lower than before.

@MiaTanaka

I agree with your post. By the way, I have a small correction. About 11% of the population in Norway were born in Africa or Asia, or have two parents born in those regions. About 18% of the total population were born outside of Norway or are children of two immigrant parents. In addition biracial people make up a large part of the younger generation.

While Norway is becoming a country that will be inherited by immigrants just like Sweden and most other western countries, Japan will never find itself in a similar situation, I think. Its culture is strong enough to withstand external social pressures. I also think that Japan won't need many immigrants in the future despite its somewhat low birth rate, mainly because investments in automation and other technologies will reduce its need for workers.

What a record?

120 some and what 2.7 .... outsiders still mean to be here in this stll Heisei age

Your explanation isn't a good reason for them remaining illegally, I don't understand why they do it.

@IloveCoffe: Okay well why do they remain in Japan illegally?

More Vietnamese and Thai restaurants in Tokyo. : )

@Alex80 maybe because it is a developing country, or maybe the smog is too bad

The number of foreigners illegally staying in the country rose by 11.5 percent to 74,167 as of Jan 1, the ministry said.

One way to cut down on this number would be to send out visa renewal reminders... assuming they want this number to come down, that is...

It'd have to be a high-tech automated system with a little assembly that can rapidly stamp documents with a hanko, but I have faith in Japan's unique tech abilities. I think they could do it.

Those with permanent residency constituted the largest group among registered residents at 771,568, up by 3 percent, although the number of registered Koreans with special permanent status decreased by 2.5 percent to 321,416.

Special permanent status is obsolete and needs to be abolished. I wonder why other foreigners with ordinary visa status or ordinary permanent residency right do not complain about this discrimination.

Some people seem to be quite vexed by the small number of non-Japanese living in the country. Such people will be at risk of aneurysms once the LDP start allowing in hundreds of thousands more. I recommend turning off the computer and going for a nice, relaxing walk.

If a foreigner comes in and there are no records, only possible inferences are:

Reread what I wrote. Never said "if a foreigner comes in and there are no records".

Please stop attempting to put words into my mouth. To refresh your memory here I wrote;

This is more than likely based upon people who entered the country and the government has no data of them leaving. "

Key word......leaving!

@expat

... "non-Japanese" residents...

They aren't Japanese. If you're born in Japan then you are by nationality, looks, no.

I am Japanese with Norwegian citizenship, people call me Japanese or Asian-European, occasionally Japanese-Norwegian.

I don't really get referred to as simply "Norwegian", because I am not, even if I am a citizen I do not look like one.

Also yeah it is a European country but much like Japan, and quite unlike the UK, USA, etc, it isn't That common to see foreigners here (except those illegal migrants who've been dumped here by Germany, etc).

92% of Norway are white and 35% of the foreigners live in or around Oslo, rest spread in other major cities with a huge Asian community in Trondheim (most foreigners there are Asian). Actual Asian, mind you, not British-Asian (i.e; Pakistani).

That's just how it is, if you've lived in Japan for 30 years, you are a Japanese citizen, but you are not "Japanese" by the way you become American as soon as you move to the U.S. USA is built up on immigration, Japan is not.

A small number but we thank Japan for welcoming us and we do our best to appreciate and enrich your culture. Proud to be an immigrant and proud to call Japan my home.

"This is more than likely based upon people who entered the country and the government has no data of them leaving. "

If a foreigner comes in and there are no records, only possible inferences are:

1) The foreigner have applied for citizenship; there will records;

2) The foreigner is dead; there will be records;

3) The foreigner is absconding; there won't be ANY records!!!

Unless anyone can exit Japan at will without the Japanese authorities having a clue about it.

Obviously that's easy, considering Japan has land borders with all its neighbours, and they're too stupid to have proper population management controls!!!

I see a lot of mixed race children whenever I go to town. How do they count?

Depends on whether they have Japanese citizenship or not.

I see a lot of mixed race children whenever I go to town. How do they count?

The number of foreigners illegally staying in the country rose by 11.5 percent to 74,167 as of Jan 1, the ministry said.

I nearly always get a sad laugh at this statistic. This is more than likely based upon people who entered the country and the government has no data of them leaving. It does not mean that there are that many people here illegally, just that the government cant keep accurate records.

Why do some South Koreans go to work to Japan illegally, like if they were from a developing Country? South Korea is rich enough...So weird.

They don't come illegally. Young unemployment in SK is very high, and Japanese firms are actively recruiting Koreans to work in Japan. I am guessing once their contract expires, they just continue to reside in the country illegally looking for another job, or maybe some of them have quit their work in search for another one thus becoming temporarily illegal residents.

The irony, the two biggest foreign residents are from countries where the government never ceases to antagonize Japan.

But 2.7 million of those are people who got student visas are skipping classes and working two jobs, the schools don't mind because they're getting paid

That is less than 3 percent which is nothing. I remember in 1992 when I registered with the city hall in the town I lived in, there was a list of foreigners broken down by nationality. The city had roughly 750,000 residents and there was only 123 foreigners from English speaking countries such as USA, Canada, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand. Needless to say I stood out in the crowd. In California there are more than 3 million illegals and throughout the USA there are more than 12 million.

Why do some South Koreans go to work to Japan illegally, like if they were from a developing Country? South Korea is rich enough...So weird.