Japan’s young adult foreign national population is soaring while its ethnically Japanese counterpart is shrinking.

The biggest demographic shifts taking place in Japan are the country’s aging population and the surge in the number of foreign residents, and there are actually a few age-related quirks involved in that second development too.

Unlike some other nations, Japan doesn’t have an easy framework for foreign retirees looking to spend their senior years in the country. At the same time, in recent years the Japanese government has relaxed many of its regulations regarding foreigners moving to Japan to study or work, especially in manufacturing, agricultural, and other skilled labor roles. Since those opportunities are most appealing to people in early stages of their career paths, Japan is experiencing a large influx of young-adult foreigners at the same time as the country’s depressed birthrate means there are fewer and fewer new Japanese young adults.

The result of those moving-in-opposite direction trends? Nearly one in ten young adults in Japan isn’t ethnically Japanese.

Back in 2015, there were 12.67 ethnically Japanese 20-somethings in Japan. In the decade since, that demographic has shrunk by just over a million, with 11.64 million Japanese residents of Japan between the ages of 20 and 29 in 2025. During that same period, the number of foreign 20-something residents of Japan has more than doubled, going from 540,000 to 1.22 million. So while foreign nationals still make up only 3 percent of Japan’s total population, they account for 9.5 percent of Japan’s residents in their 20s.

The foreign factor is even bigger among 20-something males, who are 10.1 percent of the age group in Japan, while foreign women comprise 8.9 percent. Foreigners represent more than 10 percent of 20-somethings in 12 of Japan’s 47 prefectures, with the proportionally largest contingent, 14.1 percent, found in Gunma Prefecture.

Having large numbers of foreign residents is new ground for Japanese society, particularly in more rural areas (such as Gunma) where the population has been almost entirely Japanese for several generations. As reflected in a recent survey of mayors nationwide regarding immigration, this new development of life in Japan isn’t occurring without some degree of challenges and friction, but with a majority seeing the arrival of foreign residents as essential to the future of their communities, a growing number of young foreign residents in particular is probably a good sign for long-term prosperity.

Source: NewsJP via Hachima Kiko
Top image: Pakutaso
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