Research methodology

The number of foreign residents in Japan has been steadily increasing since 2000, with more than 2.1 million foreigners currently residing in Japan. Chinese residents make up a rapidly growing segment (656,000 in 2008), followed by North and South Koreans, Brazilians, Filipinos, and Americans. In 2012, there were more than 137,000 foreign students (predominantly from China, followed by Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam and Nepal), and the current government aims to double these numbers by 2020. Low-skilled workers, trainees and interns, and irregular workers, are an often unseen but important part of the economy. Finally, the government is seeking to expand Japan’s capacity for medical tourism, increasing to 30 million by 2030 the number of visitors coming to Japan for medical treatment.