TOKYO - The number of foreign residents in Japan hit a record 4.28 million at the end of June, accounting for 3.4 percent of the total population, government data showed Friday, despite tighter visa regulations taking a toll in some areas.
The figure was up by around 155,000 compared with the end of 2025, while foreign nationals newly entering the country on business manager visas in the first half of 2026 plunged to 635, falling 80.9 percent from a year earlier following the tightening of requirements last October, according to the Immigration Services Agency.
Japan raised the minimum capital requirement for the visa a year ago to 30 million yen ($190,000) from 5 million yen. It has also raised residence status application fees and imposed stricter requirements for permanent residency as part of a broader tightening of regulations for foreigners under the government of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
By residential status, permanent residents were the largest group at 961,342, up 1.5 percent from the end of 2025, followed by those in the visa category covering engineers, specialists in humanities and international services, including interpreters, who rose 8.5 percent to 516,184.
The number of student visa holders increased 3.2 percent to 479,626.
Specified skilled workers, who possess certain expertise and skills enabling them to begin work immediately without undergoing training in Japan, totaled 444,256. Among them, the number in the highly experienced Type 2 category more than doubled to 18,295 from the end of last year.
By country and region, people from China, Vietnam and South Korea, in that order, accounted for half of foreign residents, with those from Myanmar up 15.9 percent and Indonesia up 15.6 percent compared with the end of 2025.
The total number of foreigners, including travelers, entering Japan topped 21.4 million in the first half of 2026, about 71,000 more than a year earlier.
However, the number of new entries decreased 0.1 percent from a year earlier to about 19.71 million, influenced by a fall in the number of people from China amid a deterioration of bilateral ties.
As of July 1, the number of illegal residents stood at 65,229, down 4.8 percent from six months earlier. The largest group consisted of Thais at 10,260, followed by Vietnamese and South Koreans.
