June 11, 2004
SLOW BUT STEADY WINS THE RACE:
Foreigners make up record 1.5% of Japan's populace (Japan Times, 6/12/04)
A total 1.9 million foreign nationals were registered nationwide as of the end of last year, a record number for the 35th consecutive year, the report says.By nationality, Koreans topped the list at 614,000, or 32.1 percent of the total, following by Chinese at 462,000, or 24.1 percent, and Brazilians at 275,000, or 14.3 percent. Filipinos were next at 185,000, or 9.7 percent, followed by Peruvians at 54,000, or 2.8 percent.
That consecutive year streak will continue until the Japanese are a minority. Posted by Orrin Judd at June 11, 2004 9:05 PM
I wonder how many of those Peruvians were named "Fujimori".
Posted by: Raoul Ortega at June 11, 2004 9:44 PMWhat *is* the story with Japan and Peru?
Posted by: mike earl at June 11, 2004 9:46 PMBunch of Japanese immigrated to South America after WWII. Peru may have a higher concentration, I don't know, but they aren't the only SA country with a notable Japanese presence.
Posted by: Twn at June 12, 2004 11:33 AMBut am I right that these "Peruvians" the Japanese are counting as foreigners are actually ethnic Japanese returning to Japan?
Posted by: David Cohen at June 12, 2004 2:13 PMSame thing with Brazil.
Things were so bad after 1945, many Japanese immgrated to S America and elsewhere for better economic opportunities. Although many of those Japanese families had done quite well relative to the others in S America, one wonders if their children think their parents made the right decision.
I wonder how many of those Koreans are also "Japanese," by any other standard. Japan's long colonial history with Korea means many "Korean" families have been Japanese for a long time.
Posted by: Chris Durnell at June 14, 2004 12:26 PM