The number of foreign children in Japan is rising sharply even as the country's overall child population shrinks because of its low birth rate. Foreign children increased 34% over the past five years, while the number of foreign residents in Japan topped 4.28 million, the highest on record.
Foreign Children Up 34%, Vietnamese Toddlers Up 3.2-Fold
Japan's 2025 population and housing census counted 296,258 foreign children under the age of 15, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, or Nikkei, reported on the 16th. That is 34.2% more than in 2020, and the foreign share of all children rose to 2.2% from 1.5%.
The increase was most pronounced among children from Vietnam. The number of Vietnamese children aged 0 to 4 living in Japan reached 26,628 last year, 3.2 times the 8,230 counted five years earlier.
The trend contrasts with Japan's falling births. Annual births have broadly declined since peaking at 2.09 million in 1973. The total fertility rate fell to 1.14 last year, though the decline narrowed to 0.01 from the previous year.
Nikkei said the growing foreign population is partly braking Japan's slide in births, as foreign residents start families in the country and household structures become more varied.
Over the five years through last year, the number of couples in which one spouse is a foreign national rose 5.9%, while the number in which both spouses are foreign nationals rose 41.4%.
Of Japan's 27,532,107 married couples last year, 2.9% had one or both spouses who were foreign nationals, up 0.6 percentage points from five years earlier.
Foreign Residents at Record 4.28 Million Despite Weak Yen
The rise in foreign children largely reflects the rapid growth of the foreign population itself.
Foreign residents numbered 4,281,026 at the end of June, a record high, according to Japan's Immigration Services Agency. That was up 155,631, or 3.8%, from the end of last year.
By nationality, Chinese nationals were the largest group at 941,031, followed by Vietnamese at 693,750, South Koreans at 408,682, Filipinos at 362,761 and Nepalese at 334,850.
Japan's labor shortage is cited as a key driver of the inflow.
By residency status, permanent residents were the largest group at 961,342. Holders of the "engineer, specialist in humanities, international services" status, typically obtained by skilled professionals, numbered 516,184, and international students 479,626. Technical intern trainees totaled 457,509, while holders of the specified skilled worker status, which allows foreign nationals to work in sectors facing labor shortages, numbered 444,256.
Nikkei said the inflow is expanding even though wage growth in Japan has been slow and the weak yen has reduced earnings when converted into foreign currencies.
The National Institute of Population and Social Security Research assumed in its 2023 population projections that the foreign population would grow by about 165,000 a year. The actual pace has far exceeded that.
That has prompted expectations that foreign nationals could account for more than 10% of the total population earlier than 2067, the year previously projected.
More Settling for the Long Term, Bringing Siblings and Spouses
The way foreign nationals stay in Japan is also changing. Instead of working briefly and returning home, more are bringing their families to live with them.
Japan had about 2.57 million foreign workers in 2025, according to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, with Vietnamese nationals the largest group at about 600,000, or 23.6%.
Among Vietnamese workers in particular, there is a growing move to build Japanese-language skills and technical expertise, change residency status and settle for the long term.
One Vietnamese man who entered Japan as a technical intern trainee in 2014 obtained N1, the highest level of the Japanese-language proficiency test, local media reported. He later returned on an engineer visa, worked in Nagano Prefecture, brought his wife and children to Japan in 2022 and bought a home with a mortgage.
Another Vietnamese man who came to Japan as an international student in 2010 found a job after graduating from university and started a family in Yokohama. He later brought his younger brother over to study, and his brother also found work in Japan.
Whether family members can accompany a worker depends on residency status. Under the specified skilled worker system, category 1 holders generally cannot bring family members, while category 2 holders may bring a spouse and children, according to the Immigration Services Agency.
Nikkei said the growing foreign population is reshaping family structures in Japanese society, with foreign residents becoming members of the community who build their lives in Japan rather than serving simply as labor amid low births and worker shortages.