South and North Korean Residents in Japan

Number of South and North Korean residents in Japan from the Ministry of Justice's statistic on foreign residents in Japan. According to the Ministry of Justice's statistics, of foreign residents in Japan, the number of South and North Korean residents is second after the number of Chinese residents, with 589,000 living in Japan as of 2008.

In view of the trend from 1991 onwards, the number of South and North Korean residents has been gradually decreasing each year, and recently has fallen below the number of Chinese residents. This is believed to be due to the greater rate of naturalized residents and deaths compared to new immigrants.

The greatest number of South and North Korean residents in Japan per 100,000 population is 1,538 in Osaka, with approximately 1.5 South and North Korean residents in every 100 persons. Following Osaka are Kyoto (1,291) and Hyogo (979). The top 3 rankings are prefectures in the Kansai area, and there are approximately 235,000 South and North Korean residents living in the Kansai area including the top 3. This is 40% of the total number of South and North Korean residents.

Although it is not clear why there are many South and North Koreans in the Kansai area, there used to be regular lines running between Korea and Kansai, which may possibly be associated. For the same reason, there are many South and North Korean residents living in Yamaguchi where there are regular lines running between Busan and Yamaguchi.

In contrast to Chinese and Brazilian residents who work in small and medium-sized factories in rural areas, there are more South and North Korean residents in urban areas compared to rural areas. Unlike Chinese Residents in Japan and Brazilian Residents in Japan whom South and North Korean residents see as new-comers, they have lived in Japan for a long time, and there might have been some situation in the long course of history, causing them to gather around urban areas.