Almost half of foreign residents have experienced discrimination: government survey

Japan’s foreign resident population rose 9.5% to a record 4.12 million at the end of 2025, topping 4 million for the first time, according to data from the Immigration Services Agency. | GETTY IMAGES

Nearly half of foreign residents in Japan report having experienced some form of discrimination, according to a government survey released Tuesday.

The survey, conducted between October and November 2025 by the Immigration Services Agency (ISA), surveyed 20,000 foreign residents and special permanent residents who were 18 and older, receiving 8,874 valid responses.

It found that 47% of respondents had experienced some form of discrimination in their everyday lives, while 53% said they had not encountered discriminatory treatment, a decrease of 0.8 percentage point from last year.

With multiple answers allowed, housing-related discrimination emerged as the most common issue, with 19.4% saying they had experienced discrimination while searching for a place to live. Discrimination at work followed at 17.5%, while 13.2% said they encountered it while looking for jobs.

Read more on the original article : https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/05/19/japan/society/foreigner-discrimination-survey/