ABSTRACT
Immigrants in Japan grew from 0.71% of the total population in 1955 to 1.74% of the total population in 2008 (Ministry of Justice, 2009a). The number of immigrants was 641,482 in 1955, and increased to 2,217,426 in 2008. Since 1986, the greatest increase has been among foreign nationals from China, with sizable numbers of immigrants also coming from the Koreas, Brazil, the Philippines, and Peru (Ministry of Justice, 2009b). In 2008, Chinese immigrants numbered 655,377, Koreans were 589,239, Brazilians were 312,582, Filipinos were 210,617, and Peruvians were 59,723. Of the total number of immigrants, Chinese were 29.6%, Koreans were 26.6%, Brazilians were 14.1%, Filipinos were 9.5%, and Peruvians were 2.7%. Those who came from Brazil and Peru mostly had Japanese ancestors.
