Education Ministry Survey Shows 160,000 Foreign Children Lived in Japan as of FY 2024

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:46 JST, October 3, 2025

More than 160,000 children of elementary and middle school age with foreign citizenship lived in Japan as of May 2024, according to an education ministry survey, marking the largest number since the survey began in fiscal 2019.

According to the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry’s survey on school attendance, there were 163,358 children of foreign nationality in this age range living in Japan as of May last year. This represents an 8.4% increase from the previous fiscal year’s 150,695.

The survey asked municipal boards of education nationwide about the number of children listed in their basic resident registration systems and their actual school attendance status.

A total of 8,432 children were either known to be non-enrolled in elementary/middle schools or foreign schools or were of undeterminable status. Of these, 1,097 were confirmed non-enrolled, while 7,322 could not be contacted, leaving their enrollment status unknown. There were 13 children who were listed in the basic resident registration systems but could not be identified by the boards of education.

While foreign children are not subject to compulsory education laws, public elementary and middle schools accept them free of charge if their guardians wish for them to attend, just like Japanese children, in accordance with the International Covenants on Human Rights.