Japan’s ongoing demographic transformation reached a new milestone in 2024, with the number of babies born to foreign parents hitting an all-time high underscoring how migration is reshaping the country’s population landscape and political debate.
According to the Ministry of Health, more than 20,000 children were born to non-Japanese parents last year, representing over 3% of all newborns. The figure marks both a record high in number and proportion, even as births among Japanese couples continued to plummet.
The Nikkei reported that 22,878 foreign children defined as those born to two non-Japanese parents or an unmarried foreign mother entered the world in 2024, up more than 3,000 from the previous year and nearly 50% higher than a decade ago.
In contrast, births among Japanese couples fell sharply to 686,173, a decline of more than 41,000 from 2023. The growing number of foreign newborns softened the overall population decline, offsetting more than half of the fall in Japanese births.
By nationality, Chinese women made up the largest group of foreign mothers, followed by those from the Philippines and Brazil.
Japan’s population now about 125 million continues to age rapidly, with the country struggling to reverse its long-term birthrate decline. Meanwhile, the number of legal foreign residents has surged to 3.95 million, according to the Immigration Services Agency, as more migrant workers fill labour shortages across industries such as manufacturing, healthcare, and construction.
This growing diversity is transforming once-homogeneous towns like Ōizumi, now home to dozens of nationalities. Yet it has also reignited political tensions: right-wing groups and populist parties are calling for tighter immigration policies and stronger assimilation measures.
The debate took centre stage in Japan’s July 2025 upper house elections, where the minor populist Sanseito Party performed well after campaigning against the influx of foreign workers.
Sanae Takaichi, the new leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and a frontrunner to become Japan’s next prime minister, has also made immigration and what she described as “badly behaved” foreign tourists a focal point of her political platform.
However, demographic and economic realities may leave policymakers with little choice but to welcome more migrants. Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki recently projected that foreign residents could make up over 10% of Japan’s population by 2040, decades ahead of earlier forecasts.
Experts are urging both national and local governments to strengthen support systems for foreign families.
“Policies for foreign babies and their parents lag far behind, and most depend on nonprofit groups for help,” said Toshihiro Menju, a visiting professor at Kansai University of International Studies.
He warned that without stronger integration efforts, Japan risks creating a divided society. “We need to build a country where children of foreign nationals grow up speaking Japanese, earning equally, and supporting their own families otherwise, we’ll have deep social fractures,” Menju said.
