Immigration Trends of Foreign Residents
Journalist
“Journalist” is a residence status necessary for reporting and other journalistic activities based on contracts with foreign media organizations. The period of stay can be 5 years, 3 years, 1 year, or 3 months.
Since peaking in 2008, the number of journalists has been on a slight downward trend. Residents’ nationality ranges narrowly; most entering Japan are from China, South Korea, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, and France. In particular, China has seen a significant increase since 2015. Numbers from Russia, Canada, Australia, Brazil, and Italy change significantly from year to year; but, except for a few years, their numbers have been almost zero. Moreover, Sweden has a slightly higher number than other Nordic countries. Overall, the large 2011 figure might be related to the Great East Japan Earthquake.