"Zainichi" redirects here. The word "Zainichi" refers in general to foreign citizens residing in Japan. For the book, see Koreans in Japan: Critical Voices from the Margin.
Ethnic group
Koreans in Japan
在日韓国・朝鮮人 재일 한국・조선인
Total population
434,461 (in December, 2023) South Korea: 410,156 (in December, 2023)[1] North Korea: 24,305 (in December, 2023)[2] Details:
Special Permanent Residents: 281,295 people
General permanent residents: 75,771 people
Technology/humanities/international services: 24,298 people
Study abroad: 14,906 people
Japanese spouse, etc.: 11,907 people
Family stay: 9,108 people
Permanent resident: 7,224 people
Business and management: 2,681 people
Specific activities: 2,013 people
Spouse of permanent resident: 2,109 people
Items with fewer than 1,000 people are omitted[2] (Reference: Cumulative naturalization permission from South Korea / Chosen-seki 375,518 (until the end of December 2018)[3])
Koreans in Japan (在日韓国人・在日本朝鮮人・朝鮮人, Zainichi Kankokujin/Zainihon Chōsenjin/Chōsenjin) comprise ethnic Koreans who have permanent residency status in Japan or who have become Japanese citizens, and whose immigration to Japan originated before 1945, or who are descendants of those immigrants. They are a group distinct from South Korean nationals who have immigrated to Japan after the end of World War II and the division of Korea.
They currently constitute the second largest ethnic minority group in Japan after Chinese immigrants, due to many Koreans assimilating into the general Japanese population.[4] The majority of Koreans in Japan are Zainichi Koreans (在日韓国・朝鮮人, Zainichi Kankoku/Chōsenjin), often known simply as Zainichi (在日, lit. 'in Japan'), who are ethnic Korean permanent residents of Japan. The term Zainichi Korean refers only to long-term Korean residents of Japan who trace their roots to Korea under Japanese rule, distinguishing them from the later wave of Korean migrants who came mostly in the 1980s,[5] and from pre-modern immigrants dating back to antiquity who may themselves be the ancestors of the Japanese people.[6]
The Japanese word "Zainichi" itself means a foreign citizen "staying in Japan", and implies temporary residence.[7] Nevertheless, the term "Zainichi Korean" is used to describe settled permanent residents of Japan, both those who have retained their Joseon or North Korean/South Korean nationalities, and even sometimes includes Japanese citizens of Korean descent who acquired Japanese nationality by naturalization or by birth from one or both parents who have Japanese citizenship.
^令和５年末現在における在留外国人数について
^ ab[1]
^帰化許可申請者数，帰化許可者数及び帰化不許可者数の推移 Archived 2019-04-03 at the Wayback Machine 法務省民事局 (Changes in the number of naturalization permit applicants, the number of naturalization permit persons, and the number of non-naturalization permit persons] Civil Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Justice)
^Statistics Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (July 2021). "国籍・地域別 在留資格（在留目的）別 在留外国人" [Foreigners by nationality and by visas (occupation)].
^Hester, Jeffry T. (2008). "Datsu Zainichi-ron: An emerging discourse on belonging among Ethnic Koreans in Japan". In Nelson H. H.; Ertl, John; Tierney, R. Kenji (eds.). Multiculturalism in the new Japan: crossing the boundaries within. Berghahn Books. p. 144–145. ISBN 978-1-84545-226-1.
^Diamond, Jared (June 1, 1998). "In Search of Japanese Roots". Discover Magazine.
^Fukuoka, Yasunori; Gill, Tom (2000). Lives of young Koreans in Japan. Trans-Pacific Press. p. xxxviii. ISBN 978-1-876843-00-7.
KoreansinJapan (在日韓国人・在日本朝鮮人・朝鮮人, Zainichi Kankokujin/Zainihon Chōsenjin/Chōsenjin) comprise ethnic Koreans who have permanent residency status in Japan...
Government inKorea south of the 38th parallel, enabling Koreans to restore their names if they wished. Many KoreansinJapan chose to retain their Japanese names...
The United KoreansinJapan official football team represents the Korean population living inJapan. The team includes players holding passports from North...
group of Sakhalin Koreans; however, only 1,500 of them returned to South Koreain the next two decades. The vast majority of Koreans of all generations...
nation states of North Korea and South Korea. Koreans are a recognized ethnic minority in other Asian countries, including China, Japan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan...
and 426,908 South Koreans. Chinese, Vietnamese, Koreans, Filipinos and Brazilians account for about 77% of foreign residents inJapan. The current issue...
speak Japanese and take Japanese names. However, Koreans resisted this and by the end of the 1940s, it was almost completely undone. Ethnic Koreansin Japan...
South KoreaKorea under Japanese rule KoreansinJapan, including Zainichi Koreans and Japanese citizens of Korean descent The Zainichi Korean language...
May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea and Japan, with its final match hosted by Japan at International Stadium in Yokohama. During the opening ceremony...
League of KoreansinJapan (Japanese: 在日本朝鮮人連盟, Korean: 재일조선인련맹/재일조선인연맹), abbreviated as Chōren (朝連), was an organization for Zainichi Koreans that operated...
This is a list of notable Zainichi Koreans or notable Japanese people of Korean descent. Arai Shoukei, politician, House of Representatives (Real Name:...
were conducted abroad by the Korean diaspora, as well as by a number of sympathetic non-Koreans. In the mid-19th century, Japan and China were forced out...
Koreansin China include both ethnic Koreans with Chinese nationality and non-Chinese nationalities such as South Korean (Chinese: 在华韩国人·韩裔) and North...
Koreans sponsored by ethnic activist organisation and de facto North Korean embassy Chongryon. Chongryon received the tacit support of the Japanese and...
yakiniku restaurants are derived from Korean restaurants in Osaka and Tokyo, which opened around 1945 by KoreansinJapan. In a yakiniku restaurant, diners order...
Treaty on Basic Relations Between Japan and the Republic of Korea (Japanese: 日韓基本条約 (Nikkan Kihon Jōyaku); Korean: 한일기본조약; Hanja: 韓日基本條約; RR: Hanil gibon...
Global Information
South Korea: 410,156
North Korea: 24,305
