The longed-for dream of packing your bags and moving to the land of anime and manga is no longer an unattainable fantasy, and the numbers have just confirmed it. For the first time in its history, Japan has surpassed the 4 million mark of foreign residents. The Japanese government’s Immigration Services Agency dropped the bomb this week, revealing that the archipelago is filling up with foreigners at an unprecedented rate.

A demographic explosion driven by a weak yen

To put things in perspective, by the end of 2025 Japan recorded exactly 4.13 million foreign citizens living within its borders. This represents a massive increase of 370,000 people compared to the previous year. In fact, looking at the chart of recent years, the foreign population grew by 50% overnight, adding over a million new people in just three years:

• 2021: 2.76 million
• 2022: 3.07 million
• 2023: 3.41 million
• 2024: 3.76 million
• 2025: 4.13 million

What is causing this massive influx of students and workers? The short answer is: the yen is at rock bottom. The historic devaluation of Japan’s currency has turned the country into a true paradise of deals for foreigners. International students’ families have realized that paying for tuition, rent, and food in Japan is absurdly cheap if their savings come from dollars, euros, or pesos.

The dark side of earning in yen

But it’s not all rosy in the land of the rising sun. The report also reveals a harsh reality for those already established there working full-time. As the yen becomes worth less globally, Japanese salaries are a joke when compared to what you’d earn in other first-world countries. Basically, living in Japan is great if you bring money from abroad, but earning in yen and trying to save is a very different story, making many hesitant to stay long-term.

Nevertheless, with the local Japanese population shrinking and aging rapidly, foreigners have become indispensable to fill university classrooms, convenience stores, and corporate jobs. Today, walking through the streets of Tokyo or even smaller towns and encountering neighbors from around the world is the new normal.

With Japan’s cost of living more accessible than ever for foreigners, would you take the leap and move, or would the fear of earning a devalued salary stop you?