The numbers come first. Japan’s total population, including foreign residents, fell to 22.9 million as of October 2025, down 2.5% from five years earlier. The prior 2020 census showed a 0.7% decline.
The drop was steeper among Japanese nationals. Their population fell 3.5% to 119.1 million, after a 1.4% decline in the previous count.
At the same time, foreign residents rose 40% to a record 3.84 million, and permanent residents increased 17% to 947,125. Foreigners still make up just 3.4% of Japan’s population, but that share is now at a record high.
Japan’s demographic pressure is not new. The birth rate has been below the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman for decades, and the population has been in steady decline since around 2008. The share of people age 65 and older reached 29.4% in 2025, up from 28.5% in 2020.
Against that backdrop, the government moved in the opposite direction on immigration. On Thursday, Japan raised fees for permanent residency to $1,271 from $64, a 2,000% jump and the largest increase in the country’s history. The cost of a five-year residence permit rose to $475 from $38.
The new rules also impose more detailed income requirements. Permanent residents must now earn at least $36,428 per year. For the first time, applicants will be evaluated on Japanese language skills, along with their grasp of rules and customs.
Tokyo also gave itself broader authority to revoke permanent residency for failing pension contribution obligations, not paying health insurance and taxes, and violating immigration law or the penal code.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has pushed a more nationalist, right-wing line. Abroad, that has meant a harder stance toward China and North Korea, plus a larger military. At home, it has meant tougher treatment of immigration and tourism, drawing criticism that she is encouraging xenophobia. In July, the government raised some tourist visa prices by more than 400%.
Takaichi defended the move in a post on X, saying many permanent residents could not maintain independent livelihoods. She wrote that the government was responding to anxiety and a sense of unfairness among citizens by making foreign policy more orderly so citizens and foreigners could live safely and securely.
Capital rewards clear rules, but it also responds to incentives. Japan wants more workers and more families, yet it is making residency more expensive and more uncertain at the same time. That may satisfy political pressure in the short run, but it does not solve the arithmetic of an aging society.
The market has already voted on the problem. Japan needs labor, productivity, and demographic renewal. Higher fees and tighter barriers may protect domestic politics, but they also raise the cost of participation for the very people the economy may need most.
