TOKYO – The number of foreigners detained in Japan in the five years through 2025 fell 40 percent from the peak recorded 20 years earlier, an analysis of police data showed Saturday, with the decline coming despite a nearly two-fold increase in foreign residents over the same period.
A total of 56,706 foreign nationals were processed by police between 2021 to 2025, a sharp drop from the 93,899 recorded between 2001 to 2005, according to crime statistics from the National Police Agency. The number fell by half in 14 of Japan’s 47 prefectures.
Xenophobic posts on social media have claimed that Japan’s growing foreign population is worsening public safety. But with foreign residents nearly doubling from 2.01 million to 3.95 million over the past two decades, the proportion involved in crime has declined.
Enforcement cases involving foreign nationals, excluding permanent residents and U.S. military personnel, fell in 40 prefectures between the two five-year periods.
Nagano Prefecture saw the largest drop at 73.2 percent from 1,679 to 450. Tokushima, Ehime, Wakayama, and Fukushima prefectures also recorded steep declines. By absolute numbers, Tokyo saw a decrease of 22,344 cases, Kanagawa 3,358, and Shizuoka 2,241.
“Although the number of foreign nationals entering Japan is increasing, there is no clear impact on the deterioration of public safety. We will continue necessary enforcement regardless of nationality,” a senior National Police Agency official said.
In terms of single year data, the nationwide number of detentions in 2025 rose by 5 percent from the previous year to 12,777, marking the third consecutive year of increase.
The climb reflects a rebound from the low crime levels during the COVID-19 pandemic, but is still proportionally lower than the roughly 300,000 person growth in foreign residents annually.
Including Japanese nationals, the total number of people detained for Penal Code offenses topped 600,000 per year in the early 1950s but fell to the 300,000 range in the early 2000s.
The figure has remained around 200,000 in recent years as community patrols, increased security cameras and crackdowns on organized crime have proven effective.
AloJapan.com