Britons in Japan

Britons in Japan

Total population
19,909 (in December, 2023)
Regions with significant populations
Tokyo · Osaka
Languages
Japanese · English · Welsh · Scottish Gaelic · Scots · Hong Kong Cantonese
Religion
Predominantly Christianity, Minority : Buddhism and Shinto
Related ethnic groups
British diaspora

Britons in Japan make up the 19th largest foreign resident communities in Japan. The United Kingdom is the third largest source of foreign residents outside Asia, following Brazil and the United States.

Overview

As of December 2023, according to data released by the Ministry of Justice Immigration Bureau, there were 19,909 people from the United Kingdom. This number does not include those naturalised as Japanese citizerns, those staying as government officials or diplomats, or short-term residents.

The prefectures with the highest concentration of British nationals were Tokyo (7,266), Kanagawa (1,791), Osaka (1,227), and Hokkaido (1,113). Permanent residents comprised 6,880 of the population, followed by those on professional visas (3,350) and those staying as spouses of Japanese nationals (3,037).

British Hongkongers

Since Hong Kong was once a British colony, after its return to China, residents have retained British National (Overseas) passports (abbreviated as BN(O)), allowing them to enter and stay in Japan as British Subject. Statistically, they are counted as British nationals, with no distinction made between them or other British subject.

Professional associations

The British Chamber of Commerce in Japan is an independent non-profit organisation that promotes trade and networking opportunities for member firms and business professionals living and working in Japan.

Education

The British School in Tokyo provides an English language based educational curriculum for students of over 50 different nationalities. The school serves a number of children of British heritage living in the city.

Notable people

• William Adams, the first European to become a samurai, served Ieyasu Tokugawa in the 17th century.
• Venetia Stanley-Smith, a herbalist, became famous for an NHK series about her life in rural Kyoto.
• Peter Barakan, broadcaster and DJ.
• Thomas Baty, a legal scholar and one of the first openly non-binary people in the country.
• Rita Taketsuru, a Scottish woman who co-founded Nikka Whisky with her husband Masataka.
• Josiah Conder, an architect who was commissioned for many government buildings and was the first educator of Western architecture in Japan.
• Iso Mutsu, a writer who married Earl Hirokichi Mutsu and introduced Kamakura, where she lived, to the world.
• Pico Iyer, an essayist and writer based in Nara since 1992.
• Clive William Nicole, a Welsh writer and environmentalist who naturalised in 1995.
• George Edward Gauntlett, the developer of one of the earliest Japanese shorthand methods.
• Sky Brown, a professional skateboarder who won the bronze medal in the 2020 Olympics and is the youngest British summer Olympian ever.

See also

• Japan–United Kingdom relations
• Japanese in the United Kingdom
• British Embassy, Tokyo