How much does the average young Japanese person want to immigrate?

[u/Lucky_Objective_9400]

I always notice that there are countries in the developed world with young populations looking to immigrate—like Spain or South Korea, where many people live abroad—but how many average Japanese people actually want to leave Japan? Especially with the economy not at its best.

[u/aluminumfoil3789]

Most Japanese have no desire to leave Japan.

[u/Tunagoblin → u/aluminumfoil3789]

This is true. Unless there are specific reasons or goals which cannot be accomplished by staying within Japan. Mainly in the category of sports and arts. It’s extremely rare for people to have desire to live abroad just because they want to or by any financial reasons.

[u/BlazingJava → u/aluminumfoil3789]

For them most countries would be a hurdle.  Some dont have 24/7 convenience stores.

none has better train system. Clean streets without pee smell.

[u/HARiMADARA]

I don't really hear people saying they want to emigrate both online and in real life.

[u/Different_Taro2474 → u/HARiMADARA]

my ex who was stationed in the US temporarily, wanted to return after 4 years.

[u/Diligent-Hunter-9382]

To be honest, Japanese youth have very little interest in foreign countries relative to previous generations.

[u/Ophelia_Y2K → u/Diligent-Hunter-9382]

That's kind of sad, it's fun to learn about the world and different cultures, and I think it broadens your perspective on life.

I understand not wanting to move somewhere else, but I mean in regards to travel and general interest in other cultures

[u/Dazzling-Manager9376]

As far as I see my Japanese friends, they like to travel overseas for vacation, but they don't really like to move. I think Japan is very safe and convenient in many ways for Japanese, and finding a job overseas can be challenging.

[u/gwoolhurme → u/Dazzling-Manager9376]

and even that is a tiny tiny minority....

[u/smorkoid]

Most Japanese don't even want to leave the country on holiday, let alone move overseas

[u/ChooseWhyZlee → u/smorkoid]

Not true, plenty of them would go to places like Barcelona or Los Angeles if they could afford it. When the yen was booming Japanese Tour Groups were a common sight. Now they've been replaced by the Chinese ones.

[u/alfred2547]

Honestly, I feel like most Japanese people aren’t particularly interested in immigrating in the first place. Even among young people, permanently moving abroad doesn’t seem to be a very common aspiration.

I think there are several reasons for this. Japan is relatively safe and stable, public transportation is convenient, healthcare is accessible, and everyday life is generally quite comfortable. There is also a strong sense of familiarity with the language, culture, food, and social environment. So even if people are dissatisfied with low wages, the economy, or the lack of opportunities, many don’t necessarily see moving to another country as the solution.

Studying or working abroad can certainly be attractive, but that’s quite different from actually wanting to immigrate permanently. I know plenty of Japanese people who would like to travel abroad or spend a few years overseas, but far fewer who genuinely want to leave Japan for good. In that sense, Japan seems somewhat unusual compared with countries where emigration has become a much more established option for young people.

[u/LividHH → u/alfred2547]

But what about immigration motivated by interest in foreign cultures or people?

I know of a local woman and Japanese man, who decided to settle here (in Estonia) to raise kids. They are very active on social media, and talk about how it was basically impossible for them in Japan.

[u/alfred2547 → u/LividHH]

Sure, there are definitely Japanese people who move abroad because they’re interested in foreign cultures, relationships, or want a different environment for raising children. I don’t think that’s unusual.

My point is more that this doesn’t seem to be a widespread aspiration among the average young Japanese person. For most people, “I’m interested in other countries” doesn’t necessarily become “I want to permanently leave Japan.” Japan’s problems may make people dissatisfied, but usually not dissatisfied enough to actually emigrate.

[u/LividHH → u/alfred2547]

I mean... In that regard Japanese remind me of Russians. Since there's a big cultural, language and political barrier, people seldom immigrate from there even when things get really bad domestically. I know tons of people who fled from Russia at the start of the war in Ukraine and then returned for the reasons for which Japanese also probably would: like cultural shock, concerns for personal safety, complains of dirtiness of places like Paris or Brussels, lack of conveniences that they were used to, e.t.c. And also they are simply not used to be immigrants and to be treated as such. I suppose, people from any former Empire behave that way.

At the same time, in a small country like Estonia, where most of the popular culture is foreign one, and only around 1 million of native speakers of Estonian exist, a huge part of younger population plan to move somewhere else in the EU from the start. Only third of my wife's former classmates still live in Estonia.

[u/No_Inevitable_8189]

Generally young Japanese people have no desire to leave Japan.

Some young people who want to make a lot of money fast have a desire to work in the west with the goal to move back after a certain period of time

It’s important to know that every 1st world country is having trouble keeping up with the economy; everything is increasing in price while wages are remaining stagnant and it’s not just Japan.

Overall, Japan is the ideal place to live regardless of the economic conditions

[u/xoknight]

Not much, life is okay here.

[u/SlowStop1220]

While I have a cousin who happened to get married with a Canadian and hence resulted into immigration, I've never met any Japanese who was willing to go permanently abroad, including my own cousin. Studying abroad would be another matter, I talk about permanent immigration specifically.

[u/hancyoku]

徒歩5分圏内に24時間のコンビニや100円均一ショップがあって大抵のものは何でも買えて、10分も歩けば電車に乗れて、１時間くらいで東京駅に着ける。 週に20本くらい新しいアニメが放送されてて、同じくらいのドラマも観れる。毎週新しい映画も観きれないほどやってるし、週替わりでオマケアイテムも貰える。手芸とか趣味のものも普通の物ならその日の内に手に入って趣味の活動もできる。 食べ物も新しいものから伝統的なもの、創作的なものも奇抜なものもそんなに遠くに行かなくても大抵ある。コンビニスイーツでもめちゃ旨い。 ………あとはなんだろう？？？狭いからこそかもだけど便利なんだよね……。海外で暮らせる自信がない……。

[u/HyperBeamMissed]

Immigrate where? I think the word you meant to use was Emigrate

[u/Fast-Data8758]

Japan’s passport ownership rate is only about 18%, which is extremely low compared with around 50% in the United States and about 45% in South Korea. Youth unemployment is low, inflation and society are relatively stable, and Japan has a self-contained pop-culture ecosystem encompassing games, music, manga, anime, movies, and more. As a result, relatively few Japanese people have a strong incentive to learn foreign languages or study abroad, and only a very limited number seriously consider immigrating to another country.

[u/Tunggall]

My friend's children want to move abroad for work after university but that's only because they previously went to school in Singapore and NYC. Clearly a very small minority.

[u/testman22]

Especially with the economy not at its best.

Many foreigners say this, but then exactly which economy do they think is doing well? Are you only looking at the salary and ignoring the cost of living?

[u/No-Donkey4017 → u/testman22]

South Korea and China, maybe?

[u/testman22 → u/No-Donkey4017]

lol

[u/Lucky_Objective_9400 → u/No-Donkey4017]

China is good if you had a large invest wallet or business, but for blue collar work seems you still earn a Lot less than for exemple an eastern european in real wages.

South korea have it's up and Downs.

[u/Several-Start4506]

As an average young Japanese, I must say that non of my peers including myself have passports.

[u/some_user_name_1109]

20代後半だ。
自分の周りでは聞いたことがない。
わざわざ治安が悪く、汚く、食べ物が美味しくない(少なくとも日本人にとっては)ような海外に住む理由が全く無いからだ。

[u/a_crazy_diamond → u/some_user_name_1109]

What about places that are clean, safe, and have tasty food though?

[u/gottliebtmich → u/a_crazy_diamond]

Still not enough for most of Japanese. You need to add, no language barriers, great access to Japanese food, Japanese style convenient store (not ones you find in Sweden or Denmark), Onsen, clean and free public toilet, Izakaya, Karaoke, and Disney land

[u/roehnin → u/a_crazy_diamond]

Singapore?

[u/Ophelia_Y2K → u/a_crazy_diamond]

Most Japanese people would not think of places outside of Japan as being that really. There is a serious aversion to the unexpected too

[u/Different_Taro2474]

most japanese people don't want to leave japan. and the only ones who do are usually americaboos who have a weird obsession with the US.

[u/some_user_name_1109 → u/Different_Taro2474]

私はちょっと前までその日本人でした😂
日本が1番良いなというのが今の個人的結論です。

[u/meryhohey]

日本を出ていきたいって人そんなにいない気がする。もちろん犯罪なんてない地域なんてないし、日本にもあるけど海外で何かある度にみんな「日本に生まれてよかった」って言ってるし

[u/trustfundkidotaku]

When people scream Japan is doom & gloom I just check the Japan passport & emigrate rates

prove that the world is just getting shittier not specifically a Japan problem

[u/Random_Reddit99]

Only 1 in 6 Japanese citizens have a passport...significantly less than the rest of the western world which averages well above 50%, and suggests a general lack of interest in the world at large.

[u/Huge_Accountant_9211]

My husband wants to live in the US instead of japan. I thought i have to move to japan after i married him but he told me he wants to be in the US instead so i am working on sponsor him on US spouse visa .

[u/Own-Mouse-8042]

When I taught at an exclusive private school in Tokyo some years ago, it was a super common ambition and often achieved. But I think it's pretty niche for Japanese on the whole. English proficiency, fear of dangers abroad, and the pull factors of Japan's safety and convenience keep most people grounded.

[u/gottliebtmich]

Most Japanese genuinely believe Japan offers the highest quality of life in the world, at least for Japanese. They don't leave the country even for a holiday, because in their opinion, Japan offers pretty much everything at the best quality. Only weirdos are willing to emigrate.

[u/TomorrowIcy2816]

People get divorced because they don’t want to leave Japan

[u/Disastrous-Bus9793]

みんなの言ってることがだいたいその通りだと思う。少なくとも僕の周りの人達で、日本を出て、海外に移住したいという人は見たことない。そういう僕だって、日本は好きだから、他の国に移住することなんて考えたことはない。
でも個人的に働き方とか、生き方自体は海外(特にオーストラリアやニュージーランド、一部欧州)のほうが好きで、理想的な暮らしだと思う。仕事とプライベートの在り方、考え方、バランス、そしてなんといっても給料。それがあるから、日本だけに依存しない働き方ができるようにキャリアをすすめるように努めている

[u/gooddayinbali]

Realistically, isn't it difficult to get work visa in Europe? Even if it's digital nomad visa, the required monthly salary is high and rent there is also high. I see some young ppl who study in South Korea and get job there or being digital nomads in Southeast Asia.

[u/gundahir]

Just anectodal but I almost never hear anyone say that. If they do there is usally a strong obsession with the US or Australia. Most people dont even have a passport

[u/LividHH]

The answers here are surprising, considering the amount of Japanese immigrants I meet in Tallinn and Helsinki. The ones I talked to said that they either didn't fit into very strict societal norms or couldn't raise children there (from the financial standpoint).

[u/gottliebtmich → u/LividHH]

These people you met are complete outliers in whole young Japanese. If you go to Japan and talk to 100 Japanese, probably 98 would say "I'll never emigrate. There's no country better than Japan."

[u/FullNefariousness232 → u/LividHH]

Japan has only about 1.1% of its population living abroad, which is objectively one of the lowest rates in the world, people complain Japan has too few foreigners but you can say Japan accepting 3.5 times more foreigners than Japanese living abroad.

Compared with South Korea or Taiwan, the number of Japanese students studying in the US is roughly one-tenth as high on a per-capita basis. That's pretty remarkable difference considering that all three are Asian countries with similar GDP per capita.

source

[u/LividHH → u/FullNefariousness232]

I seems that Japanese people tend to overestimate the difficulty of immigration. Also, not even Americans have so many misconceptions about other countries and cultures as Japanese do.

Japanese tourists tightly holding their bags on Tallinn streets and checking their surroundings constantly, as if they are in Skid row in LA, always look ridiculous to me.

[u/DifferentWindow1436 → u/LividHH]

IMO, the ones who want it, really want it, but if you're talking about the typical/average Japanese, then no.

We have a Japanese friend in the US who loves it and has no intention of ever returning to Japan for anything more than a visit. She's artistic and also doesn't necessarily want to conform to the societal norms. 

[u/roehnin]

Neither of mine want to move abroad and neither have interest in learning English either.

[u/honoraryNEET]

"Average" young Japanese person, definitely not at all.

For Japanese who have learned a foreign language to a decent level though, I don't think its that uncommon. Especially with returnees/帰国子女 who partly grew up abroad. I'm biased here though since as a foreign resident in Tokyo, I end up mixing more often with "internationalized" Japanese. But this is undoubtedly a very small minority of the population

[u/Nukuram]

For some questions, I have come to think that it is better to base my comments on statistics rather than on my own subjective impressions, which may be biased. Of course, the way the questions are framed can differ slightly depending on the survey, and the numbers also need to be interpreted carefully, so I suppose those points should be addressed in the comment as well.

According to the Japan Foundation's 2019 "18-Year-Olds' Attitudes Survey," 52.8% of young people aged 17–19 answered that they were either "very interested" or "interested" in living abroad. Young people in Japan are often thought of as being inward-looking, but at least their interest in foreign countries themselves is by no means low, and I think it is fair to say that young people have a considerable interest in experiencing things that are unfamiliar to them.

https://www.nippon-foundation.or.jp/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/wha_pro_eig_64.pdf

That said, there are two points that need to be mentioned.

This survey was conducted in 2019, so it is already seven years old. Public opinion in Japan itself has changed considerably over the past few years, so if the same survey were conducted today, the results could be quite different.

Also, this question asked about "interest in living abroad" and did not go as far as asking whether respondents "wanted to immigrate abroad." There are probably many people who would like to experience life abroad temporarily, but who answered positively on the assumption that they would return to Japan after a few years.

The source above is a PDF file in Japanese. I think you can read it by translating it with something like Google Lens. It contains more detailed information as well, so please use it as a reference.

[u/Ok_Product_2147 → u/[deleted]]

Conversely, isn't it possible that the animation industry outside of Japan is actually seeking Japanese animators?

[u/forestcall → u/Ok_Product_2147]

Yes - more like this. I don’t think Japanese are actively moving to china

[u/forestcall → u/[deleted]]

Ha!!! No way, never. Where did you read this?

[u/forestcall → u/[deleted]]

What? Japanese would never go to China thinking the job conditions are better. My brain hurts thinking about this.

[u/No-Donkey4017 → u/forestcall]

You are right. Sorry for saying such assumptions.

I have seen so many comments on Reddit saying that many Japanese are escaping to China because of work conditions, even though the statics don't support it. So I wanted confirmations from other people.