British people make up the 19th largest foreign resident community in Japan, with a population of 21,139 as of December 2024. The United Kingdom is the third largest source of non-Asian foreign residents in Japan, following Brazil and the United States.
According to data released by the Ministry of Justice's Immigration Bureau, there were 21,139 British citizens living in Japan as of December 2024.[1] This does not include short-term residents, people naturalised as Japanese citizens, or those staying as government officials or diplomats.[1] 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 7,010 of the population, followed by those on working visas (3,553) and those staying as spouses of Japanese nationals (3,103).[2]
People from Hong Kong, which was once a British colony, were allowed to retain their British passports following the UK's handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997; this allows them to enter and stay in Japan as British citizens, and they are categorised as such by Japan's Immigration Bureau.[citation needed]
The British Chamber of Commerce in Japan is an independent non-profit organisation that promotes trade and business ties between the UK and Japan.[citation needed]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.[citation needed]
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