French people in Japan

French people in Japan

Members of the first French military mission to Japan in 1867
Total population
15,153 (in December, 2023) [1] [2]
Regions with significant populations
Tokyo  · Yokohama  · Sapporo
Languages
Japanese ·French
Religion
Predominantly Roman Catholicism, Shinto  · Protestantism  · Judaism
Related ethnic groups
French diaspora

A French family in Japan, 1861

There is a small community of French people in Japan, consisting of approximately 15,000 people.

Overview

The French community in Japan has been steadily increasing, rising by more than 35% in the last decade. ^[3] French expatriates who are working in Japan with leading foreign companies came from many different industries such as chemicals and crystal-ware. ^[4] As far as inbound tourism from France is concerned, France ranked at 15th place in 2018, with 304,900 French tourists visiting Japan. ^[5]

There are four bilingual schools, 60 cultural associations, and over 700 companies in Japan.^{[ citation needed ]}

From 15,000 French people in Japan about 7,500 of them live in Tokyo alone, which makes it the largest European population in Tokyo. Many of them work in a French restaurant or at pastry. The numbers of pastries led by French pastry chef in Japan has increased since the past 10 years.

Notable Japanese people of French descent

• Claude Ciari  [ ja ], musician
• Hisaki Kato, kickboxer and MMA fighter
• Minami Hinase, model and actress
• Nozomi de Lencquesaing  [ ja ], actor
• Hikari Mitsushima, actress
• Michel Miyazawa, footballer
• Maria Ozawa, AV (adult video) performer and model
• Marc Panther, rapper
• Rinka, actress and tarento
• Erika Sawajiri, actress, model and musician
• Erika Sema, tennis player
• Yurika Sema, tennis player
• Christel Takigawa, TV announcer and TV News presenter

Fictional people

• Arsène Lupin III, main protagonist of Lupin III manga
• Charlotte Dunois from Infinite Stratos
• Jean Pierre Polnareff from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
• Frederica Miyamoto from Idolmaster: Cinderella Girls

See also

• France portal
• Japan portal

• France–Japan relations
• Japanese people in France
• Gaijin

References

1. "【在留外国人統計（旧登録外国人統計）統計表】 | 出入国在留管理庁".
3. Japan in French / Guide du Japon en Français
4. "French fancies - The Japanese and the French are locked in a high-spending mutual embrace. (Special Advertising Section)". Archived from the original on 2011-06-15. Retrieved 2010-12-21.
5. "Overseas Visitors to Japan in 2018 Top 31 Million". nippon.com. 2019-01-24. Retrieved 2022-10-03.