2 Foreign nationals who are illegally overstaying

  The number of foreign nationals who are illegally staying in Japan (estimated value) has been on a declining trend after reaching the record high on May 5, 1993 with 298,646. As a result of implementing comprehensive measures such as exposing them in close cooperation between related institutions and in accordance with the goal of “halving the number of foreign nationals who are illegally staying in Japan” that was set at a Cabinet meeting on crime countermeasures in December 2003, the number had decreased to 149,785 as of January 1, 2008 (down 12.3% when compared to the same date the previous year). Reviewing a breakdown by nationality, those from the Republic of Korea had the largest share at 21.2%, followed by those from China at 16.7% and the Philippines at 16.5% (Source: The Immigration Bureau, Ministry of Justice).