Society Multiculturalism and acceptance of foreigners in Shinjuku increasing

According to a survey conducted by Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward in the summer of 2023, Shinjuku residents increasingly feel more supportive of living alongside foreigners. The number of positive opinions expressed by Shinjuku Ward residents toward foreign residents greatly exceeded the number of opposing views, an increase from the previous survey. Shinjuku Ward has one of Japan's highest concentrations of foreign residents, with more than 43,000, accounting for about 12.6 per cent of the ward's total population.

In August 2023, the ward surveyed "the actual condition of multicultural coexistence" on 7,000 randomly selected residents (5,000 foreign and 2,000 Japanese residents).

The ward released the results in February. There were valid responses from 21.2 per cent of the foreigners and 38.4 per cent from Japanese. When Japanese residents were asked their thoughts on having foreigners living in their neighborhoods, 38.9 per cent responded that it was "favorable" or "somewhat favorable." Responses of "unfavourable" and "somewhat unfavorable" totaled 10.8 per cent, with positive responses far outnumbering the negative ones. Younger generations were more likely to respond positively, with 54.6 per cent of those aged 18-19 and 52.9 per cent of those aged 20-29 doing so. On the other hand, those aged 70 and older had the fewest responses, at 26.9 per cent, but this was still more than twice the number of negative responses. This was the third time the survey was conducted. In the 2007 survey, positive responses totaled 21.2 per cent, then 22.1 per cent in 2015. Negative responses totaled 20.7 per cent in the 2007 survey and 16.9 per cent in the 2015 survey. As more foreigners took up residence in the ward, the number of Japanese who responded positively increased.

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When foreign residents in Japan were surveyed about their social contact with Japanese, 42.4% reported having such contact, while 56.4% did not. Among those who had social interactions with Japanese, the largest group (43.3%) mentioned that they "only greet each other."

The most common reasons cited by foreign residents for not socializing with Japanese were:

1. "No opportunity to talk to them" (68.2%).
2. "Because I don't speak Japanese" (21.3%).

Regarding their main problems or dissatisfactions, foreign residents highlighted:

1. "Language" (27.2%).
2. "Not having many friends" (21.3%).
3. "Procedures at financial institutions" (16.%).

Additionally, some respondents expressed concerns about:

1. "Prejudice and discrimination from Japanese" (12.8%).
2. "Japanese being closed-minded" (12.7%).