Ethnic groups of Japan

Ainu (also Aynu) - The Ainu, an indigenous people, native to Hokkaido and northeastern Honshu. They are also found in Russia, in Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, both formerly part of the Japanese Empire, and the Kamchatka Peninsula. They possess an alphabet and language distinct from modern Japanese, as they do not use kanji but the katakana alphabet. They traditionally practiced tattooing and followed religious beliefs that are considered animism.[7]

Bonin Islanders - The Bonin Islanders are ethnic group native to the Bonin Islands, also called the Ogasawara Islands, part of Tokyo Prefecture. They are descendants of Westerners, Polynesians, and Kanaks who settled Hahajima and Chichijima in the 18th century. They speak a dialect of English, called Bonin English, and have traditionally practiced Christianity. Legal status of Bonin Islanders passed back and forth between the United States and Japan over the years and, during and after World War II, many Bonin Islanders were forced to leave their homes. Some immigrated to the United States, finding it easier to assimilate into an English-speaking Western culture than a Japanese-speaking Asian one. Today, roughly 200 Bonin Islanders remain in Japan, some still bearing the surnames of the original 18th-century settlers.

Yamato - The Yamato people are the dominant native ethnic group of Japan and because of their numbers, the term Yamato is often used interchangeably with the term Japanese. However, other ethnic groups native to Japan, who are genetically distinct from the Yamato, do exist.

Ryukyuans (also Lewchewan) - The Ryukyuans are an indigenous people, native to the Ryukyu Islands. There are different subgroups of the Ryukyuan ethnic group, them being the Okinawan, Amami, Miyako, Yaeyama and Yonaguni peoples. Their languages make up the Ryukyuan languages,[8] considered to be one of the two branches of the Japonic language family, the other being Japanese and its dialects.[9] The Ryukyuans have a specific culture with some matriarchal elements, native religion, and cuisine which had fairly late (12th century) introduction of rice.

Chinese people in Japan are the largest foreign minorities in Japan. They comprise 0.64% of Japan's population. Chinese people are mostly concentrated in the Osaka, Tokyo and Yokohama areas.

Koreans in Japan are the fifth largest ethnic minorities in the country. Most of them arrived in the early 20th century.

As of 2012, there are 530,421 Koreans in Japan who are not Japanese citizens.[10]

A small number of Nivkh people resettled in Hokkaido when Japan evacuated southern Sakhalin at the end of World War II.

There is a significant community of Brazilians in Japan, which is home to the second largest Brazilian community outside of Brazil. They also constitute the largest number of Portuguese speakers in Asia, even greater than those of formerly Portuguese East Timor, Macao and Goa combined. Likewise, Brazil maintains its status as home to the largest Japanese community outside of Japan.

Like Brazilians in Japan, there are Peruvians in Japan, some of them lived in Peru when the country opened their doors for foreign workers. Alberto Fujimori is one example of Peruvian Japanese.

Filipinos in Japan formed a population of 202,592 individuals at year-end 2007, making them Japan's third-largest foreign community along with Brazilians, according to the statistics of the Ministry of Justice. In 2006, Japanese/Filipino marriages were the most frequent of all international marriages in Japan.[12] As of March 12, 2011, the Filipino population of Japan was 305,972.[13] As of April 1, 2020, the number of Filipinos in Japan is estimated at 325,000.[14]

More than 300,000 Vietnamese people are living in Japan by October 2018.