A 2026 survey by the University of Tokyo Institute of Social Science Panel Survey, led by Professor Shin Arita, found that the proportion of people opposed to further immigration rose from 35.6% to 56.3% over the past two years. An analysis of the factors behind this shift also found that opposition had increased particularly sharply among younger people in their 30s and under, and those who held negative perceptions of Japanese society.
The Institute of Social Science has conducted its annual nationwide survey, known as the Japanese Life Course Panel Surveys, since 2007. The survey aims to clarify the reasons behind changes in people’s work, lifestyles, and attitudes toward social issues, against the backdrop of trends such as declining marriage, birth rates, and changes in labor market conditions since the 2000s.
As part of the survey, respondents are asked approximately every two years to rate their agreement with the statement, “The number of foreign nationals who come to Japan intending to settle here should increase,” on a five-point scale ranging from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree.” The proportion of respondents opposed to further immigration had previously remained between 30% and 40%. The increase of more than 20 percentage points in this year’s results is unusual, highlighting the scale of the shift in public attitudes over the past two years.
The panel survey initially drew a random sample of men and women aged 20 to 40 living in Japan in 2007. Since then, the project has continued to track respondents annually, adding people in the same age range and replenishing the sample with people in their 20s as the original participants reached their 30s and beyond.
By following the same respondents over time, the survey can directly track differences in attitudes among people with different characteristics throughout the survey period. The results revealed that opposition to further immigration had increased particularly sharply among younger respondents in their 30s and under (Figure 1). The survey also found that people who disagreed with statements such as “There is hope for Japanese society,” “We are better off than our parents’ generation,” and “Children today will be better off than our generation” were more likely to shift toward opposing further immigration (Figure 2).
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Since the 2000s, it has been widely debated whether anxiety about Japan’s future may stem from a negative perception of foreign nationals, but evidence supporting it has remained insufficient. The significance of this survey lies in its suggestion that, in recent years, anxiety and dissatisfaction with society have become linked to people’s views on immigration, contributing to stronger opposition.
Future research will examine the sources of social anxiety and dissatisfaction, and how they become linked to attitudes toward immigration, in order to further investigate why opposition to accepting more foreign nationals is growing.
AI was used to assist with the translation of this article. The translation was reviewed and edited by our editors before publication.
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UTokyo Survey Finds Opposition to Increased Immigration Has Surged in the Past Two Years 2026
IUSTITIA.BG – Investigations 2009-2026 2026-10-26 20:34:17
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