Vietnamese for the first time surpassed people from the Republic of Korea (RoK) to become the second biggest foreign-born community in Japan, according to the largest data of the Immigration Services Agency of Japan (ISA).

A Japanese language class for Vietnamese labourers (Photo: VNA)

By the end of 2020, there were 2.89 million foreigners residing in Japan, down 46,000 from the previous year.

Chinese formed the biggest foreign-born community in the country, with 778,112 persons, followed by Vietnamese with 448,053 and Koreans with 426,908.

ISA said that the increasing number of Vietnamese students and trainees in recent years made Vietnamese the second largest foreign community in the country.

According to the agency, last year, 15,875 foreigners were required to leave Japan due to visa expiration and other reasons.

Source: VNA