One of every 30 Japanese babies has foreign parent

[Niyusu]

One of every 30 babies born in Japan in 2006 had at least one parent originating from overseas, according to a recent government survey.

Around 19,000 of the babies had non-Japanese fathers, 26,000 had non-Japanese mothers and 9,000 had parents who were both from abroad, according to the survey.

North and South Korean nationals formed the largest group among non-Japanese fathers, followed by Chinese and Brazilians. Among the non-Japanese mothers, Chinese were the largest group, followed by women from the Philippines and North and South Korea.

More children born with a foreign parent | Japan Times

[emiluvsjmusic]

Originally Posted by Tenchu

That is less than 1 kid in every class room. I seen similar things in Australia. It is not a lot, really.

actually it is...
Australia is one of the most multicultural countries
and Japan is one of the least

[Paul11]

Are many of these foreigners nikkeijin or sankeijin? There are many Japanese descendants in Brazil, and Japan welcomes people back to the country after they've left or if they're children of japanese folk. these things together make me wonder if many of the foreign parents with new babies are children of Japanese ancestry.

[Nyororin]

I too have to wonder the same thing. As long as one side doesn`t have Japanese citizenship, the child is listed as having a foreign parent. This will include the Chinese and Korean populations of Japan - most of which were born in Japan, have never been outside of Japan, and only speak Japanese. Then again, with how few babies are being born, it`s certainly not completely unthinkable.
Although I have a feeling that most of the babies were born to Asian + Japanese couples, and will look entirely Japanese. Those who aren`t, I`m guessing have a pretty high chance of moving out of Japan... As it seems like that`s the popular thing to do if the foreign side is from anywhere other than Asia. Even more so, obviously, if both parents are from outside Japan.

[Paul11]

Originally Posted by Nyororin

I too have to wonder the same thing. As long as one side doesn`t have Japanese citizenship, the child is listed as having a foreign parent. This will include the Chinese and Korean populations of Japan - most of which were born in Japan, have never been outside of Japan, and only speak Japanese. Then again, with how few babies are being born, it`s certainly not completely unthinkable.
Although I have a feeling that most of the babies were born to Asian + Japanese couples, and will look entirely Japanese. Those who aren`t, I`m guessing have a pretty high chance of moving out of Japan... As it seems like that`s the popular thing to do if the foreign side is from anywhere other than Asia. Even more so, obviously, if both parents are from outside Japan.

Yeah, I also wonder how many of these people are foreigners who've been stationed in Japan by thier companies. How about servicemen? Are thier children born in Japanese or military hospitals.

i'm not sure why this is a big deal, though. Japan doesn't have a law comparable to the U.S. where those children are automatically citizens. Maybe it's just an example of declining birth rates among Japanese?

[Payne222]

Originally Posted by emiluvsjmusic

actually it is...
Australia is one of the most multicultural countries
and Japan is one of the least

Australia?
I'd say we are here in the US...
Freakin' I go right I'm in Little Korea, left Warsaw,
forward Little Italy...I could go on.
XDD

[rina26]

Originally Posted by Payne222

Australia?
I'd say we are here in the US...
Freakin' I go right I'm in Little Korea, left Warsaw,
forward Little Italy...I could go on.
XDD

One of the most doesn't mean the most. US is one of the most also, doesn't mean emiluvsjmusic is incorrect.

[Payne222]

Originally Posted by rina26

One of the most doesn't mean the most. US is one of the most also, doesn't mean emiluvsjmusic is incorrect.

Yeah, but I would think, like, us...
and then all the EU countries.
'Cause they're all so close.

Arn't people from Australia ancestors
of British prisoners?

[kireikoori]

This is...quite a surprising statistic.
I never would have imagined it was so high.

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by Tenchu

Right... I think you generalize too much. Out of 37 countries there is only 1 that looks Japanese; Korea (2 if you count it as north and south) and one that has a population that looks quite similar; China.

Which two countries do you think have the largest numbers of immigrants in Japan? Surprise surprise. It`s those two countries.

Even if one parent is from another East Asian country (I should have used that term rather than general "Asia") - I would love to see you try to identify any of them. Japan is not homogeneous in appearance. There is a wide variety, and half Thai, Cambodian, Filipino, etc fit right in if they`ve been raised in Japan.