Pakistanis in Japan

Pakistanis in Japan (在日パキスタン人, Zainichi Pakisutanjin) form the country's third-largest community of immigrants from a Muslim-majority country, trailing only the Indonesian community and Bangladeshi community. As of December 2024, official statistics showed 29,647 registered foreigners of Pakistani origin living in the country. There were a further estimated 3,414 illegal immigrants from Pakistan in Japan as of 2000. The average increase in the Pakistan population is about 2-3 persons per day.

Pakistanis in Japan
Total population
29,647 (in December, 2024)
Languages
Japanese, English, various languages of Pakistan
Religion
Islam
Related ethnic groups
Pakistani diaspora

Migration history

As early as 1950, only three years after the independence of Pakistan in 1947 which created the Pakistani state, there were recorded to be four Pakistanis living in Japan. However, Pakistani migration to Japan would not grow to a large scale until the 1980s. The later Pakistani migrants in Japan largely come from a muhajir background; their family history of migration made them consider working overseas as a "natural choice" when they found opportunities at home to be too limited. While Pakistanis saw North America as a good destination to settle down and start a business, Japanese employment agencies commonly advertised in Karachi newspapers in the 1980s, when Japan offered some of the highest wages in the world for unskilled labour; it came to be preferred as a destination by single male migrants, who came without their families. The wages they earned could reach as high as twenty times what they made in Pakistan.

Illegal immigration

Pakistani citizens once enjoyed the privilege of short-term visa-free entry to Japan, but when controversy arose in Japanese society over illegal foreign workers, the Japanese government revoked this privilege. With little chance of acquiring a work visa or even permission to enter the country, Pakistanis paid as much as ¥300,000 to people smugglers in the late 1980s and early 1990s to enter the country. According to Japanese government statistics, the number of Pakistanis illegally residing in Japan peaked in 1992 at 8,056 individuals and declined after that. However, Pakistani sources suggest that as late as 1999, the total population of Pakistanis was 25,000 and still included a significant amount of illegal immigrants. Some Pakistanis were able to obtain legal resident status by finding Japanese spouses.

In recent years, Pakistan witnessed a shift in irregular migration trends, with Japan emerging as a new destination driven by economic hardship and increasingly creative smuggling tactics. A notable example involved Pakistani migrants posing as football players—first in January 2024, when 17 individuals disappeared after entering Japan, and again in June 2025, when 22 were deported from Osaka after failing to prove their team affiliation. Pakistani authorities later arrested the alleged mastermind behind the operation, which relied on forged documents from the Pakistan Football Federation and payments of around $15,000 per migrant. “Japan emerged as a new destination for illegal migration from Pakistan due to its demand for human resources,” said Tahir Naeem Malik, a professor at the National University of Modern Languages in Islamabad. Analysts noted that the case reflected a growing sophistication in human smuggling methods in response to stricter enforcement.

Demographics

According to 2008 Japanese government figures, 19.9% of registered Pakistanis lived in Saitama, 17.8% in Tokyo, 12.3% in Kanagawa, 10.4% in Aichi, 8.98% in Chiba, 7.59% in Gunma, 6.02% in Ibaraki, 4.44% in Tochigi, 4.21% in Toyama, 3.27% in Shizuoka and the remaining 4.98% in other prefectures of Japan. Only an estimated 200 Pakistanis hold Japanese citizenship.

Business and employment

Many Pakistanis in Japan run used car export businesses. This trend was believed to have begun in the late 1970s, when one Pakistani working in Japan sent a car back to his homeland. The potential for doing business in used cars also attracted more Pakistanis to come to Japan in the 1990s.

Though many migrants come from a middle-class family background in Pakistan, because they often work at so-called Dirty, Dangerous and Demeaning (3D/3K) jobs and because of their portrayal in the Japanese media, even their co-workers tended to misperceive their background and level of education.

Religion

The number of Muslims in Japan grew rapidly in the mid-1980 during the bubble economy. At that time young men from Muslim countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Iran came to Japan and worked in small businesses or factories which experienced labor shortages. But when the controversy over illegal foreign workers began, the Japanese government halted entry on short-term visits without a visa for citizens of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Iran. Following the collapse of the Japanese asset price bubble in 1990, a number of Muslims acquired resident status and some obtained legal residence in Japan by marrying Japanese women. Muslim families live and work with Japanese and send their children to Japanese schools.

Media

Japan has some Urdu language media aimed at Pakistanis, such as the freely distributed Pak Shimbun, as well as other Japanese-language publications targeted towards Muslims at large.

Notable people

Hussain Shah, professional boxer, represented Pakistan in 1988 Seoul Olympics & won a bronze medal, moved to Japan to become a boxing coach afterwards.
Shah Hussain Shah, son of Hussain Shah, judoka, represented Pakistan at Rio Olympics in 2016