Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s X Account Sees Unprecedented Surge in Mentions of Foreign Residents

Public reactions and comments opposing foreign residents and immigration policies have increased dramatically over the past year on the official X account (formerly Twitter) of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. According to a comprehensive survey conducted by Japanese news agency Jiji Press in collaboration with the social media monitoring platform Brandwatch, 7.5 percent of more than 1.5 million comments posted in response to her posts since she took office have directly focused on foreign residents and immigrants. Analysts say this trend reflects growing unease, concern and sensitivity among Japan’s local population over the steadily increasing number of foreign residents living in the country.

Remarkably, users have repeatedly brought up immigration even under posts that had little or nothing to do with foreign nationals or border management. According to the data, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi published a total of 868 posts over the past year, of which only 16, or 1.8 percent, addressed foreign nationals or related policies. Nevertheless, more than 112,000 of the over 1.502 million replies she received mentioned immigrants. The volume of such comments surged when the prime minister posted an explanation of the government’s policy in late September regarding stricter requirements for permanent residency in Japan. Following that post, the number of immigration-related comments rose from 216 to approximately 5,000 in a single day.

The strongest demonstration of online anxiety over foreign residents occurred on October 18, when the prime minister shared a domestic administrative initiative aimed at protecting young schoolchildren and preventing street crime. Although the post had no connection to foreign nationals, more than 6,500 replies — over half of all comments — were directed against immigrants. A large number of users claimed that Japan’s relatively lenient immigration policy was increasingly threatening the safety of Japanese children and urged the government to immediately halt the arrival of foreign nationals. Other comments expressed concern that foreign residents were placing an additional burden on Japan’s social security and pension systems. Several users also repeated unverified claims that foreign nationals involved in criminal offences frequently escape punishment.

An analysis of online sentiment revealed another concerning trend: negative comments among the responses received by the prime minister were three times as numerous as positive ones. Although positive and negative opinions were initially balanced during the early months, negative sentiment has gained a clear advantage in recent months.

This trend has emerged as Japan’s registered foreign-resident population surpassed 4.281 million by the end of June this year, reaching the highest level in the country’s history. Faced with a rapidly ageing population and a severe labour shortage, the Japanese government is increasingly compelled to rely on foreign workers. At the same time, the growing wave of online debate and criticism appears to be creating a major political and social challenge for the integration of immigrants into Japanese society and the development of future immigration policies.