The number of newly entering foreign nationals with a status of residence for employment in professional or technical fields in Japan accounted for 0.4% of the total number of newly entering foreign nationals in 2015.

The characteristic categories of foreign nationals entering Japan for the purpose of employment are as follows.

## (a) “Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services” and “Intra-company Transferee” (Data Section 4, Statistics (1) 2-1, 3-1)

The total number of foreign nationals newly entering Japan with a status of residence corresponding to foreign employees working in companies/organizations in Japan was 24,892 in 2015, consisting of two types of statuses of residence: 17,690 with the status of residence of “Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services”, and 7,202 with the status of residence of “Intra-company Transferee”. Foreign employees with the status of residence of “Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services” had increased by 3,420 (24.0%), and those with the status of residence of “Intra-company Transferee” had decreased by 7 (0.1%) from 2014, respectively.

According to the statistics by nationality/region, the largest number of newly entering foreign nationals with the status of residence of “Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services” came from China at 4,524 (25.6%), followed by Viet Nam at 2,212 (12.5%), R.O.Korea at 1,780 (10.1%), and India at 1,525 (8.6%). Those top four countries accounted for 56.8% of the total number of newly entering foreign nationals with the status of residence of “Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services”.

Further, with regard to newly entering foreign nationals with the status of residence of “Intra-company Transferee”, the statistics by nationality/region show that the largest number came from China at 2,404 (33.4%), followed by the Philippines at 714 (9.9%), India at 677 (9.4%), and R.O.Korea at 536 (7.4%).

## (b) “Entertainer” (Data Section 4, Statistics (1) 4-1)

The number of foreign nationals newly entering Japan with the status of residence of “Entertainer” in 2015 was 37,155, an increase of 1,902 (5.4%) when compared to 2014, which accounted for the highest percentage out of the statuses of residence for the purpose of employment in professional or technical fields.

According to the statistics by nationality/region, the largest number of foreign nationals newly entering with the status of residence of “Entertainer” in 2015 came from R.O.Korea at 6,251 (16.8%), followed by the U.S. at 5,791 (15.6%), the U.K. at 3,354 (9.0%), and the Philippines at 3,306 (8.9%).

## (c) “Skilled Labor” (Data Section 4, Statistics (1) 5-1)

The number of foreign nationals newly entering Japan with the status of residence of “Skilled Labor”, who may also be referred to as skilled craftsmen in unique foreign industrial fields, in 2015 was 6,421, an increase of 4,061 (272.1%) when compared to 2014.

According to the statistics by nationality/region, the largest number of newly entering foreign nationals with the status of residence of “Skilled Labor” in 2015 came from Nepal at 3,065 (47.7%), followed by India at 450 (7.0%), Estonia at 399 (6.2%), and Poland at 375 (5.8%), and these top four countries accounted for 66.8% of the total number of newly entering foreign nationals with the status of residence of “Skilled Labor”.