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 2016.

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) 3–1, 4–1)

The total number of foreign nationals newly entering Japan with a status of residence to work in a company/organization in Japan as an employee was 28,592 in 2016, consisting of two types of statuses of residence: 20,940 with the status of residence of “Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services”, and 7,652 with the status of residence of “Intra-company Transferee”. Foreign employees with the status of residence of “Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services” increased by 3,250 (18.4%), and those with the status of residence of “Intra-company Transferee” increased by 450 (6.2%) from 2015, 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 5,016 (24.0%), followed by Viet Nam at 2,839 (13.6%), R.O.Korea at 2,487 (11.9%), and India at 1,696 (8.1%). These top four countries accounted for 57.5% of the total.

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 2,448 (32.0%), followed by the Philippines at 899 (11.7%), R.O. Korea at 631 (8.2%) and India at 579 (7.6%).

## (b) “Entertainer” (Data Section 4, Statistics (1) 5–1)

The number of foreign nationals newly entering Japan with the status of residence of “Entertainer” in 2016 was 39,057, an increase of 1,902 (5.1%) when compared to 2015, 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 2016 came from R.O.Korea at 7,221 (18.5%), followed by the U.S. at 6,155 (15.8%), the Philippines at 3,961 (10.1%), and the U.K. at 2,998 (7.7%).

## (c) “Skilled Labor” (Data Section 4, Statistics (1) 6–1)

The number of foreign nationals newly entering Japan with the status of residence of “Skilled Labor”, who may also be referred to as skilled craftspersons in unique foreign industrial fields, in 2016 was 6,404, a decrease of 17 (0.3%) when compared to 2015.

According to the statistics by nationality/region, the largest number of newly entering foreign nationals with the status of residence of “Skilled Labor” in 2016 came from Nepal at 2,806 (43.8%), followed by India at 573 (8.9%), China at 491 (7.7%), and Estonia at 293 (4.6%). These top four countries accounted for 65.0% of the total number of newly entering foreign nationals with the status of residence of “Skilled Labor”.