Filipinos in Gunma Prefecture have a registered population of 8,419 individuals as of 2022, the 10th largest group of Filipinos in Japan by prefecture, ahead of Hiroshima and behind Osaka.[1]
Major cities
The majority of Gunma Prefecture’s population of Filipinos are concentrated in the cities of Isesaki and Ōta, at its border with Saitama Prefecture.
Isesaki has 1,855 Filipino residents, while Ōta has 1,650. Other cities with a sizable population of Filipinos are Maebashi (1,071), Takasaki (937) and Kiryū (423).[1:1]
Cities of Gunma Prefecture with sizable Filipino population.[1:2][2] Darker color indicates higher population.
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Gunma Prefecture
Gunma Prefecture (群馬県, Gunma-ken) is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. It has a population of 1,937,626 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,362 km2. Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fukushima Prefecture to the north, Nagano Prefecture to the southwest, Saitama Prefecture to the south, and Tochigi Prefecture to the east.[3]
Maebashi is the capital and Takasaki is the largest city of Gunma Prefecture, with other major cities including Ōta, Isesaki, and Kiryū.[3:1]
Gunma Prefecture’s industries include transport equipment and electrical equipment. It produces over 90% of Japan’s konnyaku, and two-thirds of the farms in the village of Tsumagoi are cabbage farms. Also, the city of Ōta is famous for the car industry, notably the Subaru factory.[3:2]
Map of Japan with Gunma Prefecture in red.[4]
Population by city, town and village
Filipinos are found in all cities, towns and villages of Gunma Prefecture, except for the village of Nanmoku, reportedly the grayest village in Japan, with a median age of 68.5.
| City or town | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|
| All | 8419 | 7890 |
| Isesaki | 1855 | 1727 |
| Ōta | 1650 | 1578 |
| Maebashi | 1071 | 993 |
| Takasaki | 937 | 897 |
| Kiryū | 423 | 417 |
| Tamamura Town | 421 | 410 |
| Tatebayashi | 338 | 325 |
| Ōizumi Town | 312 | 278 |
| Shibukawa | 239 | 235 |
| Midori | 197 | 179 |
| Annaka | 142 | 121 |
| Fujioka | 109 | 97 |
| Tomioka | 108 | 85 |
| Numata | 84 | 76 |
| Nakanojō Town | 62 | 59 |
| Ōra Town | 59 | 55 |
| Chiyoda Town | 57 | 32 |
| Higashiagatsuma Town | 56 | 56 |
| Shōwa Village | 51 | 38 |
| Itakura Town | 34 | 37 |
| Yoshioka Town | 31 | 33 |
| Meiwa Town | 31 | 31 |
| Minakami Town | 28 | 26 |
| Kusatsu Town | 27 | 24 |
| Naganohara Town | 24 | 22 |
| Kanra Town | 21 | 17 |
| Shintō Village | 18 | 16 |
| Tsumagoi Village | 14 | 8 |
| Shimonita Town | 7 | 7 |
| Katashina Village | 5 | 4 |
| Kanna Town | 4 | 2 |
| Ueno Village | 2 | 2 |
| Takayama Village | 1 | 2 |
| Kawaba Village | 1 | 1 |
| Nanmoku Village | 0 | 0 |
Historical population
The size and growth of Gunma Prefecture’s Filipino population is similar to its neighbor Tochigi Prefecture, the two prefectures being part of the same Kanto Area, and almost equidistant from Tokyo.
Population of Filipinos in Gunma Prefecture and Tokyo from 1984 up to present.[5][6]
People, news and events
A Filipino man, 24, is arrested in Kiryū City for driving without a license.[7] (March 2024)
Filipino-Japanese Aiko (19), who works in an auto parts factory in Gunma Prefecture, hopes to acquire Japanese citizenship before she turns 20. She was also able to trace the whereabouts of her father whom she last saw when she was 10 years old in the Philippines and meet him in person.[8] (January 2024)
References
第３表 市区町村別 国籍・地域別 在留外国人 (Table 3: Foreign Residents by City, Ward, Town, Village and by Nationality/Region. 3 December 2022) (XLSX). e-Stat政府統計の総合窓口. Immigration Services Agency of Japan (7 July 2023). Retrieved 13 December 2023. ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Cities of Gunma Prefecture with sizable Filipino population. © reon (Timog.net) CC-BY-SA-3.0. Original graphic © lincun (Wikipedia Commons) CC-BY-SA-3.0. Data used: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan. ↩︎
Gunma Prefecture. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia. Retrieved 18 December 2023. ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Map of Japan with Gunma Prefecture in red. © lincun (Wikipedia Commons) CC-BY-SA-3.0. Data used: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan. ↩︎
都道府県別 国籍（出身地）別 外国人登録者 (Registered Foreigners by Prefecture and Nationality (Place of Birth) 1984 to 2023) e-Stat政府統計の総合窓口. Immigration Services Agency of Japan. Retrieved 18 December 2023. No available data for the years 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991 and 1993. ↩︎
Population of Filipinos in Gunma and Gunma. © reon (Timog.net) CC-BY-SA-3.0. ↩︎
無免許運転の疑いでフィリピン国籍の男逮捕 群馬県警桐生署 (Philippine national arrested on suspicion of driving without a license; Gunma Prefectural Police Kiryu Police Station). Jomo Shimbun. 3 March 2024. Retrieved 22 March 2024. ↩︎
Japanese-Filipino children seek their fathers’ recognition. Del Mundo Celerina, Sakai Noriyuki. NHK News. 15 December 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2024. ↩︎
