Studies based on repeated surveys show that while belief in major international conspiracies—such as anti-vaccine narratives and climate change denial—has declinedsince before Covid, some domestically rooted anti-foreigner conspiracy theories persist in Japan, especially those targeting foreign tourists, residents and investors.
Recently, as the government has taken a tougher stance on visa overstays, unpaid national health and pension premiums, and residency procedures, and officials have frequently spoken out about illegal activities by foreigners—alongside ongoing diplomatic tensions with China after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remark on Taiwan—online anti-immigrant rhetoric is on the rise.
An Asahi Shimbun telephone survey published in November found that 66% of respondents viewed Takaichi’s tougher immigration policies as promising, and 56% said Japan needs fewer visitors and immigrants. Similarly, A Yomiuri mail survey published in December found 59% of respondents was opposed to accepting foreign workers.
Sixty-eight percent of respondents said an increase in foreign residents worsens public security, and 63% said that troubles occur due to differences in language, culture and customs. Meanwhile, anti-immigrant gatherings and anti-xenophobia protests have appeared in Tokyo and Osaka.
Furthermore, media has reported that some anti-foreigner content on social media has been produced by paid creators and may be fictitious, created by artificial intelligence (AI).
A job posting seeking creators for videos labeled as “China-critical” or “anti-China” was recently found on CrowdWorks, a major online job-matching platform based in Tokyo allowing companies and individuals to outsource tasks to registered users.
Soon after it steered discussion online, on December 3, the company took down the listing and made it private. CrowdWorks said it determined the request likely violated its guidelines, which prohibit assignments that risk “misrepresenting facts or manipulating impressions” or that could lead to “discrimination or defamation.”
According to Asahi Shimbun, one client placed at least 14 postings between last and this November seeking production of videos labeled “China-critical,” “anti-China,” or “Japan-praising.”
The application requirements, other than being able to work online and communicate well, included that applicants “love Japan and dislike China.” According to the records, 31 people had been contracted across the 14 postings, and payments ranged from 1,500 to 5,000 yen per script and 2,000 to 7,000 yen per edit.
The jobs involved writing scripts for YouTube videos and editing using AI-generated images, including those on “overseas reactions to Japanese technology,” “the excellence of Japanese culture and language” and “Chinese people’s nuisance or rule-breaking behavior, followed by self-inflicted consequences or divine punishment.”
Some netizens also reported seeing job postings targeting “conservative-minded” candidates to create “conservative-style” posts supporting the revision of Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, which renounces war as a sovereign right and the use of force to settle international disputes.
Many conspiratorial narratives circulating on social media and in some of the content probably made by paid creators about foreigners and immigrants are economically rather than politically centered, including allegations that many of them speculate in Japanese real estate, fail to pay medical bills and neglect their national health insurance premiums.
This raises an important question: are these claims supported by evidence?
Regarding claims that condominium prices in Tokyo are soaring because of Chinese mainlanders’ speculation, a Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) survey found that purchases in the 23 wards by people living overseas doubled in the first half of 2025, but the breakdown shows a different picture: 192 buyers from Taiwan, 30 from mainland China, 21 from Singapore and and 15 from Hong Kong.
The survey also found that 9.3% of new condos in Tokyo’s 23 wards and 12.2% in its central six wards were resold within a year of purchase. However, only about 1% of these short-term resales involved overseas residents. Therefore, rapid turnover is largely driven by domestic buyers rather than foreigners.
Regarding claims that many foreigners have unpaid medical bills, a Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare survey in September 2024 found that 470 of 2,890 hospitals that accepted foreign patients reported unpaid bills from foreigners.
However, of the 88.1 billion yen in total unpaid bills across all hospitals in fiscal 2023, only 1.5%—about 1.3 billion yen—was owed by foreign patients. The remaining 98.5% was owed by Japanese.
Regarding claims that foreigners have frequently failed to pay into the national health insurance system, foreigners accounted for 4% of all enrollees of national health insurance in about 150 municipalities. Yet the medical costs paid out for foreign enrollees amounted to 124 billion yen—just 1.4% of the 8.9 trillion yen total.
“Foreigners tend to use medical services less, and their insurance premiums help support the system for Japanese patients as well,” a commentator said on an Asahi TV show.
It is crucial for the government to continue to conduct and publish regular surveys across different issues, and for officials to base statements on evidence and interpret data with greater rigor. It is also important for officials and commentators to distinguish between discussions about long-term residents, foreign tourists and foreign investors.
Highlighting alleged misconduct or isolated incidents involving “foreigners” risks being overly general and can amplify xenophobic and conspiratorial narratives online. The public should also be cautious about social media posts and videos that lack verifiable evidence.
Meanwhile, the identities of the groups behind the CrowdWorks job postings seeking to produce anti-foreigner content have yet to be clarified.
Peter Chai (Kai Shibata) is a doctoral researcher at the Graduate School of Political Science, Waseda University. His research areas are political sociology, comparative politics and public opinion. His articles have been published by Nikkei Asia, East Asia Forum and The Diplomat.
