For the first time ever, Ibaraki Prefecture has released a unique study focusing specifically on the happiness of foreign residents living in Japan. While Ibaraki has been monitoring overall resident wellbeing since 2019, this latest research turns the spotlight on the international community—an often overlooked yet vital part of modern Japan.
The new Foreign Resident Happiness Index ranks prefectures based on how well they support foreigners across three key areas: Work, Life, and Learning. These categories cover everything from financial stability and job opportunities to education access and everyday support services.
Here’s how each category is defined:
💼 Work
- Ability to save and send money abroad
- Percentage of foreign workers in the labor force
- Number of companies hiring foreigners
- Presence of foreign professionals in specialized fields
- Stability of foreign employment (low dropout rates)
🏠 Live
- Ratio of foreign to Japanese residents
- Availability of support centers for foreigners
- Local English proficiency among students
- Access to Japanese language classes for adults
- Number of clinics and hospitals that assist foreign patients
📘 Learn
- Ratio of foreign students in early education
- Support availability for students learning Japanese as a second language
- High schools with entry support for foreign students
- Opportunities for studying abroad
So, who topped the list?
To no one’s surprise, Tokyo took the lead with the highest overall score in all three categories. But Ibaraki stood out too, finishing 4th in the national rankings, proving itself to be a strong, foreigner-friendly region.
Top 10 Prefectures for Foreign Resident Happiness:
- Tokyo (4.03)
- Mie (1.87)
- Aichi (1.82)
- Ibaraki (1.79)
- Shizuoka (1.73)
- Tochigi (1.38)
- Hyogo (1.37)
- Kyoto (1.34)
- Osaka (1.31)
- Gifu (1.24)
Tokyo also claimed the top spot in each subcategory:
- Work: Tokyo > Aichi > Gunma
- Live: Tokyo > Fukui > Shizuoka
- Learn: Tokyo > Kyoto > Gifu
Ibaraki, meanwhile, showed impressive consistency—ranking 6th in Work and Live, and 5th in Learn.
What does this mean if you’re a foreigner in Japan?
While rankings offer a general picture, your personal experience will still depend on your situation. For example, if you’re not raising kids, the Learn category may not apply to you. And if you’re fluent in Japanese, you may not need as many support services.
It’s also worth noting that some of the rankings are based on ratios, which may look impressive on paper even if the actual number of available jobs or schools isn’t that high.
Still, it’s great to see Ibaraki—and Japan as a whole—acknowledging the importance of foreign resident wellbeing. The prefecture has said it will continue analyzing the data to improve conditions for international communities living there.
