Japanese school enrollment across China has seen a sharp decline this year, with a 10.5 percent drop in registered students compared to 2024, according to data from Japanese consulates in China. The decrease reflects growing safety concerns among Japanese families following a series of attacks on Japanese schoolchildren in cities such as Suzhou and Shenzhen in 2024.
The total number of Japanese students enrolled in schools across China has fallen to 3,226 this year. The most dramatic decline occurred in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, where enrollment plummeted from 61 to 41 students – a drop of over 30 percent.
The attacks in Suzhou and Shenzhen triggered widespread fear within the Japanese community in China, significantly influencing families’ decisions about whether to remain in the country or enroll their children in local Japanese schools.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, approximately 4,000 Japanese children attended schools in China. This number fell to 2,888 in 2020 but had gradually recovered to 3,608 by 2024 before this latest downturn.
Japanese Ambassador to China Kenji Kanasugi has actively addressed these safety concerns. He recently met with Fujian Province Party Secretary Zhou Zuyi in Fuzhou to discuss measures to protect Japanese nationals in China.
In a speech at Renmin University in Beijing, Ambassador Kanasugi acknowledged that one of the most challenging aspects of current Japan-China relations is the deep-seated emotional tension between the two peoples. He noted that negative perceptions exist on both sides and that such sentiments cannot be easily changed overnight.
Meanwhile, the broader Japanese population in China has also declined significantly, dropping to fewer than 100,000 people as of October last year – a decrease of more than 50,000 from its 2012 peak, according to Japan’s Foreign Ministry statistics.
Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), June 17, 2025
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202506170086.aspx