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Though it is said that Ethnic Japanese make up 98.5% of the total population and that the rest are Koreans 0.5%, Chinese 0.4%, other 0.6%, in fact these numbers are not known. The Ministry of Justice in Japan conflates nationality with ethnicity, and they have no official data on the actual ethnic breakdown of people in Japan.
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Overview
About 1.6% of Japan's total legal resident population are foreign citizens. Of these, according to 2012 data from the Japanese government, the principal groups are as follows.
The above statistics do not include the approximately 30,000 U.S. military stationed in Japan, nor do they account for illegal immigrants. The statistics also do not take into account minority groups who are Japanese citizens such as the Ainu (an aboriginal people primarily living in Hokkaido), the Ryukyuans (who may or may not be considered ethnically Yamato people), naturalized citizens from backgrounds including but not limited to Korean and Chinese, and citizen descendants of immigrants. The total legal resident population of 2012 is estimated at 127.6 million.
Filipinos
The Filipinos in Japan formed a population of 202,592 individuals at year-end 2007, making them Japan's third-largest foreign community along with Brazilians, according to the statistics of the Ministry of Justice. In 2006, Japanese/Filipino marriages were the most frequent of all international marriages in Japan. As of March 12, 2011, the Filipino population of Japan was 305,972.
Chinese
The Chinese people in Japan are the second largest ethnic minority in Japan. They comprise 0.4% of Japan's population. Chinese people are mostly concentrated in Osaka, Tokyo, and Yokohama areas.
Ainu
Ainu is an aboriginal ethnic Japanese tribe that make up a portion of the Japanese demography
Brazilians
There is a significant community of Brazilians in Japan, which is home to the second largest Brazilian community outside of Brazil. They also constitute the largest number of Portuguese speakers in Asia, greater than those of formerly Portuguese East Timor, Macao and Goa combined. Likewise, Brazil maintains its status as home to the largest Japanese community outside Japan.