KUALA LUMPUR - Immigration and policies toward foreign residents emerged as a central issue in the Kawaguchi mayoral election held on February 1.

Kawaguchi, located in Saitama Prefecture, is home to a large foreign population, and exclusionary rhetoric targeting foreign residents featured prominently during the campaign.

It has a population of around 600,000 people, of whom more than 50,000 people, nearly 9%, are foreign nationals.

A record six newcomers ran in the election. Yuriko Okamura, a 44 year old independent candidate and former member of the Saitama Prefectural Assembly, won her first term as mayor.

Voter turnout reached 40.98%, an increase of 19.31 % points from the previous election in 2022, which recorded the lowest turnout on record.

According to Kyodo, how the city should respond to its growing foreign population became a key point of contention during the race.

Some candidates focused on easing residents’ concerns by proposing clearer guidance on daily living rules and expanding consultation services for foreign residents.

Others, however, openly advocated exclusionary policies, including calls to end welfare benefits for foreign residents and to bar non Japanese nationals from being hired as city employees.

Although two candidates who campaigned on slogans such as making the city less livable for foreigners were defeated, together they secured nearly 20% of the total votes cast.

Chinese residents make up the largest group, followed by Vietnamese and Filipino communities. The city is also home to a sizable Kurdish community.

According to TBS reporting, social media platforms have, for several years, seen claims linking the increase in foreign residents in Kawaguchi to a deterioration in public safety. 

When a stabbing incident involving Kurdish individuals occurred three years ago, posts calling for Kurds to leave the city also spread online.

A city survey conducted last year found that 54.1% of respondents cited ‘poor public safety’ as one of the city’s negative aspects, the highest figure on record.

However, data from the Saitama Prefectural Police shows no such correlation.

While the number of foreign residents in Kawaguchi increased by more than 4,300 people over the past five years, the number of criminal cases involving foreign nationals declined from 233 to 152 during the same period.

As Kawaguchi continues to grapple with the realities of a diversifying population, how political leaders address residents’ anxieties without fueling exclusionary narratives is likely to remain a key challenge.