The number of registered foreign residents of Japan hit a record high 1.55 million -- or 1.23 percent of the population -- at the end of 1999, the Justice Ministry said Tuesday.
A survey by the ministry's Immigration Bureau also revealed that about 3,000 foreign students in Japan obtained jobs at companies here in 1999 -- another record high.
According to the bureau, the number of foreigners who had been in Japan for more than 90 days reached 1,556,113, up 43,997, or 2.9 percent, from 1998. The figure showed an increase of 200,000 over the total for 1994 and was 500,000 higher than 10 years ago.