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According to preliminary vital statistics released by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare on November 4, the number of Japanese births in Tokyo from January to June 2026 came to 41,745 — up 4.7% year-on-year, the highest growth rate and highest count of any prefecture in Japan. Nationwide, births also rose for the first time in 11 years to 320,458, but Tokyo’s increase stood out by a wide margin. On the 5ch forum, misreadings repeatedly cropped up over whether the figure includes foreigners, while posters traded views on whether the rise reflects the Koike administration’s child-rearing support policies or simply the gap in fiscal strength between Tokyo and its three surrounding prefectures.
The number of Japanese children born in Tokyo during the first half of 2026 (January–June) rose by 1,864 (4.7%) year-on-year to 41,745 — the highest growth rate and highest count of any prefecture in Japan, according to preliminary vital statistics released by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare on the 4th.
According to the statistics, the nationwide figure also turned positive for the first time in 11 years, rising by 1,379 (0.4%) to 320,458, but that’s a huge gap compared to Tokyo’s growth rate. In Tokyo, the upward trend has continued since the 2025 annual birth count turned positive for the first time in 10 years.
Full text at the source. Last updated: Thu, Nov 5, 11:30 AM
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Just redistributing someone else's money to someone else
Even Koike could handle that job
Well duh, deciding what to spend tax money on IS politics
That's just what politics is, isn't it?
Post 1 literally says "Japanese"
Well, nice try anyway (sarcastic "otsukare" — mock praise for effort)
It's "Japanese (foreigners included)," you know
Speaking of which, apparently parents in Saitama and Kanagawa dream of moving to Tokyo so they can raise kids on Koike's support
Tokyo and Kanagawa are the #1 and #2 most populous areas, so if people concentrate there the numbers add up naturally
Guess that's the Tama River divide — Tokyo and the three surrounding prefectures have way too big a gap in fiscal resources
It says right there "number of Japanese births"
Apparently 5.7% of marriages in Tokyo are Japanese-foreigner couples, versus a 3.8% national average
Since Tokyo also has a high number of marriages overall, that works out to around 4,500 such couples a year
International marriages have actually plunged compared to their peak though. Marriages between Japanese men and foreign women have dropped sharply. The reverse (Japanese women, foreign men) has increased, though
In any country, births temporarily spike when immigration rises
It says right there "number of Japanese births"
Japan follows bloodline-based citizenship, so foreigners wouldn't get counted in the birth stats, right?
Also, in Japan the birth rate for foreign women is about the same as or lower than for Japanese women. The idea that immigrants drive up births is probably an image shaped by developed European countries fighting low birthrates. South Korea, for instance, saw its birth rate keep falling even after taking in more immigrants, down to 0.7. Japan's been plunging too.
Though once Korea actually rolled out birthrate policies, its birth rate and birth count shot right back up
That's because rural areas are slacking on birthrate policies
Tokyo hides its own birth rate too — we don't need this kind of propaganda rag from the Tokyo media…
Tokyo's about to get overtaken by South Korea, which pushed its rate up to 0.95 after relocating its capital
All thanks to Tokyo's propaganda machine with its 0.96 rate
Even more than that, the elderly population is plummeting too
Young and old alike, everyone's headed for Tokyo
Background and Key Points of This Debate
These figures come from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s preliminary vital statistics, and they cover “the number of Japanese births” — that is, children registered with Japanese nationality — which by definition excludes newborns of foreign nationality. On the other hand, children born from international marriages who acquire Japanese nationality are included in this count, so both the thread’s claim that “foreigners aren’t counted at all” and the claim that “it’s mostly foreign children” oversimplify how the statistics actually work. Opinions split over what’s driving the increase, with some crediting the Koike administration’s child-rearing support policies (expanded benefits) and others calling it simply a statistical effect of young people concentrating in Tokyo, while some posts pointed to the gap in fiscal strength between Tokyo and the three surrounding prefectures. Even though the nationwide birth count rose for the first time in 11 years, it grew by only 0.4%, a far smaller increase than Tokyo’s.
*This article is compiled as an excerpt/summary from the 5ch (News Speed+) thread “[Tokyo] Jan–June Tokyo Births Hit 41,745 — Growth Rate Also Highest in Japan at 4.7%“.
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