Chinese students near Ikebukuro Station in Tokyo: A growing number of Chinese nationals are seeking long-term settlement in Japan by using education as a pathway to residency.

Chinese students flock to Japanese art colleges for permanent residency

Education becomes pathway to long-term settlement

KUNIHIRO IWASAKI, NAOKI ASANUMA, TORU TSUNASHIMA, SAE KAMAE and YU NAKAMURA

March 9, 2025 13:00 JST

TOKYO -- Li Yalin, a 28-year-old second-year master's student at the private Kyoto University of the Arts, moved to Japan in 2019 after earning a degree from a university in China. She was studying Japanese at a language school in Tokyo when the COVID-19 pandemic erupted.

Compelled to return to China, she was frustrated, but also determined to come back to Japan after the pandemic. She successfully passed the entrance exam for Kyoto University of the Arts online and now resides in Kyoto. She specializes in character design for video games and other products.