Japanese residents stay, while foreigners exit central Tokyo

The population of the Tokyo metropolitan area as of November 1 had dropped by 7,358 from the previous month to 13,847,040 residents. This is the first time since 1993 that the month of November had seen a month-on-month decrease. Recent news articles have been pointing the finger at the work-from-home trend and an exodus to surrounding prefectures as the main cause of the decline, and while that may be the cause for some of the numbers, the same articles gloss over the startling outflow of foreign residents.

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