Living in Yokohama

As of the end of September 2026, 145,655 foreign nationals live in Yokohama.

By nationality or region, the largest group is from China, at 50,589. Next come Vietnam with 15,538, Korea with 12,646, Nepal with 11,322 and the Philippines with 10,181. Residents from Taiwan number 3,492.

By ward, Naka-ku, home to Chinatown, has the most, at 19,912, followed by Tsurumi-ku with 19,688 and Minami-ku with 15,431. In Naka-ku, residents from China alone number more than ten thousand.

On the morning commuter train, at the greengrocer on the shopping street, in the children’s classrooms. For a long time now, everyday life in this city has been made of many languages.

Not sure what to ask, or where? Come here first. The center takes questions about daily life free of charge, and in confidence. It can also put you through to the ward office and other offices by phone, with an interpreter on the line.

Kanagawa Prefecture’s consultation service, about a five-minute walk from the West Exit of Yokohama Station. Each language is offered on set days of the week.

There are 13 international lounges across the city. Information and advice on daily life, Japanese classes, introductions to volunteer interpreters, gatherings where people meet. Another door, close to home. Languages and hours differ from lounge to lounge.

Yokohama has many Japanese classes run by volunteers. You can search by the ward you live in, the station you use, or the times you are free. There are classes for children, and classes with childcare.

When you start living in Yokohama, register at the ward office of the ward where you live, within 14 days. If you have come from abroad, bring your residence card and passport. If you have come from another city or town in Japan, you will need documents such as the moving-out certificate issued by your previous municipality. If you move within Yokohama, go to the ward office of your new ward, also within 14 days.

From insurance and pensions to taxes, raising children and how to put out the garbage. The City of Yokohama publishes a living guide in English, Chinese (Simplified), Korean and Easy Japanese. The national government’s “Guidebook on Living and Working” is available in 20 languages, including Vietnamese.

The City of Yokohama publishes a list of medical institutions that accept foreign patients. If you suddenly fall ill at night, or on a Sunday or national holiday, there is the Night-time Emergency Center (夜間急病センター, open daily 20:00–24:00), and there are holiday emergency clinics (休日急患診療所). Please note, however, that the Night-time Emergency Center has no phone line for calls in foreign languages.

Some hospitals can arrange a Kanagawa Prefecture medical interpreter. Because the interpreter is requested by the hospital, please ask at the hospital reception when you visit. There are also multilingual medical questionnaires to help you describe your symptoms.

Yokohama, a city of harbor and hills, also suffered great damage in the Great Kanto Earthquake. No one knows when an earthquake or typhoon will come.

Kanagawa Prefecture’s disaster information is available in 14 languages, including Chinese (Traditional and Simplified), Korean, Vietnamese and English. When a major disaster occurs and the city sets up a disaster response headquarters, or in similar situations, the Yokohama Association for International Communications and Exchanges (YOKE) opens a Multilingual Disaster Support Center (災害時多言語支援センター), offering consultations and information in many languages and sending interpreters to evacuation shelters. Weather and earthquake information from the Japan Meteorological Agency is also available in multiple languages.

Once life has settled a little, take a walk through the city. Yamashita-cho, once the foreign settlement; Yamate, up on the hill; Noge by night. Every neighborhood holds the years layered there by those who came from elsewhere and those who were born here.