Japan, with a twist: the provincial town that hosts people from 49 countries

The main street is an eclectic mix of supermarkets selling food and drink from Brazil, Peru and Colombia, kebab shops, Nepalese and Indian restaurants, halal butchers and south-east Asian karaoke bars. The sense that this is no ordinary Japanese town is supported by demographic data – of Ōizumi’s 42,000 residents, more than 8,000 are foreign nationals from 49 countries, making it one of the bigges