Just over half of people born in Japan who lived in Britain in 2001 had their homes in London. In all, there were about 37,000 Japan-born people in Britain with a wide spread of clusters across the capital.

The largest cluster is right in the middle of central London � some 2,800 people in all. A band across the northern fringes of London � from Barnet to Golders Green � is home to a further 2,300.

While there has been a general increase in the numbers of Japan-born people, some areas have seen significant declines almost certainly relating to fluctuations in the Japanese industrial presence in the UK; Peterlee in County Durham and Ewell in Surrey have both seen declines in Japan-born residents.