[MMM]

Originally Posted by Nyororin

That isn`t quite right as it`s only the number of visas issued during that year.
More accurate data would be here;
http://www.moj.go.jp/PRESS/080601-1.pdf
Unfortunately I can`t find the same document in html, but here is the same thing from 2006; http://www.moj.go.jp/PRESS/060530-1/060530-1.html

It has a nice breakdown of the number of foreigners and their countries of origin.

But still far from the "over-crowding" the OP describes in the first post.