Social media users are sharing posts about India sending its citizens to Japan, shortly after the two Asian nations signed an agreement to exchange manpower, among other things.
The claim: The viral posts about this exchange claim, "Japan and India signed a contract to allow 50 millions Hindus to settle in Japan (SIC)."
(Archived versions of more posts sharing this claim can be seen here, here, and here.)
Is it true?: No, the claim is false.
India and Japan have agreed to exchange five lakh people between the two countries over the course of five years, including 50,000 skilled workers.
The agreement does not mention sending or exchanging people of a certain religion, nor does it mention Indians 'settling' in Japan.
How did we find out the truth?: A keyword search for 'India Japan exchange people' led us to news reports about the same.
One such report by Hindustan Times mentioned that Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh told the Rajya Sabha that the action plan for human resource cooperation between India and Japan would see the exchange of five lakh people between both countries.
He made no mention about religion or Indians settling in Japan.
We also came across details of the Action Plan, as shared on the Ministry of External Affairs' website on 29 August 2025.
The bilateral agreement repeatedly stated that there would be a "Two-way exchange of 500,000 personnel in 5 Years, including 50,000 skilled personnel and potential talents from India to Japan (sic)."
It gave more details about the targeted groups and outcomes of this agreement, including the exchange of highly skilled personnel, students, researchers, and programmes for skill development.
The agreement does not specify the religion of people from any of these categories, and repeatedly mentions that number of people to be five lakh personnel.
There is also no mention of long-term stay or settling, as claimed.
Conclusion: A viral claim on social media falsely states that Japan has allowed 50 million Hindus to settle in their country.
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