More than 98 percent of the illegal Chinese immigrants from Fujian Province, which accounted for most of the Chinese who tried to enter Japan by sea last year, used ports other than those in the province, the National Police Agency said.
The NPA said it believes tighter patrols at Fujian's harbors by Chinese authorities forced would-be immigrants from the province to seek ports with less security, including Shanghai, Dalian and Tianjin.
Last year, 349 people, or 83 percent of the total number of illegal migrants discovered by Japanese police and the coast guard, were from China, the NPA said.
Police determined 333 of the 349 had boarded boats, and 319 of them were originally from Fujian Province, the agency said, adding that only four of those found to have departed from ports in Fujian were from the province.
All 121 of those who left from Shanghai, 93 out of 97 who left from Zhejiang Province, north of Fujian, 65 out of 66 who left from Dalian in northeastern China, 21 out of 22 who left from Tianjin, also in the northeast, and 15 out of 23 who embarked from Shandong Province, just south of Tianjin, were from Fujian Province, the agency said.
The number of Chinese migrants found by police and the Japan Coast Guard reached a peak in 1997 at 1,209, most of whom were from Fujian Province.
The NPA asked Chinese authorities to step up patrols along the Fujian coastline and as a result, the figure dropped to only 80 in 2000 but last year the figure increased more than four times.