Japan Hikes Residency Fee 20-Fold

Is this a common-sense plan, contradictory policy or one that doesn't go far enough?

Published OCT 2

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Above: Tourists and shoppers walk through Tokyo's Tsukiji shopping area on Feb. 5. Image credit: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images

The Spin

Pro-government narrative

Permanent residency is the most powerful legal status a country can grant, so demanding real financial independence, language ability and basic knowledge of the rules is common sense. Loose standards invited abuse, with business and transfer visas used as back doors rather than for actual work. Tightening the bar protects both citizens and the honest foreign residents who followed the rules all along.

Sanae Takaichi on X

Left narrative

A shrinking country that desperately needs workers is slamming the door on the very people keeping its economy running. Asking long-term residents to out-earn the average citizen, stockpile decades of pension money and pay a fee 20 times higher is a punishment for loyalty. Talented people who built their lives in Japan are already eyeing the exits, and that loss will be permanent.

Jim Laurie on X Al Jazeera

Right narrative

Takaichi's plan doesn't go far enough. Japan should stop using foreign workers altogether to solve its demographic decline when family reunification and paths to permanent settlement keep the tap open with no firm cap. Immigration is fueling anxiety about public safety and social cohesion, so Japan must reduce inflows and, where it admits foreign workers, make employers bear the costs.

T．M on X

Marty Taka (髙安カミユ) on X

Yuki (YUKI39679691) on X BBC News