Society
Foreign 'Free Ride' Fears Flare Over Japan's Healthcare, Kurdish Residency and Minpaku
A University of Tokyo Hospital doctor's essay questioning foreign patients who fly in for a ¥167 million infusion and leave once treatment ends set off a wave of anger about 'free rides' on Japan's public systems. A rally by Kurdish students inside the Diet building and a policy shift allowing de facto bans on minpaku vacation rentals landed the same day, and netizens bundled all three into one narrative of sloppy immigration policy.