Why This Topic Landed in Japan

Surging inbound tourism, a weak yen that makes Japan feel "cheap," wariness about immigration and public safety, and the long-running argument over foreign residents' political rights all converged at once. When "Japan-Korea" is involved, historical emotion is layered on top, so reactions tend toward strong rejection or polarization regardless of a proposal's actual feasibility.

Key Reaction Themes

  • Hard rejection of looser borders — Overwhelming opposition citing Schengen's perceived security fallout: "absolutely not."
  • Economic realism — A cool self-analysis that "Japanese people have no money, so businesses cater to inbound tourists."
  • Voting rights and political speech — An ideological clash between "I pay taxes, so I have a say" and "this is a matter of nationality and sovereignty."

What Japanese Netizens Are Saying

Pushback on a Japan-Korea "visa-free travel" proposal

Reactions to a Korean tourism body's proposal for a "Japan-Korea version of the Schengen Agreement."

Sources: dmenu news

Comments:

  • "Has this person ever thought about what became of the EU with its Schengen Agreement? Absolutely not."
  • "Come talk to us after you've pulled it off with North Korea"
  • "I've lost count of how many times, but stop looking our way"
  • "What Kishida did was unilaterally scrap all the penalties on a Korea full of bad faith — the radar lock-on, the rehashing of the comfort-women issue — and on top of that he even signed a currency swap. That guy would have done the passport thing too"
  • "Stop cozying up to us, it's annoying"
  • "Korea's current president is a China-flattering hard leftist to begin with — falling in step with him won't lead anywhere good"
  • "All harm and no benefit"
  • "If anything, let's both make immigration screening stricter"
  • "Visas should be mandatory, come on"
  • "Japan's neighboring-country debuff really is awful"

GACKT's "over half of Ginza is foreigners" remark

Reactions to GACKT commenting on the high share of foreigners in Ginza.

GACKT
GACKT
@GACKT
·

【銀座でこれか…】 今WOWOWで放送されている ドラマ【コンサルタント】のプロモーションで、 番組の収録現場となった銀座のBarに行った。 収録を終え、 少し銀座の街を歩いてみた。 そして、 あまりの人の少なさに驚いた。 「ここ、本当に銀座だよな…？」 と言葉が漏れた。 Show more

Reply
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Sources: Yahoo! news, 2ch

Comments:

  • "Japanese people really have stopped going out. Central Tokyo is all foreigners."
  • "It's just that there are other places to hang out now"
  • "He'd have complained even if it were all Japanese, wouldn't he"
  • "No point saying that — Japanese people have no money, so you can't run a business catering to them"
  • "Only rich people like you need to go there"
  • "Ginza was always that kind of district — if anything, hasn't it become a place anyone can go, so the rich have drifted away?"
  • "The shopping streets in regional prefectural-capital areas are full of shuttered stores that never open — Japan's future is looking dire"
  • "What's a guy who lives abroad talking about"
  • "Ginza's been like that for about 15 years"
  • "The connoisseurs have moved on to Togoshi-Ginza and Jujo-Ginza"

A resident Korean's claim of a right to political speech

Reactions, both for and against, to a resident Korean author's argument that paying taxes earns a right to speak on politics.

柳美里
柳美里
@yu_miri_0622
·

私は日本で生まれ育ち、日本で暮らし、日本国に納税してきました。 生まれた時から毎日、日本の政治の影響を受けている当事者です。 「外国籍だから黙れ」というあなたの理屈には賛同できません。

加藤 健
加藤 健
@JapanLobby

外国人が日本の政治に口を出すのは止めてもらいたい。

Reply
Read 1.6K replies

Comments:

  • "If so, they should just naturalize already — I wonder why they don't..."
  • "I'm Korean, so what — stop the discrimination"
  • "They live off Japan's infrastructure, so paying taxes to maintain it is only natural"
  • "So does that mean people who don't pay taxes get no voting rights?"
  • "They won't try to acquire Japanese citizenship — that's the whole reason, and they understand it best of all"
  • "Because they pay consumption tax? lol — how many times must I say that consumption tax is a direct tax paid by corporations"
  • "What do the net-right folks make of the fact that there were immigrants among the Imperial family's ancestors? It's a 6th-century story, but Emperor Kanmu's mother is said to have been an immigrant of Baekje descent. What do the net-right people who post insults online like 'Koreans are an inferior race' think about this? Surely they don't 'just not know,' right?"
  • "Since their nationality isn't Japanese, it's a no"
  • "Even elementary schoolers pay taxes"
  • "Paying taxes is a duty and has nothing to do with rights"