Why This Topic Landed in Japan

The government finalized a cabinet order raising residence-status fees — status changes and renewals from ¥6,000 to a range of ¥10,000–75,000, and permanent-residence permits from ¥10,000 to ¥200,000 — with an October 1 start. Around the same time, the president of the soba chain Yudetaro drew a backlash for arguing that "Japan can't hold up with Japanese people alone," and a post by a tertiary-emergency doctor describing foreign workers arriving with severe workplace injuries spread widely. That post is one person's account, not evidence that a lack of Japanese-language ability is the cause of such injuries; how common such cases really are is unclear.

Key Reaction Themes

  • Support for the hike as user-pays — Many welcomed higher fees as reasonable, framing them as making foreign residents cover administrative costs, though some noted the yen is so weak the fees still feel cheap.
  • Criticism of low-wage dependence — A strong current argued that businesses that can only survive on cheap foreign labor should be allowed to fail rather than have easy immigration prop them up.
  • On-the-ground safety and integration costs — Others focused on real-world burdens: injury risk from language barriers on job sites and the cost of actually integrating workers.

What Japanese Netizens Are Saying

The cabinet order sharply raising residence fees

Reactions to the cabinet order raising residence and permanent-residence fees, effective October 1.

日テレNEWS NNN
日テレNEWS NNN
@news24ntv
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在留手数料“大幅値上げ”を政府が閣議決定　期間に応じ6000円→1万～7万5000円に　10月1日から news.ntv.co.jp/category/socie…

news.ntv.co.jp在留手数料“大幅値上げ”を政府が閣議決定　期間に応じ6000円→1万～7万5000円に　10月1日から（2026年8月25日掲載）｜日テレNEWS NNN政府は25日朝の閣議で、日本で暮らす外国人が在留期間の更新などのために支払う手数料について、大幅に引き上げる政令を閣議決定しました。ことし10月以降の申請分から適用されることになります。
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Sources: 2ch

Comments:

  • "It was too cheap until now."
  • "Charging foreigners more is fine, isn't it?"
  • "Won't this just increase illegal overstays?"
  • "With the weak yen, it's still cheap from a foreigner's point of view, though."
  • "Even after the hike it's dirt cheap."
  • "They also need to make getting a driver's license as hard as it is for Japanese."
  • "You can get permanent residence for 200,000 yen?"
  • "Tighten only the residence fees while pushing naturalization, and the LDP goes, 'Look, more Japanese people!'"
  • "The people granted longer stays are the better talent, so charging them more seems baffling to me."
  • "That said, productivity and service will drop because of this, so don't complain when logistics costs rise and goods get pricier or service gets worse."

Backlash to a soba-chain president's pro-immigration remarks

Reactions to a company head's argument that "Japan can't hold up with Japanese people alone," pushing to accept more foreign workers.

ちゃんほた🌸
ちゃんほた🌸
@hotahotasa45082
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ゆで太郎社長「彼らは納税者で社会保障を支えてる日本国のメンバー。日本人じゃ保たない」 ひろゆき「詭弁ですよ」 ひろゆきが正しいと私は思うよ

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ちゃんほた🌸
ちゃんほた🌸
@hotahotasa45082

社員の3割が外国人の「ゆで太郎」 ゆで太郎社長「特定技能制度は外食だけで20万人は足りない。枠が5万人では話にならない」 「彼らは納税者で社会保障を支えてる日本国のメンバー。日本人じゃ保たない」

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Comments:

  • "Which is it — society won't hold up, or the company won't hold up?!"
  • "A company that runs on part-timers is itself a burden on society at this point, isn't it?"
  • "If it's fine to work cheaper than foreigners, I'll hire Japanese people too."
  • "Fine by me if it goes under. Restaurants at this level have endless replacements; and if none show up, that means there's no demand, so it's not needed either way."
  • "If you can't sustain it, you should fold or scale down — same for other retail and dining. There's no need to blanket the whole country with outlets; if you want to expand, just offer decent pay and gather people."
  • "Hire older people like yourselves at proper wages too. There are workers more capable than foreign laborers out there."
  • "You go over there and hire them yourselves, and take responsibility if something happens, all right?"
  • "I wish people who repackage their own convenience as society's problem would just disappear."
  • "Talk about the foreign-student problem instead of this. Foreigners who work and pay taxes can come all they want."
  • "A manager who thinks only his own gain matters is genuinely finished."

Foreign-worker injuries and the language barrier

Reactions sparked by a doctor's post about workplace injuries and safety.

R
R
@SpineInvest
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3次救急で整形外科医してると日本語話せないベトナム人、インドネシア人あたりがエグい労災で四肢ぐちゃぐちゃとかわりと遭遇するんよな。あれ日本語話せないから安全管理とか絶対できてないよな。腕もげたやつや足ぺちゃんこなったやつとか明らかに彼らに多い。

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Comments:

  • "There are translation sites like DeepL, so it'd be easy enough to put up a poster in their native language saying 'never do at least these things.'"
  • "Steel beams falling on people walking by seems like it'll become common soon — they're doing worse than the 'site cat.'" [Translator's note: "Genba Neko," a workplace-safety meme cat known for careless "all good!" gestures.]
  • "Now that the appeal of coming to Japan is gone, skilled people earn more working in their own countries — so increasingly it's the less-skilled who come to Japan."
  • "So it shows up as a workplace-injury claim."