Why This Topic Landed in Japan

Foreign settlement around Kawaguchi and Warabi in Saitama has been a long-running flashpoint in Japan's immigration debate. Sensational headlines — "give birth in Japan and you won't be deported," "needy households get free childbirth" — tapped into existing frustration over the fairness of social welfare. A strong sense that Japanese residents are the ones bearing the cost fed support for practical, restrictive measures, such as using the My Number identity card. Note that "birth boom" and "won't be deported" are inflammatory framings that blur policy debate with isolated cases; underlying facts about the hospital-childbirth assistance system are real, but the causal story is exaggerated.

Key Reaction Themes

  • Distrust of government and public safety — Criticism of "free-riding" on welfare and childbirth costs, and alarm at shifting local demographics.
  • Welcoming practical restrictions — Support for using My Number cards against Pokémon card resale as a way to "shut out foreign scalpers."
  • Coexistence vs. exclusion — Voices saying "we should team up with law-abiding immigrants" coexist with "coexistence will never work."

Sources:

What Japanese Netizens Are Saying

Kawaguchi's "birth boom"

Reporting that foreign residents in Kawaguchi are giving birth and settling in growing numbers triggered anger over administrative burden and local change.

Comments:

  • "Kawaguchi — what country is this even?"
  • "Japanese people kept avoiding manual labor — that's what created the situation we're in now."
  • "They can't speak any Japanese at all. We have to provide interpreters at our expense and bend everything to fit foreigners."
  • "No doubt the city council and the police are useless."
  • "What's the point of welfare-dependent foreigners having kids?"
  • "I live in Kawaguchi, and the city apartments — dirt-cheap, prime units — are packed with Chinese and Kurdish residents. It's a mess, and they drive Harriers and Lexus and BMWs while I'm in a shabby flat with an Alphard on a loan."
  • "Don't lump all immigrants together. Immigrants who obey the law, pay taxes, work, and value coexistence are fine — but those who impose their own rules and do as they please should be deported."
  • "Kawaguchi's where the Japanese population dropped by 4,000 and foreigners rose by 5,000."
  • "'Illegal immigrants' need to disappear, fast. They're a huge nuisance even to immigrants living honestly."

My Number cards for Pokémon-card resale

A move to use My Number cards against Pokémon-card scalping was welcomed as a check on foreign resellers, though some doubted its effectiveness.

Comments:

  • "Foreigners must be fuming."
  • "Put the My Number card to use in lots more areas like this."
  • "If you have a residence registration, even foreigners can get a My Number card."
  • "It's become a hotbed for money laundering, you know."
  • "Make every transaction require a My Number."
  • "Apparently a lot of the people lining up are illegal foreign residents — if you spot them, report them to the police."
  • "From now on the foreign scalpers should drop off."
  • "Scalpers are a menace, so I hope other companies follow Pokémon's lead."
  • "They're literally homeless now lol — how far will scalpers fall before they're satisfied?"

Trouble over an Indian tenant

A viral post about an Indian tenant fouling an apartment toilet sparked unease about cultural differences — and skepticism over whether the post was even real.

Comments:

  • "In India it's normal — that's why they run curry shops."
  • "That's what you get for renting to foreigners."
  • "Japanese people learn from childhood that you flush nothing but toilet paper, but foreigners will toss trash in without a second thought."
  • "I want to believe not all Indian people are like this."
  • "I wanted to try property investment, but seeing this, no way."
  • "I watched the video — it's not Japan. A white guy is cleaning it, and partway through the cameraman flees, lol."
  • "Smells fake. Foreigners do room-shares and cluster together, but you couldn't have anyone over like this."
  • "It's the kind of thing that makes you realize coexistence will never, ever work."