五年前，莎拉和丈夫对日本的经济前景持乐观态度，并正在跨多个领域拓展他们的小生意。
Five years ago, Sarah and her husband were optimistic about Japan’s economic future and were expanding their small businesses across several sectors.
如今，这种乐观已被担忧取代，源于一种敌意感，针对的是两名辛勤工作的外国人，他们觉得自己为社会做出了贡献，并努力融入其中。
Today, that optimism has been replaced by concern over a sense of hostility towards two hard-working foreigners who feel they have contributed to the society that they have worked hard to fit into.
周四生效的新规定意味着，这两名在日本生活超过10年的英国人，现在面临签证延期成本大幅上涨。经营管理签证的费用——直到最近还是他们的长远计划——已从500万日元（约合31666美元）飙升至3000万日元。
New regulations that took effect on Thursday mean the two Britons, who have been in Japan for more than 10 years, now face significantly higher costs for visa extensions. The cost of a business manager’s visa – until recently their long-term plan – has jumped from 5 million yen (US$31,666) to 30 million yen.
永久居留申请费同样暴涨20倍至20万日元，此外还设置了年收入达到575万日元（即高于日本平均水平）、大幅提高的养老金缴纳额以及日语能力要求等额外门槛。
The permanent residency fee similarly leapt 20 times to 200,000 yen, while additional barriers include an annual income of 5.75 million yen, or above the Japanese average, much higher pension contributions and Japanese language requirements.
加上物价上涨和日元持续疲软，莎拉和丈夫现在提前了离开日本的计划。
Combined with rising prices and the continued weakness of the yen, Sarah and her husband are now bringing forward their plans to leave Japan.
“我们一直梦想设立一家[日本相当于有限责任公司的形式]，但这些变化意味着这已遥不可及，”莎拉说，她因担心下次去入管局办事可能出现麻烦，未透露真实姓名。
“We have always had a dream of setting up a [the Japanese equivalent of a limited liability company], but these changes mean that it is out of reach now,” said Sarah, who did not give her real name out of concern about possible complications during her next visit to the immigration office.
“要以[公司形式]经营我们的业务，我们需要永久居留权或经营管理签证，而新规定让这两者都难以获得，”她说。
“To operate our business as a , we would need either permanent residency or a business manager visa, and the new regulations make either of those hard to get,” she said.
“我们一直以为，只要生活愉快、有收入，就会一直待在日本，但过去18个月左右情况发生了变化，”她说。“现在，我们开始自问是否该离开了。”她说，这种情绪在东京外籍小企业主群体中很常见，社交媒体上充斥着寻找日本境外工作机会或宣布离开日本的人。
“We always thought we would be in Japan for as long as we were enjoying life and earning a living, but things have changed in the last 18 months or so,” she said. “Now, we’re beginning to ask ourselves whether it is time to go.”Those were common sentiments in the foreign community of small business owners in Tokyo, she said, with social media awash with people looking for employment outside Japan or announcing their departures from the country.
据《日经产业新闻》报道，今年上半年，有953名持有经营管理签证的在日外国人离境，数量几乎是去年同期的四倍。
According to the Nikkei business daily, 953 foreign nationals living in Japan who previously held business manager visas had left the country in the first half of this year, almost four times as many as in the same period a year earlier.
同样，在新规宣布后的五个月里，经营管理签证的申请量暴跌96%，3000万日元的高额资本要求成为大多数外资小企业最大的障碍。
Similarly, applications for business manager visas plunged 96 per cent in the five months after the changes were announced, with the high capital requirement of 30 million yen the biggest hurdle for most small foreign companies.
首相高市早苗此前表示，应对日益增长的在日外国人数量是她在2月大选前的竞选纲领中的关键议题，她领导的执政党自由民主党（自民党）在该选举中大获全胜。
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi previously said tackling the growing number of foreign residents of Japan was a key issue in her manifesto ahead of the February general election, which her ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) won by a landslide.
在投票前几个月，参政党和保守党等其他几个右翼政党被认为在移民问题上分流了自民党的选票，这促使高市采取了更强硬的立场。
Several other right-wing parties – notably Sanseito and The Conservative Party – were perceived to be taking votes away from the LDP on the immigration issue in the months before the vote, prompting Takaichi to adopt a firmer stance.
在新签证规则生效前几天，高市在社交媒体发文为这些变革辩护，称她知晓民众的担忧和“不公平”感。“为回应这些担忧，[政府]正努力确保其对外国人的政策井然有序，让日本公民和外国居民都能安心安全地生活，”她写道。
In a social media post just days before the new visa rules took effect, Takaichi justified the changes, saying she was aware of concerns and feelings of “unfairness”. “To address these concerns, [the government] is working to ensure that its policies towards foreign nationals are orderly and that both Japanese citizens and foreign residents can live safely and securely,” she wrote.
对政府而言，这些变革旨在实现明确利益：限制选择永久定居日本的外国人数量、赢得选民支持、为政府带来新财源。官方声称签证费用上涨是必要的，因为之前的费用过低，远低于其他可比国家。
For the government, the changes are aimed at clear benefits: limiting the number of foreigners who choose to settle in Japan permanently, winning the support of voters and bringing in new funds for the government. Officials have claimed the visa cost increases are necessary because previous figures were too low and well below other comparable countries.
日本的永久居留权目前费用为20万日元（约1269美元），而英国的无限期居留许可费用为3226英镑（约4261美元），澳大利亚的技术移民独立永久签证费用为6135澳元（约4255美元），美国绿卡费用为1440美元。
Permanent residency now costs 200,000 yen (US$1,269) in Japan, compared with the UK’s Indefinite Leave to Remain fee at £3,226 (US$4,261), Australia’s Skilled Independent permanent visa at A$6,135 (US$4,255) and a US green card at US$1,440.
然而，并非所有人都对新政策赞赏有加，《每日新闻》在上个月的一篇社论中宣称，修订后的法律“无视人权，应予撤回”。
Not everyone is enamoured with the new policies, however, with the Mainichi Shimbun declaring in an editorial last month that the revised laws “disregard human rights and should be withdrawn”.
还有人指出，考虑到日本出生率暴跌、人口老龄化以及几乎所有行业都面临长期劳动力短缺，这一举措是鲁莽的。
Others point out that it is a foolhardy move given Japan’s tumbling birth rate, an ageing population and chronic shortages of workers across virtually every business sector.
外国人驾驶市营巴士和出租车、在24小时便利店、医院以及其他鲜有日本人愿意从事的岗位工作，这种现象备受关注。分析人士指出，由于门槛提高、日元疲软导致赚钱能力下降，外国人势必会开始另寻他处。
Much has been made of foreigners driving municipal buses and taxis and working in 24-hour stores, hospitals and other jobs that few Japanese want to take. With higher hurdles and lower earning power due to the weak yen, foreigners will inevitably start to look elsewhere, according to analysts.
富士通全球市场情报部门首席政策经济学家马丁·舒尔茨表示：“小企业经营者和管理者中充满了挫败感，这些人来日本创业，如今却面临高得多的资本要求，正纷纷离开。”
“There is a lot of frustration among small business operators and managers, people who have come to Japan to build a business but now face far higher capital requirements and are leaving,” said Martin Schulz, chief policy economist for Fujitsu’s Global Market Intelligence Unit.
他表示：“日本大企业正在寻找熟练的管理者、工程师等人才来此支持运营，但限制措施收紧释放了极其糟糕的信号。由于日元疲软、工资与其他国家相比偏低，寻找这些人才本就困难，企业将更难吸引人才。”
“Large Japanese companies are looking for skilled managers, engineers and others to come here to support their operations, but it is very bad signalling when the restraints go up,” he said. “It was already difficult to find these people because the yen is weak and wages are low in comparison with other countries, and firms are going to struggle even more to attract talent.”Some foreign owners of firms in the service sector say they have seen the pressure being ramped up in recent years.
服务业的一些外资企业主表示，近年来他们感受到的压力不断加大。
“I’ve been in this business for 40 years, and we never had any issues over our staff for the first 30 of those years,” said Andy Lunt, owner of the Shin-Hinomoto izakaya bar in Tokyo’s Yurakucho district. “But we have been raided twice, and they took away two of my employees.”The restaurant employs part-time staff on student visas, which set a maximum limit on hours they can work to support themselves.
“我在这行干了40年，前30年我们从未因员工问题遇到过麻烦，”东京有乐町地区“新日本”居酒屋老板安迪·伦特说。“但我们遭遇了两次突击检查，他们带走了我的两名员工。”这家餐厅雇佣持学生签证的兼职员工，该签证规定了他们为自给自足而工作的最长工时上限。
While enforcement personnel would typically glance at the relevant papers in the past, Lunt said he was not taking any more chances now.
伦特表示，执法人员过去通常只会粗略查看相关证件，但他现在不愿再冒任何风险了。
“They are checking up on people’s papers a lot more, and the message I’m hearing is that Japan is not going to tolerate this any more.”
“如今他们对人们的证件检查得频繁多了，而我所感受到的信号是：日本不会再容忍这种情况继续下去。”
By Julian Ryall