Building a
professional life from scratch in a foreign country requires years of effort,
adaptation, and mastery of a highly complex language. For renowned Russian-born
seiyuu and singer Jenya, the recent decision by the Japanese government
to drastically raise the costs of residency procedures represents a
heartbreaking emotional and financial blow to the community of foreign workers
who have made this country their home.
After the
announcement of the new regulations that will come into force on October 1,
2026, where the application for permanent residency will go from costing 10,000
yen to the overwhelming figure of 200,000 yen, the actress decided to share her
feelings about the situation. Jenya said the move places an undue burden on
people who have been working honestly, paying taxes, contributing to social
security and raising their families on Japanese soil for years. However, what
caused him the most sadness was not only the rise in prices, but the constant
comments on networks demanding that he "return to his country" if he
is not satisfied, making him feel that his decades-long effort is devalued
simply because he was born abroad.
Far from
being intimidated or packing her bags, Jenya made it abundantly clear that she
has no intention of leaving Japan to return to Russia.
Although she retains family ties in her homeland, her entire current life, her
husband, her friends, her home and her work connections are consolidated in
Japanese territory. The artist emphasized that it took two decades of constant
dedication to master Japanese professionally and build her career in the anime
industry, so she plans to apply for permanent residency or seek
naturalization as a citizen, despite knowing that the social perception towards
foreigners will never disappear completely.
Born in
Russia and based in Japan since 2005, Jenya is
a multifaceted artist who made her way as a performer, singer and Russian
language consultant in multiple Japanese animation projects. Among her most
prominent roles as a seiyuu is having given life to Zoya in
the popular series Akiba Maid War, in addition to actively
collaborating in the linguistic and musical supervision of large-caliber anime
productions.
Knowing all
the effort it took Jenya to build her career as a voice actress in Japan for
twenty years
