Same! Just got back and I really miss the cheap everything, and relatively high quality as well. Picked up some Uniqlo things that would have been 2x the price in the US.
I guess the meme is because Uniqlo is cheap as fuck there that one have to be so poor to not be able to afford it. But ironically in my country, it's quite a prestige brand because my currency is even weaker so it's actually quite expensive.
As always with the memes, I agree that it's largely an exaggeration. But I can assure you that it is definitely getting too expensive these days, and I'll think twice before buying from them.
Idk but maybe Uniqlo is uniquely cheap in Japan as Japanese chain? I've bought Uniqlo in Poland, UK, USA and Korea and prices stayed relatively consistent.