Slashdot Mirror
Japan to Start Fingerprinting Foreign Travelers
rabiddeity writes "If you're planning to visit Japan sometime in the near future, you should be aware of the welcome you'll get. Last year, Japan's parliament passed a measure requiring foreigners to submit their fingerprints when entering the country. The measures, which apply to all foreigners over 16 regardless of visa status, take effect tomorrow. The worst part: the fingerprints are stored in a national database for an "unspecified time", and will be made available to both domestic police and foreign governments."
Welcome to the rest of the world's dilemma if we want to even transit through the USA. I've avoided it for the past...3, 4(?) years exactly for this reason. I wouldn't be surprised if Japan is doing this kind of as a big 'FU' to the States.
lemonade was a popular drink and it still is
Am I supposed to just accept that this violation-by-proxy is legal?
Did you know that you leave fingerprints on everything you touch? Anyone can track you anywhere you go!!! All they have to do is "lift" the prints off the surface. It's a privacy nightmare.
Could it be?
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/01/07/0127227
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/08/125235
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/06/26/1944228
Yes, apparently it could. Japan isn't the first by a long shot.
Only the guilty need worry.
And while I am at it, can I interest you in some Florida Condominiums?
"To those who are overly cautious, everything is impossible. "
When the US started to fingerprint foreign travellers, a whole bunch of countries threatened to do that to visting US citizens. It is nice to see Japan follow through with their threat, albeit a few years later (although they are not just focussing on US citizens). I can see a bunch of Americans getting really upset about this and declaring they'll never travel to Japan, but what the Japanese Government are doing is really no different than what the US Government is doing to everyone else.
Personally I don't like being treated as a criminal. However, as much as I could complain about it, it won't be stopping me from travelling.
Because the US is the land of the free
...
...
What? Why are you laughing so hard.
If I have nothing to hide, don't search me
I have permanent resident status in Japan. This is the equivalent of a landed immigrant in most countries, however it is more permanent as you essentially have it for the rest of your life unless you become a Japanese citizen or leave Japan without a re-entry permit. This status takes a very long time to get (5-10 years) and requires you to submit tons of personal information and have Japanese guarantors. One of the benefits has been that you can line up at the Japanese citizens counters at airport immigration and be through very quickly. (My record: plane to train in under 5 minutes)
Despite this, from this Tuesday I will be required to line up with the regular foreign tourists and have my picture and fingerprints taken every time I enter Japan and every time I *leave* Japan.
Also, I still have to make sure I have a re-entry permit which I have to get every 3 years or I will lose my status completely.
All of this because I *might* be a terrorist or criminal.
The one thing I wonder is, if I pass away during a trip abroad are they going to take my picture and fingerprints when they bring my body back to the nice gravesite in rural Gumma prefecture where I'm going to be buried when I die?
If you don't want to repeat the past, stop living in it.
already live in Japan... I wonder if I will have to do this if I go on vacation and am coming back home?
I live in Aomori-ken and yes, it does. I love living here, but I am very upset about these measures. Rightly or wrongly (stastically wrongly, but seeing the way some English teachers and others behave here, I'm not surprised many Japanese people see things this way) the uptick in immigration is associated with crime (though in the U.S. it's the same way). I am very unhappy that while I have been a productive citizen here I am going to be treated like a criminal when I leave to visit other countries and return.
There's a lot to love here, but the conservative party and those supporting it (including the supposed opposition party) need to go.
"There is no time, sir, at which ties do not matter," Jeeves, (Jeeves and the Impending Doom)
Very soon, they will realize that taking thumb prints has no effect at deterring a man ready to "meet his God" or "getting rewarded with 70 virgins", just like the we did.
Trouble is, it will become quite apparent very late in time. Thanks to the US.
America has been doing this to citizens of every single country except Canada for many years now. Even up here in Canada we figure it's only a matter of time.
Each new power given to the government must be balanced by a power of the citizenry. Else, this is just another step on the path to a facist state.
These new powers of surveillance and databases that we're giving our governments are vast. Never before in history has a country been able to monitor the movements and transactions of everyone, with so much precision. I know of no balancing power that has been given to the citizens in countries such as the US, UK, and now Japan, to check that the government is not abusing these powers. And the citizenry certainly does not have the equivalent power of knowing the private travel habits of their officials.
The fact of the matter is that these kinds of powers are far more useful for tracking law-abiding citizens than catching criminals. You don't catch criminals by identifying all the non-criminals. The database of non-criminals is totally useless, since any truly nefarious characters will avoid it, and not end up in your database at all. These kinds of things are often justified on the basis of preventing petty crime. But, this is far too large a power to give the government to reduce petty crime. Petty crime will never hit zero.
Instead, these new kinds of powers have far more use in tracking political enemies and corporate espionage. For instance just before the next G8 summit you can bet there will be new names on the no-fly lists. Before a major political debate, the challenging candidate will be denied travel. Governments will be able to determine when competing corporations are traveling for a meeting, and deny entry to those people. For people who are not political dissidents or corporate higher-ups, the only possible consequence besides deterioration of our democratic systems is that we will end up being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and be accused of committing a crime. The dragnet will have found us. And the evidence will be ironclad. Because, fingerprints are never wrong, are they?
I need a succinct way to explain these issues. The fact of the matter these arguments always come down to the brain-dead simple arguments that are difficult to refute: a) This will help catch <latest bogeyman>; and b) I'm not a <latest bogeyman> so why should I care? I need a one-sentence refutation to these arguments to give the people that don't think very hard about it. Obviously those interested in preserving freedom such as myself are not winning this argument. Anyone want to suggest one in the comments?
--Bob
1^2=1; (-1)^2=1; 1^2=(-1)^2; 1=-1; 1=0.
...for all of us gaijins going home for the holidays! Needless to say, I'm not pleased.
Bonus points for this idiot minister using a bullshit "a friend of a friend is in Al Quaeda, therefore all foreigners are dangerous" claim to justify this crap.
Japan has gone further. Not only are visitors fingerprinted and photographed but also foreign residents like my friend Terrie LLoyd in the second article who has been there for almost a quarter of a century and who has started several successful companies that employ Japanese citizens.
What is most irritating is that Japan really doesn't have reason to fear an international terrorist incident on their soil. As Terrie says, all the terrorist incidents in Japan have been done by Japanese and the amount of crime by foreigners in Japan is minuscule compared to the overall total.
This is xenophobia pure and simple and will kill whatever tourist industry Japan was trying to get with their "Yokoso Japan!" campaign. A lot of businesses will avoid Japan because of these regulations as business travellers definitely do not like being treated as criminals.
If you don't want to repeat the past, stop living in it.
I'd recommend Singapore, where I live, but they've got my fingerprint here too. I'm not a Singaporean national; they took my thumb print back in 2006 when I was a fresh graduate from university, applying for a work permit. They have a national ID card system for their nationals and permanent residents, though. And it's linked to nearly everything.
Back in Bangladesh, where I'm originally from, they're implementing a national ID card system. To wide public support, btw.
In the Middle East (United Arab Emirates) where I grew up, they've been keeping foreign workers' passports under lock & key of their employers for the longest time, and issuing an ID card for foreign workers (the majority of their resident population).
Most expatriates living and working in these countries have been stomaching this stuff for generations now. The general rule is keep your nose out of trouble and no trouble will come to you.
... will look like 12-year-old Japanese schoolgirls since the authorities will be too busy checking out their panties to suspect them.
Now the U.S. will have access to fingerprints of US citizens who travel to Japan without ever having to lift a finger. I'm sure they will push for all other governments to start doing this -- where upon anyone who ever traveled outside this country will be fingerprinted by others and all of it put into some worldwide database.
I'm sure Bush is going to give his thanks to the Japanese Prime Minister one of these days.
True. And you should open your doors to police searches without notification or justification whenever they want, because if you have nothing to hide, why do you care? The only people who should exercise their liberties are those who have things to hide. That way we can outlaw all liberties as merely tools of criminals. Good thinking, sport.
There are two components to gathering fingerprints: The initial fingerprinting and the "match" found at an incriminating location.
Your privacy only becomes violated by fingerprints when a crime is comitted AND it can additionally provide evidence you were NOT in said location if your status as a criminal is ever questioned.
Fingerprinting is not a slippery-slope scenario as you are making it out to be.
Well, back to rejecting software patent applications.
Brazil started doing this when the US announced it was doing it to all visitors a couple of years ago. It surprised me to see that it has taken other countries so long to start doing this too. What goes around comes around. We do it to the world, then the world will do it to us.
This also applies to torture and other interogation techniques like "water boarding" for captured soldiers. In the future our military personal should expect to have the same treatment that we are giving others with water boarding, etc.
Whereas I'm just one of these crazy people who think they shouldn't have to show ID to travel.. even internationally.. let alone give fingerprints and have my picture taken.
Never forget that your government owns you.
How we know is more important than what we know.
The US has been taking finger prints and pictures of all foreigners entering the US since 2001 or 2002.
:)
For the Visa waiver program, I also need to fill out a form every time asking whether I am a nazi, have any infectious diseases or have the intention to commit terrorist acts.
It also warns you that 1f you check 'yes' to any of those questions, you may be denied entry to the united states
This policy is TOTALLY the opposite of what the parent wrote. The reason they are doing this is because under the guise of terrorism they are attempting to reduce the number of crimes committed by foreigners, including overstaying visas. The whole idea of terrorism has nothing to do with why they passed this policy.
The worst part of the government's shortsightedness is that A)They have take the policy of fingerprinting to new extremes (even more so than the US), fingerprinting EVERYONE including those with spousal visas and those with families in Japan, and B)there is no transparency at all in this whole process. There is a lot of talk that in order to become better friends with the US they will even be sharing fingerprint information while at the same time using the US 'terrorist' list to analyze people coming into Japan as well.
See for yourself how they are trying to convince foreigners living in Japan that this is not a violation of your privacy - "It's to fight terrorism". They have included videos on the immigration page:
http://nettv.gov-online.go.jp/channel.html?c=61
Look for the June 14th entry. Notice how the foreigners look angry in the beginning, but once they have it explained to them that it's for their 'safety' that everything becomes alright.
First off, I'd encourage everyone who opposes this policy to register their views with this online petition.
I would also encourage you to write a letter to the Ministry of Justice at:
Also, send a copy to the Japanese National Tourist Organization, making clear the impact on tourism, at their Japanese headquarters and your regional office listed at the URL below:
Not only is this policy an invasion of privacy, but also discriminatory in its application. Of the major terrorist incidents in Japan, none has been committed by a foreigner -- 1995 Tokyo Sarin Gas attacks, bombing of government office buildings in Hokkaido in the 70s, assassination of the Mayor of Nagasaki... all perpetrated by Japanese nationals.
Further, fingerprinting is dubious at best in preventing terrorist attacks. A terrorist organization capable of a serious attack on Japan is capable of entering the country without passing through immigration. From the point of view of politics, however, fingerprinting foreigners is an easy way to make it appear as though you're getting tough on terrorism and foreign crime.
Lastly, The Japanese government has produced an introductory video on the new scheme that you really have to see to believe. As the guy in the video says "I'll pass it on to all my friends". I get the feeling this won't have the effect the Japanese government intends it to have.
They've also put out a PDF version of the poster for this program.
What do you mean? My government is precisely the government that is the least interested in what I'm doing and where I'm going, it's all the other governments that keenly inspect my IDs and credentials.
True confidence comes not from realising you are as good as your peers, but that your peers are as bad as you are.
If you checked 'yes' next to 'intention to commit terrorist acts,' would they arrest you or laugh and let you through?
Legalize it.
As for the issue of "equally", the new Japanese law mandating the fingerprinting of foreigners is discriminatory and is unacceptable. In particular, the law exempts Korean citizens who reside permanently in Japan but who refuse Japanese citizenship. Roughly 45% of these "refuseniks" pledge their allegiance to North Korea. They send their children to special schools which teach their students to sing the praises of North Korea.
These Korean refuseniks deliberately refuse Japanese citizenship because they want to maintain their "Korean-ness". They believe that blood determines both culture and nation of loyalty. They are loyal to either North Korea or South Korea.
The Korean refuseniks have harbored this intense racist bigotry for decades. Since the early 1990s, this bigotry began to fade slightly, and the number of Koreans applying for Japanese citizenship has increased from 5000 annually to 10,000 annually.
In today's Japan, there is no discrimination against Japanese citizens of Korean ancestry. There is, however, justifiable discrimination against Korean citizens or any other person who lacks Japanese citizenship: for example, a Brazilian citizen of Japanese ancestry does not have the same privileges that a Japanese citizen enjoys.
The Korean refuseniks are exempted from the fingerprinting requirement because, in the 1980s, the Korean government demanded that the Japanese government end the fingerprinting of Korean citizens who refuse Japanese citizenship. The Korean government insisted that Tokyo fulfill this demand before the Korean government was willing to improve relations with Japan. As a result of this interference by the Korean government in Japanese domestic politics, Tokyo ended the fingerprinting of Korean refuseniks. The Korean refuseniks are also exempted from the fingerprinting in the new Japanese law just passed by the Japanese parliament.
There is a huge difference between Korean refuseniks and Americans of African ancestry. Some Korean refuseniks are descended from people who were forcibly brought to Japan during World War II. However, many Korean refuseniks are descended from people who voluntarily came to Japan during and after World War II. By contrast, nearly all Americans of African ancestry are descended from people who were forcibly brought to the United States. Yet, while the Korean refuseniks voluntarily refuse Japanese citizenship (that they could easily get), all Americans of African ancestry gladly want to be American citizens.
The attitude of the Koreans is utterly racist and bigotted. By contrast, most Taiwanese citizens who chose to reside permanently in Japan have conscientiously wanted (and obtained) Japanese citizenship.
In summary, the new Japanese law mandating the fingerprinting of foreigners is discriminatory and is unacceptable because the law exempts Korean refuseniks. Tokyo should ignore the Korean government and should resume fingerprinting Korean refuseniks -- especially Korean refuseniks who pledge their allegiance to North Korea. (The Korean government has been a far bigger pain to Japan than the Mexican government has been to the USA.)
I'm sorry, but I don't see how this is different from US policy. EVERYONE who wants to enter the US legally with something other than a US passport is fingerprinted and photographed. There is no separate line for people with spousal visas or long term residents with a green card.
Travellers to the US have been fingerprinted for some time - not to mention all the other indignities they endure. Reciprocity is a bitch, isn't it.
you had me at #!
It is incredibly unwise to try to joke around with these people!
A guy I know gave a silly answer to the question 'what is the reason for your visit?', and was held up for interrogation for several hours.
There's a very large difference between giving fingerprints and having your house or rectum searched.
The difference is only one of degree, not of kind.
There are two components to gathering fingerprints: The initial fingerprinting and the "match" found at an incriminating location.
Equivalently, there are two components to searching your house: the initial search and the "match" of something in your house that the cops think is illegal, or might be indicative of illegal activity -- e.g. "drug paraphernalia," even if the only thing you ever smoke in the pipe they turn up is tobacco. The point is that, without probable cause, they shouldn't be looking in the first place.
Your privacy only becomes violated by fingerprints when a crime is comitted AND it can additionally provide evidence you were NOT in said location if your status as a criminal is ever questioned.
Your privacy is violated the minute they search without probable cause, regardless of what they're searching is your house or your fingertips. Period. What part of "the right of the people to be secure in their persons, papers, and effects" don't you understand?
The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_Waiver_Program
"Get off the cross - we need the wood" - Tori Amos
As some AC posted, I went with my family to Disney World last week, and they had finger print scanners. Needless to say I refused, and the lady said "what are you afraid of, unless you have something to hide". I reamed her a bit for insinuating that I might have something to hide.
Then she started with the bogus line "It is not a fingerprint, it is a biometric. All it does is measure the width and length of your finger".
When I still refused, and asked for my parking and admission back, at that point they let my family in quite quickly. Lesson? keep fighting!
THE BIG QUESTION... Where does disney store these, how long, and given the cozy relationship between Disney and the US government - how many of us believe they will not end up in the hands of the government?
Since when has Homeland Security used the LAW to detain, deport, investigate, or refuse entry the US?
Actually... I wouldn't be surprised if it was illegal in some states. In the 1950's in some states it was not only illegal to be a Communist, it was illegal to discuss Communism or even talk to a Communist. Amazing...
the "match" found at an incriminating location.
That depends what you mean by "incriminating location". Japan currently has a more or less democratic government, similar for example to the US, so at this moment this should not be a major problem. But in many other countries what they consider a "crime" you may actually consider a right thing to do. In such a case you would not want them to have your fingerprints.
Also, they say they will share the fingerprints with other governments. Which means that next time you participate in disseminating political flyers criticising your increasingly oppressive government, it will be very easy for them to find who you are.
AccountKiller
If you don't mind my asking, what exactly are English teachers doing that is so horrific? I understand that Americans can be... awfully exuberant might be a polite way of putting it, but how much of this is general social shock versus them actually being asshats?
Not trying to suggest that "Oh, that simply cannot be!", just a bit curious of the situation. I've been pondering the JET program for after I finish my degree and any information on such things from a person that's actually over there wouldn't hurt.
You were a visitor. You weren't staying there very long and I don't know how much Japanese you were able to learn and in which environments you found yourself but obviously you weren't there long enough to proceed to phase 2 of the Gaijin experience in Japan.
This happens when you REALLY start to learn to speak Japanese and start to talk to more of the citizens. When you get a job and have to do things like look for housing or deal with banks. Then the xenophobia starts to rear its ugly head. Landlords refuse to rent to you simply because you are a foreigner. You begin to understand the racist muttering from the older folks. You notice the condescending and discriminatory depiction of non-Japanese on the TV shows. Many gaijin go home at this point
Phase 3 begins when you accept that this is the reality of Japan and find ways to work around it. You move to the more progressive areas and modify your behaviour to fit better into the society. If you can get to this stage you will have a life-long love of Japan and all the wonderful things it has (geek toys, hot springs, and food, oh God the food!) despite all the negative aspects (pollution, crowding, expense, racism).
Eventually you may still move back to your country as some things cannot be overcome. In our case it was the education of our children. There was just no way we could put our kids through the Japanese school system and the living space we had was just too small to be comfortable. Hindsight has shown this to be a very wise move especially considering the experience of our kids when they have gone back to Japan for short-term attendance at Japanese schools.
If you don't want to repeat the past, stop living in it.
- mistreating of arrested suspects (forced confessions, arrests for undefined lengths, denying lawyer contact, etc)
- an extremely high conviction rate (if you are brought to the bench, you will very likely be convicted. Judges are proud of their conviction rates. Suspects are oriented to write confessions/apologies in order to get lighter punishments - even if they are innocent, etc)
- a police force not accountable to anyone
The above are true for japanese citizens, and doubly true for "damn foreigners who come to japan just to commit crimes".
So, it is not a case of "they might get you for an unjust crime", but rather - "if someone points a finger at you, you are fsck'd". Since they are only fingerprinting foreigners, if they get to a crime scene, where there are japanese fingerprints (not recorded) and foreign fingerprints (recorded), guess what is going to happen.
America, the entire world, is entering a state of perpetual tyranny because people don't have the mental furniture necessary to understand the difference betwteen freedom and fascism. Freedom is not the ability to work for Wal-Mart, eat food, and go to theme parks. Freedom is the ability to not kow-tow your head on the sidewalk when a coporate/government thug demands your DNA and your unquestioning obedience. It's moving around the world without tracking devices; tyranny needs to know where the troublemakers are, so that they may be neutralized. Freedom requires the ability to write and speak anonymously. Freedom is NOT the ability to speak your mind only in the safety of your bedroom closet, for every byway and gathering place eventually becomes private property, where now-accepted custom is that no human right to speak or gather exists. Freedom to TROUBLE THE POWERFUL without the certainty that one will be noted and dealt with. Freedom is the ability to travel and meet with people without what are in all sanity PRISON GUARDS logging your movements and recording your words, building inescapable fortresses of data with which to destroy you come the need to do so. The wedding of power and business is in fact fascism, and fascism is always, ALWAYS sold by invoking an implacable enemy that we need to defend from at all costs.
Of course, as Bush and so many others have shown, that enemy always turns out to be the people that are being protected. Recursion of the "reason" given for all fascisms. The tools used to "protect" you from dark scary people are always - always! turned in full force against you. And done correctly, silence grips the mouths of all and no one dares utter the words to describe the reality in which they live, for the consequences are too deadly. The tools necessary to trigger the use of the KBR-built detention camps being built for the last few years are in place. One bomb, and Bush declares emergency powers and the troublemakers get their asses dragged to extrajudicial prisons at the sole mercy of the Unitary Executive. The Constitution teeters, the last few rights about to be declared void by his pocket judges. And the same is true in France, and the UK, and so many other places.
It so happens that Tokyo and Chicago are vying to be considered for the Summer Olympics in 2016. I would like to put together a campaign (from a variety of people, civil liberty/privacy groups, etc) to ask that the International Olympic Committee reject any host city application whose nation requires photographing/fingerprinting as a condition of entry. Such a condition violates the human dignity principle of the IOC charter, as well as potentially surpressing visitors to that host nation (since many believe that the dropoff in visitors to the US is related to US-VISIT.
There are special bars för nihonjin... Racial segregation is still an everyday reality in Japan, and most people seem to think it's perfectly normal. Imagine if governments enforced special race laws in Europa and the United States. We'd have riots and demonstrations, but in Japan, all is quit and sedated.
Beauty is in the beholder of the eye.
That cannot be done, canada at japans request cannot say, "ok we delete you from canada" it cannot be done.
Japan might not recognize you canadian passport, but canada still will.
I may be wrong, but when I checked Italy, they said that they will never remove you from being an italian unless you committed war crimes.
Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.
So what we should do is all answer yes ans swarm them with false positives. And on the other upside, we will not be able to enter the US.
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
they ask whether you were a member of the National Socialist Workers Party of Germany (i.e., the Nazi Party) during WW2.
Thus amply demonstrating the lack of logic. I'm 33. World War II happened almost twice my age ago. How on earth would I ever be a member of the Nazi party? Time travel?
Oh yes you do... (nitpick) and I don't know who moderate this as insightfull...
Japanese citizenship is somewhat hard to take. I'm married to a Japanese. So she is 1 form away from beeing French... But in the meantime I'm always granted temporary visa allowing me to stay with her (3 years to be renewed) And for that we have to proof that we have enought income, proper home. health insurance and so on... Hell my cat (French too) is better treated than me. Citizenship, maybe I can ask it, if I stay five year with the same employer or other irrelevant rule like this...
Meanwhile if we were to live in France, it would be the opposite, the simple fact that she can proof that she is married to me give here right to healthcare, unemployement benefits, social help, free school for the kids on so on...
Before you say, "it's their country, they do as they please" Just 1 thing... IT'S MY PLANET AND I WANT THEM TO GET OFF OF IT...
That statistic doesn't mean anything on its own, so I'm going to contribute an article.
Isn't it rather easy to provide fake fingerprints? Using their kitchen-sink laboratory, the Mythbusters created false prints which were good enough to fool the most expensive fingerprint door locks. Are the scanners at airports any more sophisticated?
Here is the content of an email a friend forwarded to me, originally sent from the European Business Council in Japan to Europeans doing business in Japan. After the clipped email is the content of the MS Word attachment describing a new quick pass gate system, which it seems they got from the Japanese government.
I lost my first post which included this and a small rant. Whatever. I am quite unhappy about this, and it seems to reverse the direction they were going, but the U.S. remains the king of security theater and it is an easy political win I suppose. They already got my photo and fingerprint from my passport and old foreigner card but I know I'm going to hate this. If it is in fact required.
Forwarded Email:
---
Further to my message on new immigration procedures last week, this is to
inform you that Ministry of Justice has now issued instructions in English
on how to undergo pre-registration for the new semi automatic gate system to
be established at Narita Airport on November 20.
Please find attached the instruction document, which should be available
soon on the MoJ website.
---
[For Foreigners]
(Reference Material for the PR Dept.)
Operation of the Automated Gate
Ministry of Justice, Immigration Bureau
1. Introduction
Automated gates will be placed at Narita Airport from November 20th, 2007, in order to improve convenience of immigration procedures by simplifying and accelerating them. We would like to ask foreigners who wish to use the automated gates to provide their personal identification information (fingerprints and a facial portrait) in advance and register themselves as applicants in order to use the gate.
2. Registration as an Applicant to Use the Automated Gate
1. Required Items for Registration
1. Valid passport (including Re-entry Permit) and re-entry permission
2. Application form to use the automated gate
2. Where and When to Register
We will be accepting applications from November 20th at the locations stated below:
1. Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau
Application Counter for re-entry permission (2F) 9:00-16:00 (Except Saturdays, Sundays, National Holidays and December 29th to January 3rd)
2. Narita Airport District Immigration Office
The departure inspection area at South Wing of Passenger Terminal 1: 9:00-17:00
The departure inspection area at the South Exit of Passenger Terminal 2: 9:00-17:00
3. Registration Procedures
Submit your application form with your passport and provide fingerprints of both index fingers and a facial portrait.
Then, when the official affixes a registration stamp on your passport, the registration procedure is complete. In principle, you can use the gate from that day forward.
4. Points of Concern for the Registration
1. Time Limit of Registration
You can register until the expiration date of your passport or the expiration date of your re-entry permit, whichever comes earlier.
2. Registration Restrictions
In some cases, such as when you cannot provide fingerprints, you may not be able to register.
3. Using and Providing the Registered Information
We will manage information including fingerprints and facial portraits provided at the registration as personal information set forth in laws on protection of personal informati
Reassuring to know then, that on the occasions when my fears came true the police said...
- Um, the cameras were facing the wrong way.
- Oh, they are long gone now.
- Ah yes, we got them on camera, but we don't know who they are. Wow, they really gave you a good kicking didn't they?
- Yes, the fingerprints are probably on the window & the stick, but you've been watching too much CSI.
My point? The intensions may be justified, the reality a disappointment.* Game Over * High Score: 264,846,927 -- Your Score: 14
Um....hmmm...maybe, just maybe the form is generic and not made especially for you. I know that it may be difficultly to comprehend, but old people do go through customs as well. Sorry for the inconvenience, and please, try not to answer "yes" next time.
--
I am very much against the US policy regardless, but it's worth pointing out that the US does not fingerprint green-card holders.
I live in Japan. My wife is Japanese. I work for a Japanese university. I pay Japanese taxes. I have a Japanese driver's license. I have several Japanese bank accounts and a couple Japanese credit cards. I am on Japanese health insurance. I have the Japanese equivalent of a green card.
Yet I will have to go through the "foreigner" line from now on, separated from my wife, to be fingerprinted because everyone knows there was no crime in Japan before we dirty foreigners showed up. And I'll have to do this every time I re-enter the country, despite the fact that I am on a long-term spousal visa and already have to go to immigration every few years to get it renewed and to pay for the ability to exit and re-enter the country when I want. They already have every piece of information about me, where and how I met my wife, and a hand-drawn map to my house. If I had to submit my fingerprint, too, that'd be irksome, but I'd do it, but why do I have to do it every time I land at the airport? I live here!
The first time I went back to renew my spousal visa, I just brought the forms and the money. I didn't bring the family register or certificate of address or any of the ridiculous supporting documentation you need to get from all over Japan (okay, where we live now, and where she grew up). Why would I need all that stuff? We had just submitted it all 12 months before. I figured I was just showing up to say "Still here; still married; please renew my visa." But after waiting a couple hours to get to the counter, the lady was like, "where is all the information?"
I had no idea that I was required to apply for a new spousal visa. I wasn't renewing, I was reapplying!
And this just days before my visa was running out! I thought I was going to be deported!
My wife came in and worked her persuasive magic (that's why I married her--I saw no other choice!) and got them to count my little form as "starting the process" so I wouldn't be deported, and even talked them into giving me a 3-year visa, which they said they would not do.
The point of the story is that it doesn't matter how integrated you are; it doesn't matter if your most immediate family is Japanese; it doesn't matter if you are gainfully employed. The only thing that matters about you is that you are NOT JAPANESE, and therefore are not quite human in the eyes of the law.
Someone already mentioned this, but just look at the famous cases of foreigners being murdered over here. The last famous case (not far from where I live), a guy killed a female English teacher, nine police officers came to his house, and he escaped.
Barefoot.
BY RUNNING PAST THE COPS AND OUT HIS FRONT DOOR.
They still haven't found him. They won't.
That would require looking.
Thank you for exemplifying the attitude that lets governments get away with this shit. Do you really think Japan (or the US, for that matter) would continue this blatant abuse of their visiters' privacy if a majority of tourists decided they'd rather spend their money in a country that doesn't treat them like criminals?
The "there's nothing I can do about it, so I'll just live with it" attitude is at least as much to blame for these problems as corrupt governments.
Here is a very high profile case of someone who did, in fact, successfully renounce his Canadian citizenship.
Of course, if you look into Conrad's story, he wants it back now!
Look at the tomato! Isn't it sad? He can't dance! Poor tomato!
I lived in Singapore for 4 years circa ~ 97 to 2001.Yes you are not allowed to throw any Gum on the street ,not to spray any graffiti on Walls, not to make a nuisance of your self on the public transport system,not to play your music too loud in your home.Being a small city state has its advantages,there is no place in Singapore where you cant go with complete safety at 3 in the morning.
,We have a great range of Human rights here.
,i have to sit on dirty seats because people sit with their feet resting on seats ,listen to rude language and loud music(Freedon of Expression) ,Watch the coucils fight a losing battle with the ever increasing amount of irritating and franky nausious grafiti(Banksky it isnt).
,happy-slapped whatever by gangs of 12 -13 year old kids.
,THEY HAVE RIGHTS.Meanwhile, Mr Patel can go to the insurers or Retire, His Choice entirely ,after all he does live in a free country.
I have now lived in London for 7 years.Unlike the Small Crypto Fascist State
Therefore when i go home on the Tube
I also have the complete Right not to venture to Brixton,Camden and Various Council Estates unless i want to be mugged
I also have the complete freedom to see Children coming to the local mall after school and stealing AND then telling the Police to lay their hands off this because , get this
There is a Difference between Paper Rights and Actual Rights.Guess Which place had a Higher quality of Life IMHO.
Wanted : A Signature.
Unfortunately for me, and for others whose passports say "USA", as tourists, we cannot legally stay in Japan more than 90 days at a time AND subsidize our stay via legal work. The normal ways westerners from the US can stay over 90 days are:
-- Finally gain residency (by defined immigration means)
-- become hired by a company which handles all the processing in advance (or, after the fact, sends the new hire out for one day to reenter as a hired employee)
-- be transferred there by an external or internal company having recognized operations/presence in Japan
-- at day 89 or 90, depart for at least one day, say to Korea, The Philippines, or SOMEplace outside of Japan proper, then return
Now, as for Canadians, many Europeans, many Asians from local non-enemy countries, and Australia, visitors CAN stay over 90 days AND work to subsidize their visit. They can stay **180*** days before having to depart.
I realize that there potentially could be hundreds of thousands of "merkuns" who could visit Japan and theoretically, if allowed to stay 180 days like other non-US passport holders, could swamp out the other visitors from smaller, less number-intensive who may have a lot to offer to Japan besides the presence of US companies and diplomats and soldiers/base occupation.
So, many "Americans" or US passport holders CHEAT, or game the system. They do the round-robin number, until at some point, some diligent or irritated immigration worker/officer sees the impropriety of doing this to effectively "live" in Japan. Sure, some of these US citizens CAN and DO speak Japanese, and maybe even other languages and probably have a lot to offer, but that's not the point. The Japanese system is very specific (not that the US' isn't), and some things are frowned upon.
Another way people cheat is by exploiting their dual citizenship status in more than one country. Some people visiting Japan are blood-related (but not enough) and hold a Japanese passport (or maybe just permission) to go to school, but hold Australian, Canadian, and European passports and just rotate them carefully so as to time/juxtapose the stamps so as to confuse or snow the immigration official at the inspection counter. Until and unless a system tracking retina, fingerprints, and other non-passport-dependent information is installed and vetted of bogus information, people will game the system.
This is likely the UNSPOKEN reason. 9/11 is a red herring. Since the embarrassing loss of WWII Japan generally knows how to conduct herself so as to not INVITE or DESERVE any 9/11 attack from external elements. Showing pity for the US is just a face-saving AND a red-herring method to push this fingerprinting thing through. I don't AT ALL have a problem with it. I've encountered numerous people gaming the system, and they are just giving a bad name to everyone who WANTS to LEGALLY immigrate to, even if only seasonally residing in, Japan.
So, what I'd like to see Japan's Immigration agency consider is something like this:
- Time-Restricted visitors should earn behavior points accrued during their initial and susequent stays
-- those who show respect for immigration and labor laws (or, at least not "caught", or if found out, at least have not received any official action such as fines, ejection, barring, etc...) get to apply for seasonal 180-day or 90+ day duration visits.
-- After at least one or two successful (needn't be consecutive) and trouble-free visits, the visitor could apply for and obtain a working permit to subsidize visits.
-- after so many (maybe 4 or 5) repeated 90+day visit/working holiday stays, the person would be required to "take a break" so as to allow OTHER first-time visiting US or time-restricted visitors to enjoy the same new benefit granted to US or time-restricted visitors.
I say this because I don't think Japan is trying to be evil, but somewhere along the line in my frustration, I began using the statement, "But *I* didn't drop the bomb. I wasn't even BORN then. I had
Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"