Japan to Start Fingerprinting Foreign Travelers 520
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."
Shared? (Score:5, Interesting)
Am I supposed to just accept that this violation-by-proxy is legal?
Perfect timing (Score:5, Interesting)
Bonus points for this idiot minister [bbc.co.uk] using a bullshit "a friend of a friend is in Al Quaeda, therefore all foreigners are dangerous" claim to justify this crap.
Re:The US has been doing this for a while now. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:New Travel Destination (Score:4, Interesting)
Never forget that your government owns you.
Re:New Travel Destination (Score:2, Interesting)
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 [gov-online.go.jp]
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.
What goes around comes around. (Score:1, Interesting)
What goes around comes around.
Re:Let me tell you how ridiculous this is... (Score:5, Interesting)
Accept Japanese citizenship -- thanks but no thanks, I'd rather have the flexibility of my existing Canadian passport. If it means my whole family has to pack its bags and we move back to Canada, so that I can stop having my taxes go to support a repressive government that treats me like a criminal, I'll happily leave Japan to the demographic disaster looming on the horizon.
Given this country's low birthrate, aging population, and pension plan on the brink of collapse, immigration is the only answer. If the Japanese government believes that it can sustain population/economic growth while treating immigrants like criminals, this country will get what it deserves. The rest of us will be watching it collapse from the countries we've returned home to.
Re:New Travel Destination (Score:2, Interesting)
Discrimination in a Different Sense (Score:3, Interesting)
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. [japantimes.co.jp]
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.)
Re:Thanks to the US (Score:3, Interesting)
That video is so insulting and so amateurish that it's hard to believe it ever saw the light of day. The really ironic part is that the Ministry of Justice (see, I watched all the way to the end) could have easily--and for a small amount of money--have gotten an American PR firm to create an infomercial so good that people throughout the western would would have paid to rent it. Because we gaijin really are slightly retarded--and now we know that we're not the only ones.
Re:Hmmm... (Score:2, Interesting)
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.
Re:Who is Disney working for (Score:3, Interesting)
While cast members working the gates should be aware of this policy, it's downplayed; it's all about getting people in as efficiently as possible while maintaining control over tickets (shared tickets / fraud was a huge problem before), which is the driving force behind having such scanners.
Personally, I have no problem with the finger scan - it's fast and much easier than searching around for my ID
In an ideal world, there would be no finger scanners, but it's a reality
Also, this is a, admittedly more complicated, way to test whether Disney really deletes fingerprint data or not after 30 days - they claim to
Ron
Another way to protest...request for help (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Let me tell you how ridiculous this is... (Score:4, Interesting)
1. I didn't say that others with different visas couldn't do this as well. As you say anyone with a re-entry permit can, but then you have to explain the re-entry permit system to everyone. The only real point is that a special ability that you were granted as a resident of Japan is now being taken away and the value of your status in Japan has been reduced to nil as far as airport immigration is concerned. You, me and those lovely Filipino "entertainers" will have to shift over to the visitor counters.
2. Get real. That four years is a theoretical minimum that almost never applies in practice. It took me 5 years and I was married to a Japanese and already had one kid. My friends have all taken MUCH longer. The requirements to get a Permanent Residence have also become MUCH stricter as of late.
3. Yes I do. There has been a LOT of discussion about this on JapanProbe.com, JapanToday.com and JapanTimes.com. Although current residents have spotted the camera and fingerprint machines at the Japanese passport counters they has been no guarantee that they will be used there unless there is an overflow of foreign tourists. We'll see in a couple of days when the lines at immigration stretch back to the planes.
4. That's obvious, You'll always pick the the shorter lines but every single time I've entered over the past 10 years the Japanese lines have always been shorter. In any case I've never found the visitor counters faster. if you're heading over to the Japanese counters they can assume you already are legit.
5. This is confusing. You don't renew a permanent resident permit. The maximum length of a re-entry permit is 3 years for regular visa holders and permanent residents. There is a 5-year re-entry permit that can only be obtained by Special Permanent Residents (The resident Koreans for the most part). The validity of a multiple re-entry permit can usually only be affected by the expiry of your Alien Registration Card or passport.
Your last two points made me chuckle. I have already been fingerprinted by the Ward office. I started living permanently in Japan in 1986. The advancement we permanent residents were able to achieve by the removal of the fingerprinting requirement is now being taken away. The most important point to remember is that Japanese are NEVER fingerprinted unless they have been found guilty of a crime. I don't know for certain that Japanese applying for high-security positions aren't fingerprinted but knowing the cultural stigma associated with it, I think it unlikely. The usual excuse is that the Japanese have koseki so they don't need that form of identification.
And finally, yes, it is possible and I time myself to try and set a new record but that will no longer be possible. A sub 5-minute transition requires it just being myself with only a backpack at a brisk jog from the jetway without having to take the shuttle at terminal 2. No-one lined up at the Japanese and re-entrant's immigration counters with a friendly young male officer who tend to want to get rid of you quicker then a run down the escalators and use the same young male officer trick at customs walking up to him with passport open at the eijukyouka page and saying "Konnichiwa, eijusha desu kedo, kyou shucho kara kaetekimashita. That gets me through without them even opening my pack. Then it's just another little sprint down to the Skyliner ticket counter.
Japan is a racist society (Score:2, Interesting)
You cannot renounce other citizen ships (Score:3, Interesting)
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.
Re:New Travel Destination (Score:3, Interesting)
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?
Re:Hmmm... (Score:2, Interesting)
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...
Fingerprint security already busted (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Fingerprinting, Iris Scans, etc WorldWide Soon (Score:2, Interesting)
Reassuring to know then, that on the occasions when my fears came true the police said...
Re:New Travel Destination (Score:3, Interesting)
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!
Re:Hmmm... (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
Re:New Travel Destination (Score:3, Interesting)
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.
Re:Hmmm... (Score:3, Interesting)
-- 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