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19 Days Detention False Arrest by Chiba Police leading to overstay of 15 day Japanese Visa

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But it was in the trunk inside a tool box

They can actually be legally carried as part of a tool kit - they just have to be in a toolbox or tool bag of some sort along with other tools.
 
Im just gonna go ahead and not carry knives of any size around in Tokyo because why the fuck would anyone be doing that anyway?

I prefer a small lockback folder for opening boxes, those papercutters have a tendency for the blade to snap. I have a nifty scar as a reminder of that.

That said, I carry mine in a zipped case with a few other handy day to day tools, and I leave it at home/the office if I intend on drinking later that day.

(I was a boy scout back in the day.... still like to be prepared)
 
Something in the story really doesnt add up... unless you are a chef or something what exactly were you doing carrying around big knifes in packaging that lets people see them?
 
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I dont understand you. You are a non-citizen in a foreign country walking around with multiple largish knives in plastic bags. You are selling these knives and having disputes with your customers that result in police involvement. You are coming and going in and out of the country, staying for short periods of time and, again, wandering around in front of 7-11s in Chiba with a bag full of knives. You absolutely deserved to be detained and then kicked out! If you are a legitimate knife maker or salesperson or if you have some valid reason to be carrying knives around in bags, you would a have some local Japanese knife business contacts to vouch for you. You don’t. You are just a strange foreigner walking around with a bag full of knives and causing trouble. Go back to your country where they have an obligation to deal with you.
 
And at this point, I am going to say that you are not telling the whole truth.

1) You initially claim that you were accused of assaulting someone with knives.

2) You now claim that the knives were hidden the entire time.

Nobody would have claimed you were assaulting them with a knife unless they knew you had one on you.

I'm going to guess that at the very least, you took them out to look at them, and someone called the police because they saw a man walking around with a couple of large knives, and you were taken in. It also wouldn't have been for assault, because a knife assault leaves physical evidence - blood on the blade, injuries on the victim. You're either trying to inflate the story, or you didn't understand the charges. You were most likely taken in for illegal carry, which normally means a little questioning, the knives get confiscated, and you're free to go. More on that in a second.

They also do not choose to hold you for nineteen days. When you are arrested, the initial hold is for three days. The police can ask the prosecutor to apply to a judge to have this extended by ten days, and they can apply for a second extension of ten days, for a total of twenty-three days before they are required to indict or release you.

Further - the number of police officers summoned would indicate that you were being highly argumentative. If you have been cooperative, you might have seen a second pair of officers, not 10 cars' worth.

In the case of an actual assault with a knife leaving physical evidence, they will hold you until you confess, then indict you.

In the case of a misunderstanding - such as not knowing that you have to securely package knives when transporting them to/from a store and carry the receipt - you will generally just be given a form in which you admit that you did something ill-advised and you promise not to do it again. You sign the form, you walk. You don't sign the form, you are held for further questioning.

If you are rude, uncooperative, or in any way troublesome, they will apply for the extensions. In your case, twice. You must have been a real pain in their butts.

I'm not calling you a liar, but you are definitely not telling the whole story, and you are misrepresenting parts of it.

Regardless, there is no avenue at this stage for you to get the travel ban overturned.

Hidden in a labeled box- they knew he had knives. He was returning something to a knife seller.
 
I dont understand you. You are a non-citizen in a foreign country walking around with multiple largish knives in plastic bags. You are selling these knives and having disputes with your customers that result in police involvement. You are coming and going in and out of the country, staying for short periods of time and, again, wandering around in front of 7-11s in Chiba with a bag full of knives. You absolutely deserved to be detained and then kicked out! If you are a legitimate knife maker or salesperson or if you have some valid reason to be carrying knives around in bags, you would a have some local Japanese knife business contacts to vouch for you. You don’t. You are just a strange foreigner walking around with a bag full of knives and causing trouble. Go back to your country where they have an obligation to deal with you.
He is not a knife-seller. Just some guy who bought two knives.
 
I prefer a small lockback folder for opening boxes, those papercutters have a tendency for the blade to snap. I have a nifty scar as a reminder of that.

That said, I carry mine in a zipped case with a few other handy day to day tools, and I leave it at home/the office if I intend on drinking later that day.

(I was a boy scout back in the day.... still like to be prepared)

Interesting discussion. I was actually contacted (stopped) by police twice, once while living in Osaka and once while on vacation in Akihabara, both times while in possession of a blade.

The first time was in 2008, and I guess I looked like a suspect in some crime and was stopped by Osaka cops near my home station. When they figured out I was a gaijin their racist radars really went off and they dragged me into the koban to "talk." Emptied my pockets and on my keychain was the same red Swiss Army knife I've carried since I was probably 7 or 8 years old. Blade was probably around 7cm. Didn't even bat an eyelash. All they wanted to see was my gaijin card, make sure my status was legal, etc., and when they learned I was a JAPANESE American, the whole bigot thrill was gone. They soon got bored, gave me all my stuff back and let me go.

The second time was a couple years back. I had just checked into my hotel in Akihabara and stepped out the door when an undercover cop stopped me and asked to look in my bag. I replied in English that I was an American and he was free to look at my bag. He spoke decent English, thanked me, and started looking in my bag. Now, when I travel, I carry my trusted Leatherman pocket tool everywhere I go for emergency purposes, and after being stopped with an actual folding knife in Osaka before and it not being any issue at all, I didn't even think anything of it. Among its tools is a folding blade, perhaps 7cm. He sees this, motions to an unmarked car and tells me to get in the backseat. Inside, he and another, younger cop start asking me why I'm carrying this, and I reply that I always do in case of emergency. They don't like the answer tell me that I must have a purpose for carrying it, that I can't just randomly carry a blade, and I keep explaining that it's just for emergencies, is pretty normal elsewhere in the world and I wasn't aware that it would be a problem, hence me happily handing over my bag.

At this point he's really frowning and it's starting to look like I may be in trouble, so I explain to him what I do for a living back home and the nature of the work I do for the U.S. government. I can't elaborate, it's nothing flashy, but to a cop it will be impressive and this stops him. He relays to the operator on his mic what I just said, and they have short discussion and then the station tells him to just let me go. From now, the entire atmosphere becomes much friendlier, and we end up talking about their jobs, what it's like being a cop in Japan, how long they've been on the job, they show off their shields and little peashooter .38spc revolvers, I explain that I carried the nicer, airweight version of that Smithy pointed at my balls every day in college and about other random firearms/tactical training I've been through and my workout routine. It actually starts getting a little touchy (outside of Japan this would've counted as a homosexual experience) as they both start rubbing and squeezing my pecs and biceps/triceps while grunting in approval. He asks if when I said "emergency" I meant a fight, and I assured him that due to the nature of my job I'm obviously not going to be starting brawls on the street in Tokyo, and also that only pussies fight with knives and that if someone decides to assault me I'm perfectly happy to use my fists. He likes this. I ask why they had stopped me in the first place as I'd never been stopped like that before and they admit that the government has ordered random stop-and-search for all Japanese-looking males carrying bags as a new measure to counter drug dealing. Fair enough, and when I looked out the window, I actually do see multiple Japanese men being stopped on the street and having their bags searched. Anyhow, they thanked me for the cooperation, I thanked them for the interesting conversation, promised the Leatherman would be locked in my suitcase for the rest of my trip and they let me go.

Funny part, I was randomly stopped twice more that same day, both leaving and coming back to the hotel. I made a joke to the third cop that this was my third search of the day and they should start compensating me like I was his date. He didn't find this funny.

After that, I just stopped carrying my bag.
 
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Interesting discussion. I was actually contacted (stopped) by police twice, once while living in Osaka and once while on vacation in Akihabara, both times while in possession of a blade.

The first time was in 2008, and I guess I looked like a suspect in some crime and was stopped by Osaka cops near my home station. When they figured out I was a gaijin their racist radars really went off and they dragged me into the koban to "talk." Emptied my pockets and on my keychain was the same red Swiss Army knife I've carried since I was probably 7 or 8 years old. Blade was probably around 7cm. Didn't even bat an eyelash. All they wanted to see was my gaijin card, make sure my status was legal, etc., and when they learned I was a JAPANESE American, the whole bigot thrill was gone. They soon got bored, gave me all my stuff back and let me go.

The second time was a couple years back. I had just checked into my hotel in Akihabara and stepped out the door when an undercover cop stopped me and asked to look in my bag. I replied in English that I was an American and he was free to look at my bag. He spoke decent English, thanked me, and started looking in my bag. Now, when I travel, I carry my trusted Leatherman pocket tool everywhere I go for emergency purposes, and after being stopped with an actual folding knife in Osaka before and it not being any issue at all, I didn't even think anything of it. Among its tools is a folding blade, perhaps 7cm. He sees this, motions to an unmarked car and tells me to get in the backseat. Inside, he and another, younger cop start asking me why I'm carrying this, and I reply that I always do in case of emergency. They don't like the answer tell me that I must have a purpose for carrying it, that I can't just randomly carry a blade, and I keep explaining that it's just for emergencies, is pretty normal elsewhere in the world and I wasn't aware that it would be a problem, hence me happily handing over my bag.

At this point he's really frowning and it's starting to look like I may be in trouble, so I explain to him what I do for a living back home and the nature of the work I do for the U.S. government. I can't elaborate, it's nothing flashy, but to a cop it will be impressive and this stops him. He relays to the operator on his mic what I just said, and they have short discussion and then the station tells him to just let me go. From now, the entire atmosphere becomes much friendlier, and we end up talking about their jobs, what it's like being a cop in Japan, how long they've been on the job, they show off their shields and little peashooter .38spc revolvers, I explain that I carried the nicer, airweight version of that Smithy pointed at my balls every day in college and about other random firearms/tactical training I've been through and my workout routine. It actually starts getting a little touchy (outside of Japan this would've counted as a homosexual experience) as they both start rubbing and squeezing my pecs and biceps/triceps while grunting in approval. He asks if when I said "emergency" I meant a fight, and I assured him that due to the nature of my job I'm obviously not going to be starting brawls on the street in Tokyo, and also that only pussies fight with knives and that if someone decides to assault me I'm perfectly happy to use my fists. He likes this. I ask why they had stopped me in the first place as I'd never been stopped like that before and they admit that the government has ordered random stop-and-search for all Japanese-looking males carrying bags as a new measure to counter drug dealing. Fair enough, and when I looked out the window, I actually do see multiple Japanese men being stopped on the street and having their bags searched. Anyhow, they thanked me for the cooperation, I thanked them for the interesting conversation, promised the Leatherman would be locked in my suitcase for the rest of my trip and they let me go.

Funny part, I was randomly stopped twice more that same day, both leaving and coming back to the hotel. I made a joke to the third cop that this was my third search of the day and they should start compensating me like I was his date. He didn't find this funny.

After that, I just stopped carrying my bag.
Next time you get all friendly over firearms and bully clubs with some Japanese cops, do me a favor and ask them why they are all so fucking stupid. Why they all graduated from Physically education Universities, why they all wear ill fitting uniforms, why they let sadistic Judo coaches make them practice headlocks until their ears are permanently disfigured, why they don’t speak English at fucking all, why they are all mostly short fireplug shaped mother fuckers, why they come to my house unannounced and want me to ‘register’ in some unknown ambiguous log book ‘for my own safety’, why they like to ride around in heavily armored riot buses as if this is Argentina during Pinochet. Yada Yada and Yada.
 
Next time you get all friendly over firearms and bully clubs with some Japanese cops, do me a favor and ask them why they are all so fucking stupid. Why they all graduated from Physically education Universities, why they all wear ill fitting uniforms, why they let sadistic Judo coaches make them practice headlocks until their ears are permanently disfigured, why they don’t speak English at fucking all, why they are all mostly short fireplug shaped mother fuckers, why they come to my house unannounced and want me to ‘register’ in some unknown ambiguous log book ‘for my own safety’, why they like to ride around in heavily armored riot buses as if this is Argentina during Pinochet. Yada Yada and Yada.

Just admit it. The badge turns you on.
 
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