Customs inspection at airports

[MikeH]

auto immigration gates in Japan?

Only for VIPs obviously.

Or actually to anyone with a long term visa and who is willing to register his passport with them.

The procedure really doesn't make it that much faster, but the fact that there is always just a few people using it does.

 

[veryniceguy]

Over 35 years of ins and outs here, never had my bags searched ever.... Speaking fluent Japanese helps. But one time....the customs guys actually planted some "drug smelling" thing on the outside of my bag, mainly to test their dogs..... sort of a temporary "shock" moment when three guys and a dog approached me as I was approaching the customs counter.....

 

[Maxblack]

auto immigration gates in Japan?

Only way to fly

 

[KumaDog]

Reading through recent TR airport busts lately it seems physically checking your bag is something they do now when they're bored. Never been checked....so far. (knock on wood)

 

[warubuta]

I am often off the plane and thru immigration and on the train within 45 minutes of the plane getting to the gate.

I go thru the auto gates for immigration and luggage is either non existent or off first (yes I'm a pointy end of the plane wanker)

No need to be embarrassed. And I for one dont think you are a wanker. We all had to go through a period on our way up when we had to take commercial aircraft. Just keep working hard and with good luck, before you know it, you will be with the rest of us on the Learjet!

 

[Mischa Maxwell]

I’m in and out of Tokyo 3-4 times per year and my bags have never been checked. I’m not sure if that’s because I always come in from Australia and not Columbia or some such?

I’m far more concerned with having my bags checked on arrival back in Australia as I have been known to scatter blueberry cigarettes and bottles of sake in my checked luggage.... #sorrynotsorry

 

[BIPSY]

It is mainly random but your appearance does definitely play a role.

I travel together with Japanese people for work all the time and I have never seen them stop a Japanese girl but one in four times or so I'll get a perfunctory check. I don't look terribly "clean cut" and I imagine that has something to do with it.

One thing I have found that helps - speak English. My Japanese is more than sufficient for something like a customs stop but it seems like if you speak English it becomes more of a pain in the ass for them to check so they just let you go through. Just my own experience but something to keep in mind.

 

[Doraemon]

I have only been searched once… in 2016 at Narita.
I was staying at the Gracery Shinjuku in Kabukichou. As soon as the customs officer saw that on my form, he wanted to search all my bags.
He thoroughly searched every bag. Went through everything. Asked me about my meds. Short of a body cavity search, it was a very thorough search.
Later, someone told me that customs were paying attention to people staying in Kabukichou and Roppongi. Not sure how true that is though.

 

[hardharry]

Over 35 years of ins and outs here, never had my bags searched ever.... Speaking fluent Japanese helps. But one time....the customs guys actually planted some "drug smelling" thing on the outside of my bag, mainly to test their dogs..... sort of a temporary "shock" moment when three guys and a dog approached me as I was approaching the customs counter.....

I see Narita Customs is still doing this. A guy I know says it's why he only carries hand luggage. Thought he was a little wonkers (he thinks the Feds are spying on him) until he shared this report ......

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/26/tokyo.cannabis/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
http://www.debito.org/?p=1680

 

[BIPSY]

People inclined to conspiracy theories could definitely see things like that as a way for the authorities to basically say "Hey, we've got our eyes on you so toe the line..."

Personally I lean more towards the customs officers being ham-handed in their training policies but still... holy shit. Even though I've never had a huge pain in the ass customs search in Japan (leave those for LAX...) being used for "training purposes" would not exactly be an experience I would relish.

 

[Sudsy]

But one time....the customs guys actually planted some "drug smelling" thing on the outside of my bag, mainly to test their dogs..... sort of a temporary "shock" moment when three guys and a dog approached me as I was approaching the customs counter.....

I would have a lawyer on their ass so fast for that... emotional distress and defamation are the two things that immediately come to mind.

 

[hardharry]

I would have a lawyer on their ass so fast for that... emotional distress and defamation are the two things that immediately come to mind.

I could see such a lawsuit working in the US but would it have a chance in Japan? Not being rhetorical really want to know

 

[MikeH]

The comments are declaring holy war because Japanese custom services are trying to frame a foreigner for drugs. Nowhere in the news it says it was a foreigner's bag that the stuff was put into.

 

[Sudsy]

I could see such a lawsuit working in the US but would it have a chance in Japan? Not being rhetorical really want to know

Yes, especially if it was business travel and you were with coworkers.

 

[Sudsy]

I've heard of girls denied entry because they are staying in Roppongi.

More importantly - because they actually SAY they're staying in Roppongi. There's no need to be truthful about your hotel location. Immigration doesn't actually have access to hotel records.

 

[MikeH]

More importantly - because they actually SAY they're staying in Roppongi. There's no need to be truthful about your hotel location. Immigration doesn't actually have access to hotel records.

And the hotel name is written by hand in a piece of paper. If I would need to take a guess I would say nobody is going to transfer that to an electronic form so even if they would have access to hotel info they would not be able to cross check that.

Obviously your plans can change too; so if they would check later you just changed hotels, that's not illegal.

 

[jhingy567]

Half the time I don't even have a hotel booked when I land. I usually just put down some random hotel in Shinjuku.

 

[hardharry]

The comments are declaring holy war because Japanese custom services are trying to frame a foreigner for drugs. Nowhere in the news it says it was a foreigner's bag that the stuff was put into.

If this is about the news article where the cannabis was placed inside someones bag. It was a foreigner

https://japantoday.com/category/crime/sniffer-dog-fails-cannabis-test-at-narita-drug-goes-missing
https://www.thefreelibrary.com/H.K.+raps+Japan+over+cannabis+placed+in+traveler's+bag+by+customs.-a0180943906

Unfortunately it wasn't an isolated incident. It had been going on for about three years. There were about three or four agents involved who said they were acting on their own authority (in Japan???). They were reprimanded and given a pay cut for three months or so if I remember the story correctly.

If i find the link I'll post it

Edit
This isn't quite exactly the article I was hoping to find but it does reference the case as well as a few other scary incidents
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commun...are-the-foreigner-as-guinea-pig/#.WowSRqhubIU

This is the one outlining the number of times Narita Customs Agents planted drugs in the bags of unsuspecting foreigners and the "harsh" punishment meted out to those "responsible"
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2...ers-had-habit-of-planting-drugs/#.WowTP6hubIU

 

[User#8628]

If this is about the news article where the cannabis was placed inside someones bag. It was a foreigner

https://japantoday.com/category/crime/sniffer-dog-fails-cannabis-test-at-narita-drug-goes-missing
https://www.thefreelibrary.com/H.K.+raps+Japan+over+cannabis+placed+in+traveler's+bag+by+customs.-a0180943906

Unfortunately it wasn't an isolated incident. It had been going on for about three years. There were about three or four agents involved who said they were acting on their own authority (in Japan???). They were reprimanded and given a pay cut for three months or so if I remember the story correctly.

If i find the link I'll post it

Edit
This isn't quite exactly the article I was hoping to find but it does reference the case as well as a few other scary incidents
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commun...are-the-foreigner-as-guinea-pig/#.WowSRqhubIU

This is the one outlining the number of times Narita Customs Agents planted drugs in the bags of unsuspecting foreigners and the "harsh" punishment meted out to those "responsible"
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2...ers-had-habit-of-planting-drugs/#.WowTP6hubIU

But look at it from the positive side: they got free weed after the dog failed the test.

 

[MikeH]

But look at it from the positive side: they got free weed after the dog failed the test.

And 142 grams. That a really good weekend right there!

 

[BIPSY]

The thing that baffles me is... the guy returned it.

He found weed planted in his suitcase - after he had already gone through customs and on to wherever he was headed - and he actually trusted the chuckleheads enough to risk bringing it back. What if he had been stopped by police and searched on his way to the airport? What are the the chances they would believe that he was just a Dudley Dooright on his way to give the customs agents back their drugs?

 

[User#8628]

The thing that baffles me is... the guy returned it.

He found weed planted in his suitcase - after he had already gone through customs and on to wherever he was headed - and he actually trusted the chuckleheads enough to risk bringing it back. What if he had been stopped by police and searched on his way to the airport? What are the the chances they would believe that he was just a Dudley Dooright on his way to give the customs agents back their drugs?

Was this really a foreigner? Because that sounds a lot like something Japanese people would do.

Leave it to them to bring completely random stuff that nobody is gonna come pick up to the Lost and Found office.

 

[MikeH]

Was this really a foreigner? Because that sounds a lot like something Japanese people would do.

By the way how HK official got pissed it seems it was a HK resident.

The thing that baffles me is... the guy returned it.

The first thing in my mind would be they know who has it, so calling the cops would seem like a decent option. If I thought they didn't know then the first idea would have been to get rid of the evidence by burning it. In my pipe.

And that doesn't change whether you think "they" are the custom guys or yakuza using you to mule their stuff.

 

[danosaka]

I would love to have my suitcase inspected so that all my strategically placed jocks, condoms, and lube falls out as soon as the pretty customs chick unzips it open. So far, no luck but fingers still crossed!

 

[Frenchy]

I would love to have my suitcase inspected so that all my strategically placed jocks, condoms, and lube falls out as soon as the pretty customs chick unzips it open. So far, no luck but fingers still crossed!

... and what if its a 1m90 , 150kg, gay, ex-sumo wrestler?