Here they come... the borders are opening back up. Sorta.

[shadowboxer]

well, must be those northern de-industrialized semi-barbaric regions of France close to the Belgian frontier, full of inbred alcoholics, beer-guzzling football maniacs, in short kinda-Brits just speaking a different language, not sure which one though…

"Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis"

 

[Frenchy]

"Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis"

Exactly the movie I was thinking about !

 

[Shymes]

You may enjoy reading through this Reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/HermanCainAward/
I get a perverse satisfaction reading that Reddit here and there.

If you like reading about that sort of thing (and I’m in that category), another one is www.sorryantivaxxer.com - this one also includes all the garbage they post on social media about the PLANdemic plus all the requests for prayers as they slowly fade away and die a completely preventable death.

 

[Joe2017]

This alert was posted yesterday on the Twitter account of the US Citizen Services section of the embassy warned US citizens must bring proof of their immigration status and notify their consulate if they are detained. The alert added that several foreigners "were detained, interrogated and searched."
It is not my case, but has there been any TAG member stopped by police these days?

 

[Durg50]

This is getting a lot of traction on twitter.

Probably someone working at the embassy got stopped by police and kicked up a fuss, so they posted this.

ive been stopped a couple times (in almost 20 years) and both times i was on my bike and they were stopping people at random on a street corner to check the bike wasnt stolen.

 

[Frenchy]

This is getting a lot of traction on twitter.

Probably someone working at the embassy got stopped by police and kicked up a fuss, so they posted this.

ive been stopped a couple times (in almost 20 years) and both times i was on my bike and they were stopping people at random on a street corner to check the bike wasnt stolen.

yeah, same with me recently
They checked and then politely apologized for the disturbance. But Maybe I should inform my embassy of this unbearable and borderline xenophobic hurt to my freedom and feelings

 

[CharlieSimms]

Oh @Frenchy you poor poor man. I hope they didn’t get too rough with you..

 

[Sudsy]

The reality is that they stop and check foreigners about as often (per capita) as they do Japanese. Americans just assume they’re being racially profiled because their own cops do it so often.

 

[Frenchy]

The reality is that they stop and check foreigners about as often (per capita) as they do Japanese. Americans just assume they’re being racially profiled because their own cops do it so often.

Also, here, they are much more likely to be from a different race than the cops

 

[Joe2017]

Oh @Frenchy you poor poor man. I hope they didn’t get too rough with you..

View attachment 17281

Where is this cop patrolling?

 

[MikeH]

I think I have told it before but I was once racially profiled (because I was driving an old Toyota), illegally made to do a sudden stop (I was speeding and did not realise the stop early enough) and then made to blow to a strange looking device by this really tight looking spinner in a police uniform which she filled to the brim and then some.

The whole interaction lasted around three seconds and then she told I can go. I was considering having a few beers and then coming back so I could have a longer discussion with her, that is how hot she was.

 

[Ken1988]

A Japanese on YouTube video "一年中職務質問される男" says he got stopped so many times (3 times a day was his record) because of his hairstyle (tread hair). It's actually shocking to see the level of search they did to him. For some Americans' definition, this much of search may be enough to be an interrogation and detention (on the street though). In the 80s when I lived in Japan, they often stopped me just to check my bike's registration number and that was it...

 

[Rusty Trombone]

Swings and Roundabouts!!
How many times have you been racially profiled by a hot Japanese girl who wants to test drive a foreigner?
Never ever hear many complaints about that.

Bit off topic, and we've discussed this before, but now when I check into a hotel and if they ask for a Zairyu card, I just tell them I'm a Japanese national and it shuts them right up.

 

[MikeH]

How many times have you been racially profiled by a hot Japan girl who wants to test drive a foreigner?
Never ever hear many complaints about that.

Exactly what I told to an American friend who complained about the Japanese old guys being racist!

As long as they don't show their racism by putting a car tyre around me and setting me on fire or make me swing from a telephone pole I am happy to take that exchange.

 

[Durg50]

Swings and Roundabouts!!
How many times have you been racially profiled by a hot Japanese girl who wants to test drive a foreigner?
Never ever hear many complaints about that.

Bit off topic, and we've discussed this before, but now when I check into a hotel and if they ask for a Zairyu card, I just tell them I'm a Japanese national and it shuts them right up.

I just give then my card, dunno why but the request never bothers me.

 

[hibikeship]

You are supposed to carry ID with you anyways right?

 

[biku]

You are supposed to carry ID with you anyways right?

Yes, in theory you should. In practice though...

I've heard what can happen if you're stopped by the police and don't carry an ID, they'll escort you to your house so you can go get it. Certainly enough of a show to make you the next big gossip among the neighbors.

 

[MikeH]

they'll escort you to your house so you can go get it.

Well, they do that if they are feeling especially nice. You most probably need to write a pretty apology letter to them later too.

If they are not nice, or if they just think you need a lesson then you will be escorted to the nearest koban and made to sit there until you manage to get someone to bring that card to them. Remember that they always have more time than you have.

That is why I have been carrying it with me at all times during the last three decades. In that context it is a kind of a bummer that I have been asked to produce it only once.

 

[Sudsy]

Yes, in theory you should. In practice though...

In all my years here, the only people that ever seem to have a problem with carrying their card are Americans.

I've heard what can happen if you're stopped by the police and don't carry an ID, they'll escort you to your house so you can go get it. Certainly enough of a show to make you the next big gossip among the neighbors.

If you're resident in Japan, you're required by law to carry your residence card (not just ID). If you're stopped without your residence card, what happens can vary.

1. In the best case scenario, if the cop is in a forgiving mood and it's your first time, you might be escorted back to your home to get it - which also means a police officer will be entering your home with you, usually after being subjected to several hours of questioning. You will then be required to submit a statement that you are aware that you have broken the law before you are released, and will probably have your fingerprints and likely also your DNA taken. This also can affect your chances of receiving a permanent residence visa in the future.
   
   
2. Even if you've honestly just forgotten the card then you may find yourself criminally charged and fined up to 200,000 yen. This may impact status of residence renewals. The chances of this greatly increase on your second time.
   
   
3. If the cop decides that you are willfully refusing to produce the card (or willfully refusing to carry it), you can be criminally charged and penalized with up to one year in prison or a fine of up to 200,000 yen. In addition to the impact on visa renewal, if your status of residence expires while you are in lockup, you will also find yourself charged with overstaying, which means deportation and a ban on re-entry as well. If you are a permanent resident, you may lose your PR status if your residence card expires while you are in prison.

If you are not a resident, you're required to carry your passport at all times.

 

[Keihan]

In addition to the impact on visa renewal, if your status of residence expires while you are in lockup, you will also find yourself charged with overstaying, which means deportation and a ban on re-entry as well. If you are a permanent resident, you may lose your PR status if your residence card expires while you are in prison.

Funny you should mention this. Nearing the end of my stay in Japan, while employed direct-hire by a BOE, I accidentally let me "instructor" visa expire, or whatever the title was. This was back when I think they were still 1-year visas. Completely my fault, realized what I'd done maybe a week or so after expiration date. I start panicking and scouring the Gaijinpot forums where the general consensus is that when I go to the immigration bureau I'm going to be detained, transported to the airport in custody and then deported. I considered going home and packing up my emergency cash reserves and anything valuable and bringing them with me, and also informing my department at work that I may not be coming back again. I decided I'd just take my chances and try my luck.

I guess this is where, as always, it helps to be a true-blue ethnic Cousin of Tojo. Being a "teacher" at one of the most prestigious schools in the prefecture probably helped, also. I showed up at the Osaka immigration office dressed in the most teacherly get-up I could think of (wool v-neck, shirt, tie, slacks, silver-rim glasses and briefcase), explained to the young lady at the counter what I'd done, she calls her supervisor over, they exchange some whispers, I give the most exaggerated "MOSHIWAKE GOZAIMASEN!!" I ever belted out and my best attempt at a pre-harakiri bow almost smacking my fucking face on the desk, and twenty minutes later I'm on my way with everything straightened out. I don't recall the details but my visa was renewed for my final year of teaching.

But I never, ever, ever left home without my gaijin card. I actually still have my first one as a memento. Obviously, I was supposed to surrender it to my ward office during renewal but I wanted a keepsake so I informed the staff that I dutifully cut-up and disposed of my old expired card but would go back home, retrieve the pieces and bring them back to the office if it pleased them. They said it did and issued me my new card. I left and never came back again. Gotta love that Japanese honor system.

 

[Durg50]

and will probably have your fingerprints and likely also your DNA taken. This also can affect your chances of receiving a permanent residence visa in the future.

ive had fingerprints taken and a few hours in a police office (drunk, got in an altercation) and then got a visa, then perm visa after that. I dont think the police and immigration have their shit together to the extent that this stuff gets shared.

Of course had i been charged with a crime im sure that wouldve come up.

 

[MikeH]

I dont think the police and immigration have their shit together to the extent that this stuff gets shared.

I am guessing this was way before the MyNumber system was invented, right? Nowadays, if they want, they can share info much easier than before.

 

[Sudsy]

ive had fingerprints taken and a few hours in a police office (drunk, got in an altercation) and then got a visa, then perm visa after that. I dont think the police and immigration have their shit together to the extent that this stuff gets shared.

Of course had i been charged with a crime im sure that wouldve come up.

They report immigration related violations to immigration. Non-immigration stuff they don't - oddly enough, you're protected there by the privacy law - unless you're indicted.

 

[Rusty Trombone]

Just to weigh in on this, and believe me, I'm a card carrying gaijin from way back (it's tucked into a "secret" pocket on my iphone).

The problem is in Japan, they judge nationality by appearance. If you don't look Japanese, you are the dreaded foreigner. In what other G7 nation do they do this to the extent they do in Japan?

My rational with the hotel is they have no right to ask for it. I have no problem with people who are happy to hand it over, that's their business. It's just a pet peeve of mine. When they ask for it now, I just give them a 日本国籍です. It shuts them right up and I get my room key in record time.

You could also try this out on the police (but I don't have the balls to try).

 

[Rusty Trombone]

They report immigration related violations to immigration. Non-immigration stuff they don't - oddly enough, you're protected there by the privacy law - unless you're indicted.

They also don't seem to share info across borders either. Not like the US / Canada or Australia / NZ seem to do.