Your Experiences With The Police In Japan

[roots reggae]

Once again, I'm inspired to begin a thread by my favorite Japanese news site, RocketNews24.

Back in the USA, the police are undergoing quite an image problem. Luckily, at least from my point of view, the situation in Japan is quite different.

Getting stopped by the police in Japan – how often does it happen (and why?)

http://en.rocketnews24.com/2016/07/...ce-in-japan-how-often-does-it-happen-and-why/

What are you experiences with the Police in Japan?

My first contact with Japanese police occurred about a year after I arrived in Japan in 1999. I spoke even less Japanese than I do now, if that's possible.

I was in Yokohama, having driven my car, wandering the streets, looking for a bit of loving from a Japanese working girl. After a couple fruitless hours, I was exhausted and returned to my car, about 1 AM. Oh no! I'd left the keys in the ignition. I guess my mind was otherwise occupied when I parked.

Down the street, I found a koban. The police came with me to the car, and told me that they could call a locksmith, but since it was after hours, it would cost me ¥ 20,000. There went my mongering money. Yes, I got screwed that night, but I did it to myself.

Once the locksmith opened the car, the police checked my registration information and then my driver's license before allowing me to leave.

All in all, first contact was positive.

And now, for your listening pleasure, The Police in Japan:

 

[TheWhiteBear]

I rarely see police officers in Japan and have never talk to one, let along stop by one. I am a law abiding citizen.

 

[Anna Summer]

I never got stopped by police in my previous visits to Japan. But last year was the first time ever. I was waiting with my friend in front of the tracks to being able to cross the road. On the right side is a small Koban and it seemed they had a new guy there to train. I've seen them talking and pointing in our direction. And oh wonder, they came to us, asking for ID and passport... They were nice and quite a bit funny as the 'learning' guy didn't really know what to do with the information on the card and passport of my friend.

 

[TheWhiteBear]

I never got stopped by police in my previous visits to Japan. But last year was the first time ever. I was waiting with my friend in front of the tracks to being able to cross the road. On the right side is a small Koban and it seemed they had a new guy there to train. I've seen them talking and pointing in our direction. And oh wonder, they came to us, asking for ID and passport... They were nice and quite a bit funny as the 'learning' guy didn't really know what to do with the information on the card and passport of my friend.

Does that mean foreigners will always have to carry their passport at all time even if they are resident of Japan?

 

[Smart]

If you are a resident then you are supposed to have your immigration card on you at all times.

 

[roots reggae]

Does that mean foreigners will always have to carry their passport at all time even if they are resident of Japan?

From the article (you'll have to talk someone into reading the rest for you, since polar bears are obviously illiterate):

If a police officer asks for your ID, you are legally obligated to show it. It is illegal to walk around in Japan as a foreigner without either your passport or residence card on your person.

 

[TheWhiteBear]

From the article (you'll have to talk someone into reading the rest for you, since polar bears are obviously illiterate):

If a police officer asks for your ID, you are legally obligated to show it. It is illegal to walk around in Japan as a foreigner without either your passport or residence card on your person.

Thank you roots, Polar bears are just lazy ;p

 

[Desktop]

They were stopping lots of people at one point.
I used to live 3 minutes from a police box & pass it 3 times a day.
While on the phone outside my house a new young officer signaled for me to stop & show ID.
I asked him if he was joking in Japanese. I'm not getting harassed while on the phone 2 minutes from my home. A more senior officer saw the dialogue, came over & told him to leave me alone.
Sometimes young cops do stupid things because of lack of experience.
I like to ask what's the reason & if someone that looks like me did something in my neighborhood then I'll certainly cooperate.

 

[cabbie]

A few years ago I was flying out of Narita. I had literally just gone through security and was putting my belt back on when a very young cop approached me and asked for my passport. I had read on the Debito site that they couldn't do this (I don't recall the reason). I said to the cop in Japanese that I had just shown my passport at security, which was 3 meters behind me, and asked him why.
He then gave me some long spiel about cooperating with anti-terrorism measures. I repeated that I had just gone through security and didn't see the need to show him my passport. However, not wanting to get into shit, I said that as a resident of Japan I didn't want to break any laws. I asked if it was a request （お願い) to see my passport or an order （命令). Rather than give me a straight answer he repeated his anti-terrorism spiel. Listening to it carefully I heard the word request.
At that point I said screw it. There were people around me, I wanted witnesses, so in an intentionally loud voice I asked if I had committed a crime. He said no. I then asked if I was under arrest. He said no. At that point I grabbed my bag, went around him and headed for immigration. As I walked away he kept yelling おかしい、おかしい (strange, strange), which I thought really was a strange thing to yell. I kept waiting for the sound of running footsteps to come after me, but nothing happened. I got on my flight without incident.
Can't imagine getting away with that in the US.

 

[vck_js]

I am totally ignored by police, like so ignored i could almost feel offended
In 5 years living here i've never been IDed, not even when i do the dumbest things: I have NO direction sense (even with Google Map i get lost) and i was supposed to go to an hotel that was not on the little map the shop provided us. So i am in Kabukicho, a scantily-dressed foreigner with a horsewhip in her bag, and the person i asked "I lost my way, can you tell me where is Hotel ******?" was a policeman. The whole situation was basically screaming "illegal work" but the guy couldn't have cared less.

On the other hand my husband is often stopped by the police for bag and ID check. He hates police as much as i do, but he's japanese so he usually do as told. Everytime i am so pissed, so i screencapped the law article saying the police should have a valid reason to do this and that they can't do anything if you refuse to obey (as long as you don't fight/be rude or do some other stupid shit). A few months later, in Kabukicho he was waiting outside while i was at the combini and when i was done i saw police was pestering him. I arrived with my screencaps and forbid him to show his ID/bag. I think we lost more time than if he had showed them, but the satisfaction to see them give up and leave...

As far as criminal police is concerned, i have no personal experience but the general consensus is that they are a bunch of useless and incompetent people.

 

[TheWhiteBear]

From reading all your experiences, it looks like young officers just want to bust a foreigner to gain promotion and the older ones are just racist towards foreigners O_O
This wasn't the police but a Dutch friend of mine was grabbed by an old man while he yelled " Why you here! Why you in Japan!" I went up to the guy and said "おい、てめなにしてんだよ。” and the old guy just responded " Oh you Japanese, welcome to Japan!!" He probably thinks everyone white person is American and wants to bomb Japan again....

 

[scorpioni6ths]

I'm pretty cool w/ the rozzers. Haven't been IDed or bothered and I live less than 10 meters from a koban.

Only time I got stopped by police was when I was cycling. West of Tokyo going through Hinohara (up to Tomin no Mori). They were stopping all cyclist for a safety check. Gave everyone a wooden keychain and flyers.

 

[roots reggae]

I'm pretty cool w/ the rozzers. Haven't been IDed or bothered and I live less than 10 meters from a koban.

Only time I got stopped by police was when I was cycling. West of Tokyo going through Hinohara (up to Tomin no Mori). They were stopping all cyclist for a safety check. Gave everyone a wooden keychain and flyers.

I'm jealous! I've ridden over 8,000 kilometers on my road bikes in Japan, never been stopped by police, and never given a wooden keychain.

Once, two years ago, I stopped near the shore in Hiratsuka, just before the bridge for a rest. I spotted a wallet in between one of those giant concrete jacks lining the shore. There was a driver's license, a ETC card and credit card. So, I stopped at the Kamakura police station across from the beach to turn it in on my way home.

The oldest police officer at the koban did not speak English and contacted this young female officer to take information from me. That was fun since she was pretty and nice.

But I never even got a "thank you" out of it. Oh, well, I have enough key chains, anyway.

 

[roots reggae]

@cabbie and @vck_js,

Both of you sure have balls, cabbie literally and vck_js figuratively. I try to keep a low profile and would have complied while bowing nonstop.

I have good reason, hehe.

 

[Blimon]

I have been stopped and warned a few times probably, because I was doing something wrong. Like cruising on the highway at 130KHP. Other than that they have never bothered me.

 

[MikeH]

They have always been very polite to me when writing me tickets for speeding with my bike or car.

Otherwise they have let me be in peace, never been stopped or questioned for any reason.

Though once when I was drinking with bunch of older police officers in a local matsuri one of decided he liked my white skin enough to put his hand under my skirt to cop a feel.

And while you need to carry your ID at all times you are not obliged to show it...

 

[e-smile]

beside one time when a policeman stopped me to ask me to put my t-shirt on (I was riding a bicycle, it was hot and I didn't know it was forbidden to be topless in the streets even for men) I only speak to them when I need to ask for some location.

 

[User#12791]

I'be been here for about 3 years and have been stopped a total of 4 times. It's always a "random stop".

However, one time I was drinking with some dudes in front of the conbini near the Police box in Shibuya. There was some other foreign dudes there completely wasted in the area, so some cops came over to take a look. Everyone was more or less cool, but I was the only one that spoke Japanese. The cops asked me if anything was up, I told them no, however they wanted to see people's IDs. I don't take any offense by it, so I'm about to whip out mine, when the cop talking to me was like "oh no, you're okay. We want to see everyone else's though."

 

[roots reggae]

They have always been very polite to me when writing me tickets for speeding with my bike or car.

Otherwise they have let me be in peace, never been stopped or questioned for any reason.

Though once when I was drinking with bunch of older police officers in a local matsuri one of decided he liked my white skin enough to put his hand under my skirt to cop a feel.

And while you need to carry your ID at all times you are not obliged to show it...

Surprise!

 

[roots reggae]

Many of you have written that the Japanese police do not have the right to randomly ask for your identification.

So, I looked up a reliable source, The US Embassy and found this:

In Japan, you may be taken in for questioning if you don’t have your passport or Japanese residence card to show your identity and visa status. You must carry your U.S. passport or Japanese Residence Card (Zairyu Kado) with you at all times so that if questioned by local officials, you can prove your identity, citizenship, and immigration status. Under Japanese law, the police may stop any person on the street at any time and demand to see identification. If you do not have with you either a passport or valid Japanese Residence Card, you are subject to arrest.

https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/country/japan.html (when you go to this page, scroll down to the "Local Laws & Special Circumstances" tab an select the + icon. The information above will appear.

 

[MikeH]

Surprise!

Haha, the perils of typing with your phone! I meant shirt, shirt, I swear!

Though the whole incident would probably have been scarring enough for any normal person to make them start wearing skirts! Happily I am not normal.

 

[MikeH]

Many of you have written that the Japanese police do not have the right to randomly ask for your identification.

So, I looked up a reliable source, The US Embassy and found this:

US and reliable mentioned in the same line!

This time I'll go with Debito as he quotes the source (i.e. the law) also: http://www.debito.org/shokumushitsumon.html

So they can stop you and ask for ID. Of course, I can also ask your ID, there is no law against it . But you need to show it only if they have a reason to believe you have committed a crime.

Though the US Embassy might be right in that if you refuse to show your ID they may take you in custody. That would be totally illegal but they might still do it...

If they ever ask me for the ID I will counter with "but isn't it so that Japanese citizens don't need to carry ID?". I will probably need to video that too or they will later claim that I said I am Japanese

 

[roots reggae]

Haha, the perils of typing with your phone! I meant shirt, shirt, I swear!

Though the whole incident would probably have been scarring enough for any normal person to make them start wearing skirts! Happily I am not normal.

A little Freudian Slip, I mean skirt, eh?

 

[roots reggae]

US and reliable mentioned in the same line!

This time I'll go with Debito as he quotes the source (i.e. the law) also: http://www.debito.org/shokumushitsumon.html

So they can stop you and ask for ID. Of course, I can also ask your ID, there is no law against it . But you need to show it only if they have a reason to believe you have committed a crime.

Though the US Embassy might be right in that if you refuse to show your ID they may take you in custody. That would be totally illegal but they might still do it...

If they ever ask me for the ID I will counter with "but isn't it so that Japanese citizens don't need to carry ID?". I will probably need to video that too or they will later claim that I said I am Japanese

Good stuff! You are correct-more in-depth and complete than the US Embassy.

 

[MikeH]

Good stuff! You are correct-more in-depth and complete than the US Embassy.

Well, one of the main jobs of US Embassy is to keep its citizens out of trouble. In that regard their advice is better! And if they fail and an US citizen gets in to a mess in Japan then it means they have more work to do so they have big incentive to shove out this kind of semi-correct info.