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alien registration law may be changed. whoo boy!

"Foreigners will still be listed on a separate ledger from Japanese residents, and they will most likely be required to carry their IDs at all times," said Shimada, who is married to a Thai.

Shimada said that information on households may become more accessible by local governments, but discriminatory clauses will likely remain. "The Justice Ministry will have better control and more information on foreigners in Japan — and that seems to be the only change in the proposal for the new law," he said.

Doesn't really sound like much will change for long term stayers, it's an improvement though I suppose. To be honest I couldn't really understand what the article was introducing, we get a certificate now, I'd wanna chuck mine out if i'm not required to keep it.
 
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The data will be controlled in a similar manner as for Japanese citizens
Do you want to be treated differently?
From your posts/threads in the past, I assume your answer is definitely "NO", isn't it?

It might be good if the new policy solves the current Jyuminhyo problem as well.
 
Do you want to be treated differently?
From your posts/threads in the past, I assume your answer is definitely "NO", isn't it?

It might be good if the new policy solves the current Jyuminhyo problem as well.

I had a quick browse through the "new" rules, although they really do not appear to be any big deal.

Bottom line is, the laws scream loud and clear discrimination.

I think Japan should turn the page, start a new chapter and pull out of it's closed door scenario which no longer applies.

They really NEED to get rid of discrimination, and internationalize a bit better than what they are currently doing, after all, that's what they want.
 
REMEMBER TAMA-CHAN!
Honorary Jūminhyō
On February 12, 2002, Nishi Ward office in Yokohama issued an honorary jūminhyō to Tama-chan, an arctic bearded seal who took up residence in the rivers of Yokohama and Tokyo and became a national celebrity. This prompted a group of non-Japanese residents to paint whiskers on their faces and stage a protest march to demand their own jūminhyō.
Jūminhyō - Wikipedia
For some who did not know it was just a joke, it may be the big deal here, though I do not know what the new registry will be like...
 
I can't say I fully grasp this.

What does collecting information on a household basis mean, and how would it give governments easier access to information?
 
It has not been explained clearly (enough) how the new policy will make things easier. The most insidious view on it, though, is to compare this separate registration system with the JukiNet policy that was tried and abolished in short order for national identity recordkeeping of Japanese. Heads up, people!
 
The only concrete change I see here is that the Japanese government will have more information on foreigners in one spot, 'household' information. So if you're a family living together you'll be treated as such, instead of a few separate foreigners living in the same domicile.

That and having to carry around a card, which is a benefit over having to carry around your passport because if you lose that you're screwed.

There have been far worse policies enacted closer to home with much less press coverage and even less disclosure by government. Honestly, sounds like they're just updating the system, paper has to become plastic and data at some point.
 
We foreigners already have to carry around a card in place of a passport. Don't you realize that? If some people have their way, there will be even more information on it, and that begins to infringe on privacy, plus it could be dangerous.

The only concrete change I see here is that the Japanese government will have more information on foreigners in one spot, 'household' information. So if you're a family living together you'll be treated as such, instead of a few separate foreigners living in the same domicile.
Look. This is not 1972. This is 2008 and computers can collate the data well enough without putting foreigners in a separate registration category.

Do you even know what JukiNet is? If you don't, please look it up and learn how this proposed policy is dangerously close to that. Besides, where does my Japanese wife and son fit into this registration system? They shouldn't be separate, but they can't be considered as aliens like me. Is my family and millions of others like it going to be registered by the MOJ on two separate registration systems?

The government lost millions of pension records.
The government leaked sensitive private data that they claimed was secure.
The government spent a mere 1000 bucks on its new fingerprinting policy.

The issue is not as simple as you make it out to be, bakakanadajin.
 
Ok well I didn't to be honest, so I looked it up. Actually it sounds much like something they tried to do in Canada here a little while ago. It sounds like what they're trying to do the world-over these days.

It really just confirms what PachiPro has been saying, which is that global surveillance is on the rise. I would have to agree with you that it's an ominous foreshadowing to the level of control governments will have over citizens in a decade or two, but I do not think it's limited to gaijin. The goal of a project like this is to ensure total control, and that would include Japanese citizens. The level of co-operation between the US and Japan, and the pressure by the US on Japan to participate in the war on terror doesn't bode well for Japan in general. The trickle down will eventually reach even the gaijin too.

So I think you're battling only one of the monster's many heads here.
 
bakakanadajin,
Your profile says you have been here 1-3 years. Was that for work of any sort or pleasure? I'm beginning to get the impression you have never worked here. If you had, you would have known that an alien card is standard here. Has been for decades, in whatever form it was (used to be a whole booklet, yet you were still required to carry it on you).
 
I should have said "that and having to carry around a 'new' card"; I'm aware of the general card rule, Glenski, I had my own and enjoyed not having to carry around my passport, as I mentioned. I can scan the thing and email you a copy if it'll make you feel better.

Glenski you wear your long, tedious years in Japan like some kind of crown of thorns. I can't really say I've noticed many positive things in your posts, especially when it comes to discussing the Japanese and their culture. I really think you're living in the wrong spot.
 
I have tried to write in a different style. It just doesn't come out. I'm not as downtrodden as many choose to believe. One thing that I do my best on these forums is to enlighten the novices. So many people want to come here (or have already) with false ideas of what to expect. I was there once, but my own experiences gave me a lucky break to ease such discomfort. I am merely trying to pass along information so that others may not have to suffer so much. What also comes out is that there are 2 sides to things, and lots of people only want to believe the rosy side (or they want to PORTRAY it for others). I don't like that, but to show the other side to people makes it look like I'm 100% negative.

Hey, I wouldn't have come here, married a Japanese, and decided to stay if I was so darned anti-Japan as people think.
 
It is good that both Japanese and Chinese people share the idea, "it is illegal to produce fake official documents incl. the registration card in Japan.
But unfortunately, there was a serious case in which some guys imported some materials for the card and produced the fake cards. They allegedly produced and handed more than 100 cards here.

It is ridiculous that you are not arrested just because you carry a fake regident card now, so the law should be updated. Of course, I know it is just another cat-and-mouse game...
 
The government lost millions of pension records.
The government leaked sensitive private data that they claimed was secure.
The government spent a mere 1000 bucks on its new fingerprinting policy
.

We are doomed! The government needs to scrap any kinds of biometric surveillence because governments screw up time after time. While we are at it the government should scrap the outrageous gaijin card policy too.
 
Naw, I'd rather carry around the card than my whole passport.

(Yes, your mocking sarcasm was not wasted.)
 
I was not being sarcastic. I do not think foreigners should have to carry their cards at all time. Neither carry their passports.
 
We already have to carry a card with us all the time, I don't see a big thing about that.
 
Swissjin !

I remember in Switzerland I have always to carry
a proof of identity, card ,dr.license, pp, with me.
Swiss or foreigner, no difference. No problem!!
 
Does your ATM card have your fingerprint on it? Or an embedded microchip? Or a lot more personal information just because of your nationality?

Obviously, it's not such a small detail to some of us with this proposed policy change in mind.
 
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