To me it's like carying my ATM card around with me... no biggy.
The chances of being asked to actually show your card would be pretty small
You have the right not to show your card without being given a valid reason as to why you've been requested to do so.
A random request based on appearance could just be considered racism.
If you're going through administrative processes such as setting up a bank account, of course you're gonna need to bring some form of ID and the gaijin card is convenient for that purpose I guess.
The difference is that you can't be arrested for not having your ATM card on you. And as long as they don't plan on driving, Japanese are free to leave any and all of their cards at home, but foreigners must tote this card with them each and every minute they are outside.
ﾅ陳ｻﾂ行ﾂ青ｧ窶忸窶堙??堙債催昶?板ｯﾅ?Oﾂ坂?伉人窶堙最津つ人窶儕ﾋ?岩?堙??冢窶｢ﾃｻﾅｽﾂｩﾅｽﾂ｡窶佚娯?堙俄?徙ﾋ弯窶堋ｳ窶堙ｪﾂ、ﾂ青｢窶佚鯛?堋ｲ窶堙??堙固陳ｻ窶ｹﾂｵ窶堙ｰ窶敖ｽ窶ｰf窶堋ｵ窶堙??堋｢窶堙遺?堋｢ﾂ。窶彎ﾂ出窶愿坂?堙娯?凖ｱﾂ出窶堙?窶ｹ`窶督ｱ窶ｰﾂｻ窶堋ｳ窶堙ｪ窶堙??堋ｨ窶堙ｧ窶堋ｸﾂ、ﾂ就ﾅ?wﾅｽﾃｨ窶伉ｱ窶堋ｫ窶堙｢ﾅ停?卍康窶｢ﾃ崘陳ｯ窶ｰﾃ≫?愿ｼ窶堙遺?堙??堙固?ﾃｮ窶話ﾅｽ窶倪?板ｿ窶堙??堋ｵ窶堙??堙坂?｢s窶敕ｵ窶堋ｪ窶伉ｽ窶堋ｭﾂ、ﾂ十窶｢ﾂｪ窶堙按行ﾂ青ｭﾆ探ﾂーﾆ池ﾆ湛窶堋ｪﾅｽﾃｳ窶堋ｯ窶堙ｧ窶堙ｪ窶堙遺?堋｢窶堙遺?堙??堙娯?禿｢窶佚ｨ窶堋ｪﾅｽw窶廢窶堋ｳ窶堙ｪ窶堙??堋｢窶堋ｽﾂ。
窶堋ｱ窶堋､窶堋ｵ窶堋ｽ窶禿｢窶佚ｨ窶堙俄?佚篠祥??堋ｷ窶堙ｩ窶堋ｽ窶堙溪?板ｼﾂ湘遺?堙債、窶愿ｺ窶怒ﾂ人窶堙??慊ｯ窶罵窶堙按青｢窶佚鯛?儕ﾋ?岩?堙個住窶督ｯ窶佚､窶卍?窶堙個青ｮ窶敕ｵ窶堙ｰﾂ行窶堋｢ﾂ、ﾂ新窶堋ｽ窶堙俄?督ｼ窶楼窶堙｢ﾅ?ﾃｧﾅｽﾃ環真窶堙遺?堙??堋ｪ窶愿ｼ窶堙≫?堋ｽﾂ「ﾂ催昶?板ｯﾆ谷ﾂーﾆ檀ﾂ」窶堙ｰ窶敖ｭﾂ行窶堋ｷ窶堙ｩﾅｽd窶枠窶堙昶?堙ｰ窶慊ｱ窶愿ｼ窶堋ｷ窶堙ｩ窶｢ﾃｻﾂ針ﾂ。ﾂ催昶?愿ｺﾅ?ﾃ伉坂?伉・窶卍ｩ窶朗ﾂ人窶堙遺?堙??愿≫?｢ﾃ岩?ｰiﾂ住ﾅｽﾃ停?堙債催昶?板ｯﾆ谷ﾂーﾆ檀窶堙娯?佚篠湘崘?O窶堙??堋ｷ窶堙ｩﾂ。
地域ニュース | 中国新聞デジタル
Points
For better services from local government
For similar family-based registry like Japanese
The special permanent regidents, Koreans and Taiwanese, don't need to carry the regident card.
except when you go jogging... that's the only moment I don't have my card with me... their going to arrest me for that?
..you know nothing of the discrimination that foreigners put up with on a daily basis.
Jimmy Seal said:I'll say that in the 2.5 years I've been here, the police have never stopped me while I was walking and asked for ID, but there's always that risk, and I would technically be breaking the law by leaving home without it, and that doesn't jive with me.
Dutch Baka said:The change that I will be arrested for not carrying my Alien card while I am jogging is probably 0.0000000001%... So I guess I don't really care about that.
orochi said:I know people who have been detained for hours, questioned about their status, asked if they were terrorists, etc etc all because they walked out the door without that card.
It's pretty embarrassing when you forget a card at home, get interrogated for two hours on why you are in Japan, what your job is, and have to prove that you're not an illegal immigrant or terrorist. It's especially embarrassing when the cops call up your employers to confirm your status.
This is all the more humiliating when you've lived in Japan for several years and have a family.
Ok, look at the two focuses above. Discrimination may or may not be a daily event, but it is present here. It has the potential to affect you daily. You admit that people who live here instead of being a tourist have more potential to experience discrimination (if that's how I read your apples and oranges statement). Think about it. Tourists have little chance to experience discrimination because of their limited time here, but they still experience it, whether they know it or not! Most probably IMO do not realize it.Incidentally, I think people visiting for a few days would be equally qualified to speak on the topic if discrimination was a daily thing, since it'd happen on every single one of those days they were in the country. Everyone's experience is valid.
If you're referring solely to systemic long term issues then we're comparing apples and oranges and you'd be correct,
True, but one's visa status can hang over your head daily. So can your job. I don't think you realize how tenuous some teaching jobs are here. Or how racist some apartment owners/tenants can be and hold the potential to cause problems.but systemic issues really can't be daily issues; you don't renew visas every day, pay taxes every day, move apartments every day, break ice at a new job every day, etc.
True, but that remark only belittles the many who do.Futhermore not everyone experiences problems when it comes time to do those things.
And, I respect that POV. My only thought in response to this is that we are only talking about Japan here, and its specific "hallmarks", not something as frustrating (but less important) as the governmental hassles of getting a driver's license in your own country.Now as for Glenski and issues with MOFA and gaijin status, while I don't agree with him in spirit and presentation, he clearly has a point in principle with regards to information not being as specific as it could be at the point of release. My only issue there is that I'm not willing to view this as ominously as he does (yet), mainly because vagueness and lack of clarity are hallmarks of government world-wide and not just in Japan.
I agree, with the racially charged statement among others. The point I was making was that for a long term resident especially with kids the chance for discrimination is higher and its effects can go much deeper. I also believe that the long term residents are more likely to brush aside the discrimination that can occur on a daily basis. I think you are drifting from the point a little with the visiting people statement, as non of them have to register for an alien card, but I am sure they encounter their fair share of discrimination but that is for another thread wouldn't you think?That's a bit of a gross over-generalization don't you think?
Even in one's home country bad things happen every day, but just because one is overseas that doesn't mean everything is racially charged does it? I highly doubt anyone's life is wraught with THAT much targeted conflict. If it is, they're clearly doing something that annoys people and the fact that they're a gaijin is ancilliary. Incidentally, I think people visiting for a few days would be equally qualified to speak on the topic if discrimination was a daily thing, since it'd happen on every single one of those days they were in the country. Everyone's experience is valid.
Very true, but this topic affects people who will stay here longer than 90 days and the longer you stay the more it affects you.If you're referring solely to systemic long term issues then we're comparing apples and oranges and you'd be correct, but systemic issues really can't be daily issues; you don't renew visas every day, pay taxes every day, move apartments every day, break ice at a new job every day, etc. Futhermore not everyone experiences problems when it comes time to do those things.
I am just saying "don't shoot the messanger", everyone is entitled to an opinion, which includes you and I was not trying to single you out. The problem with the net is that you only see a very ,very small side of someones personality. I am willing to bet that Glenski and others who share the same ideas would probably only think about these kinds of things when they are in the news or when there is a disscusion about these things, which would seem like all the time, but they are not on JREF 24/7. I know I do and for the remaining 99% of the time I try to remain optimistic.Now as for Glenski and issues with MOFA and gaijin status, while I don't agree with him in spirit and presentation, he clearly has a point in principle with regards to information not being as specific as it could be at the point of release. My only issue there is that I'm not willing to view this as ominously as he does (yet), mainly because vagueness and lack of clarity are hallmarks of government world-wide and not just in Japan.
Apparently Dutch you did not read my story of what happened to me when I was innocently riding my bicycle one night and forgot to take my Gaijin Card with me.
Granted, it happened a long time time ago, but I believe the same still happens today. Believe me, it was the only time I did not have it with me and I hardly ever got asked for it, but it is an experience you do NOT want to go through! Trust me.
My advice to you any other other foreigner living there is have it with you at all times and it may save you a helluva lot of frustration and hassle.
Good! I'm glad you understand the seriousness of not having it on your person if asked and the hassle it will be for such a "minor" infraction. Some people have said in other forums that they were allowed to show it after being take home and that nothing close to my experience ever occured and others said they were not and got questioned for hours.Dutch Baka said:I guess I'll take back what I said... and will go jogging with my wallet in my pocketGomen nasai.
slapdasch; Sept 2005; Sushicam forums said:What follows is my own tale of "don't leave home without it"woe. The events described occurred one month ago.
Over the recent Obon holiday, my Japanese wife and I drove from our home in Aomori to Nakajo-machi in Niigata. The trip to my wife's parents'house was uneventful. The next day, while driving around town, I glanced in the rear view mirror and saw a police vehicle behind me. Having done nothing illegal, I didn't think much of it. When the light changed, I moved on, hitting the brakes briefly to negotiate a bend in the road. On went the red flashing lights of the trailing car and I immediately pulled over. The officer informed me that the top part light of my brake light had burned out. He had me stand behind the car while he hit the brake to make the point. He then asked for identification. I showed the two ids I had, a Japanese driver's license and an employee card from the Japanese college I work for. Predictably, that wasn't enough, he wanted to see my gaijin card. I knew I'd forgotten it - something I'd realized half way on the road from Aomori to Niigata - so I fessed up. (I keep two wallets, one with overseas "stuff" and one for Japan. Most items stay separate, but the gaijin card, since it's needed in country and to exit and reenter, "floats" between the two billfolds. Anyway, the surf wasn't up and the card was in the wrong wallet). The officer said I had broken the law and he had no choice but to ask me to accompany him to the police station. He sat in the front seat and I drove, while a second cop took the wheel of the police car.
At the station, I was immediately seated in a small interrogation room on the second floor. Two police officials came in and told me they could not release me without special permission from "higher authorities." My wife was called on the phone and came in to the station. We met briefly and were then informed that I would be questioned alone. An interpreter was called in from Niigata City. I was questioned for 5 and-a-half hours; they wanted to know, in excruciating detail, where I'd been before I was stopped, where I was going, who I knew in the area, what was my version of the circumstances of being stopped and the like. Later, I found my wife, who I'd imagined was just waiting for me, had been questioned for 3 hours herself, mostly on the topics of how we had met, when we got married, and relatives on my side of the family. (I might add that I have been in Japan for 15 years, and have permanent residency. Plus, my wife's father is a doctor who the police knew by name. These points were obvious to the attending officers from the start, but didn't count for much as the wheels of justice ground inexorably on). At the end of the questioning, I signed a statement that explained how and why I had been stopped, why I didn't have the id and offered a sincere apology for my offense. My wife and I were then told permission to let me go had been approved.
So, is that all there is? Not so fast, junior. This was a Friday and I was informed I had to return the following Monday for another 8 hours of questioning!! In the meantime, my wife had to take the train back to Aomori - a 6 hour trip each way and not cheap - to retrieve my gaijin card and passport for the Monday encounter. I was also told not to leave the house we were staying at during the two days.
On Monday, the questions went on for 8 and-a-half hours. The day got off to a bad start when I was asked to voluntarily have a mug shot taken and to be fingerprinted so that the information could be fed into a database and provide proof that I had not committed crimes elsewhere in Japan. The opportunity was declined. For the interview I was asked about everything from the name of the elementary school I went to to details about current personal finances. I refused to answer many of the questions, which nobody seemed to mind. (It should probably be noted that at no time during this entire episode was anyone hostile or threatening. The treatment I received was downright solicitous; I was asked if I wanted to take breaks, if I wanted something to drink, etc. That surface harmony has to be maintained even while - especially while? - the screws are being put to you).
And it's still not over. My case comes up, they didn't say when, before a prosecuter in Niigata who has 3 options; 1) to drop everything 2) to call me in for further questioning or 3) to prosecute.
My own reaction to all this: a mixture of amazement and disgust. The entire process says a lot more about Japan's ongoing lip service to internationalization, its guilty till proven innocent "justice" system and its inability to fathom the inscrutable minds of foreigners than it does about one individual's respect for the law. You almost have to laugh at the degree of heavyhandedness and overkill. Almost.
I warned in previous posts that it was coming and it finally is.Glenski said: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 FBI is embarking on a $1 billion effort to build the world's largest computer database of peoples' physical characteristics, a project that would give the government unprecedented abilities to identify individuals in the United States and abroad.
Digital images of faces, fingerprints and palm patterns are already flowing into FBI systems in a climate-controlled, secure basement here. Next month, the FBI intends to award a 10-year contract that would significantly expand the amount and kinds of biometric information it receives. And in the coming years, law enforcement authorities around the world will be able to rely on iris patterns, face-shape data, scars and perhaps even the unique ways people walk and talk, to solve crimes and identify criminals and terrorists. The FBI will also retain, upon request by employers, the fingerprints of employees who have undergone criminal background checks so the employers can be notified if employees have brushes with the law.
The FBI is building its system according to standards shared by Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
If they get their way your mandatory ID in the US, Japan, Canada, Europe, etc will have your palmprints, iris scans, and every kind of info they can think of to track you. It may even (probably will) have a chip that can track your movements with GPS.
How would one classify this? Will one say that the FBI is discriminating against all Americans if, and when, it happens? If the Japanese decide to impliment it at the prodding of the US government as with the fingerprints at the airports, will all foreigners still scream "Discrimination!" when the US and other countries are doing it to their own people?
And people call me conspiratorial!Instead of blaming the Japanese for being discriminatory against foreigners, you should be researching and blaming the root of it and that is the New World Order and their goal of eventually tracking all people. Japan is only doing what they are told to do and they are in on the game also.