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.
Gomen nasai.
