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How will my luggage be inspected? How long will it take?

Approximately 10 minutes. And oh, I think walnuts are prohibited items, might be confiscated by Japanese customs.
 
Dekamaster said:
Approximately 10 minutes. And oh, I think walnuts are prohibited items, might be confiscated by Japanese customs.
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Luckily I'm not bringing any food with me.

Just clothes, my desktop PC, and a few other nice goodies. Comptuers certainly aren't prohibited. But according to Japan customs, pirated data is. But really... I doubt they are so thorough that they would go through every one of your CDs or your program files to find pirated programs in a foreign (to them) language.

I haven't been there yet, but I seriously doubt they'd check for that sort of data unless you looked REALLY suspicious, or said "pirated games" when they asked if you had anything to declare.

Plus, if they decided to search everyone's CDs, they'd NEVER get anybody through customs. And if it's 10-15 minutes like most people say... Well. I'd like to see you flip through 200 CDs in just 10 minutes.
 
I have now loaded everything onto my external drive and I surgest that you do the same thing J44xm, 200 is a killer for those 20kgs your alowed to pack and on a external drive you can password protect it.
 
Customs: blah blah in Japanese
Me: wakrimasen gomennasai
Customs: Do you have anything to declare?
Me: Oh no
Customs: Passport Please.
Me: here ya go
CUstoms: Business or pleasure how long will your stay be?
Me: Pleasure about XX days Visiting friends
Customs: Ok thank you!
Me: douitashimahsite

Never had my bags checked.
 
I think out of 10 trips here, I've opened one bag and it took all of 2 min!
 
Damicci said:
Never had my bags checked.
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This makes me wonder, too, if having two suitcases, plus my laptop bag, makes me stand out or not. Probably not for a two-year stay, right?
 
I wouldn't worry about it so much. I had my laptop bag on my person and they never asked about it on the luggagewas the concern. As long as it doesn't look suspicious you shouldn't have any problems.
 
there have been days when we has to have Japanese customs inspect out bags at Yokota. they ask the person to open the suitcase. they lift an item or 2 and ask if they have anything.. then send them on there way..
 
ullvarg said:
I have now loaded everything onto my external drive and I surgest that you do the same thing J44xm, 200 is a killer for those 20kgs your alowed to pack and on a external drive you can password protect it.
Click to expand...
I don't even have the HD space for that. I'll probably do that for some of them, though; and others, I'll just leave behind, I guess.
 
Okay, I gotta ask... When customs asks "Do you have anything to declare," What are they talking about? Every time I go to the states, I just tell them I have nothing to declare...

But just what sort of thing needs to be "declared," and what does it mean to "declare" things? Are they checking for things you may try to sell, pirate, or distribute? Or are they looking for sickness-spreading things, like meat or fruit?
 
I have seen them confiscate R and RW discs though saying that they contain illegal material. I would advise if you have several disks that you want to bring that are R or RW that you mail them to your destination.
 
they are looking for porn and fruits. im telling you lol..also 2 types of drugs. suddafed and vics enhalers. well other then real drugs
 
CC1 said:
I have seen them confiscate R and RW discs though saying that they contain illegal material. I would advise if you have several disks that you want to bring that are R or RW that you mail them to your destination.
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Do they confiscate them JUST because they're R/RW discs? Or because they see pirated programs on them? This is something that we should know.
 
In my own case, I have never spent more than a few seconds at customs in countless visits. They would just open up the suitcase, look around a little, look at our passports and send us on our way.

In our case we used to have many videos sent to us from Japan by the in-laws who would record Japanese TV for us. When we returned we would bring perhaps 30 or 40 video tapes with us to give again to the in-laws so they could re-record them for us. I think we were asked once about them if they were porno and when we explained to them what we were doing, we were sent on our way.

Now suppose it was uncensored porno from the states? They didn't know. But the Japanese customs officials are very keen and trained well on asking questions and observing your reaction. If they detect you are nervous, they may have a look at some of the discs. I do not know. But since you are coming to live for two years, and with the huge popularity of DVD's and music discs, they may, or may not believe you when you tell them they are personal movies and music and may just have a "look-see", especially since you will have so many.

If they do find you have uncensored porno, and such a large amount, they might think you are going to sell them and could arrest you, forbid you entry to Japan, and send you back home never to be allowed to return to Japan again.

If it were me I wouldn't do it if it were porno. But with personal music and movies that I had collected for personal use I would.

What you decide to do is up to you. Good luck.
 
wear a suit tie shirt and nice shoes
they (people who have not left japan or traveled abroad) cannot tell the difference between us so they use superficial methods to differentiate us
and zig when normally zagging and thinking of the country as a sort of bizarro world helps
me anyway, don't know about others here
 
Agree with budd on that. Just look formal as if you are there on serious business and they will not ask so many questions. The last time somebody at the customs ask me persistently for details, I mentioned that my Japanese supplier is giving me quality problems, and I was waved through quickly.
 
Would such an approach work if I'm clearly entering the country with a student visa for an extended stay, though? Seems dubious for me.

I ended up deciding to leave the great majority of my CD-Rs and DVD-Rs behind. I just have one spool of discs, many of which are blank, that I'll be carrying on. I guess this should pose much less of a problem.

Leaving in the morning ...
 

Hahha, my first international flight I didnt know either... luckily I was sitting to the only other young person on the plane, and as I was coming for an undermined length of time had WAAAAAAAAAY too much hand luggage (weighed more than my actual luggage), I started freaking out about all that stuff.
Then he kindly told me that 'No a packet of biscuits is nothing...' hmm so now I really dont care, friends of mine take cheese, salami and other things on the plane with them. Other than the ferry trip, at airports I dont think I have trouble coming into countries, its always when im leaving....

By the way enjoy your two years in Japan! Sounds like it will be great!!!
 
Kara_Nari said:
By the way enjoy your two years in Japan! Sounds like it will be great!!!
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Thank you very much. (My flight's at 9 AM and it's 2:30 AM here right now. I need to get to bed.) I appreciate your other comments too. I guess I'll see once and for what'll happen soon.

See y'all on the other side!
 
Have a nice trip Jd, hope everything goes well for ya!
 
ありがとう。

Well, I made it! I'm in my apartment in Okazaki right now. I got here around 10 PM last night, went to sleep, and just got up recently, before 8 AM. Thank you, everyone, for your kind wishes. My flight was long, but I'm fine. (For those interested, I'll be posting a large entry on my bloglater on today.)

On topic, though, going through customs was a breeze. I had to huge suitcases, a luggage backpack, my laptop case, and a camera and camera bag. The customs guy just asked what I had in the suitcase (almost nothing but clothes) and that was it. I was glad that it was so painless.

皆さん、コメントは本当にどうもありがとう。
 
The inspection problem ususally just comes up when I take a flight from Japan. The first was at Osaka's airport (where they almost ruined my luggage) and the second was at Narita (they seem more professional there).
 
it really is luck or lack thereof of the draw, but wearing cutoff shorts and flip-flops don't help none
they are so bored standing there all the time
rummaging through some nervous foreigner's belongings is the only excitement some of them will see the whole day
 
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