I am an average white guy from northern Europe. No tattoos, no long hair (not short enough to be mistaken as someone in the USA army), no police record, a full-time occupation, dont wear weird or unique clothing and etc. Yet 3 times the police have stopped me and demanded I show I.D.
The first time I was shocked and just complied. The second time I got a little pi##ed off, asked why and refused to show it. They then prattled on with some nonsense about a foreigner being reported doing something nearby (obviously if someone had just committed a crime he wouldnt have been casually strolling along a busy street as I was.), called for back-up and when another car pulled up and 2 more of the angry little pigs got out and started getting in my ear. At that time I had had enough and handed over my I.D. Both times they wrote down my details.
The third time, 2 weeks ago was the final straw. A guy I knew was in a little trouble. Very little. He was never charged, taken for interrogation of anything like that. I was there only to help translate for both parties. The guy couldnt speak any Japanese and the pigs couldnt speak any English. Suddenly, they turned around and demanded to see my I.D. After some harsh words were exchanged and i was surrounded by literally 10 of them, I again relented.
Japan is a nice and civilised place and Japanese people are generally very decent and thus, it came as a shock the pigs could do this. Well, it turns out that if you know your rights, they cant lawfully.
Some of you probably know of Arudo Debito and for those who dont, he is a white Japanese citizen, an associate professor and I guess you would say an activist for foreigners rights here in Japan. I guess he became sick of the pigs stopping him for no reason too and did some research on the topic.
Read some general info here and the specific laws here.
Now I understand why the pig came up with a childish story about a foreigner being reported doing something when I asked "why" he wanted to see my I.D. the second time.
Basically, the police cant stop you, ask for I.D. and question you unless you are under suspicion for a crime. Simply "because you are a foreigner" isnt sufficient.
Now, some people will probably interlope to this thread and say "no, Debito is wrong" and etc etc. Trust them if you like but then think about the kind of people they obviously are and the kind of person Debito obviously is and think for yourself who you would believe. Also, ask yourself why they are so desperate to make you believe they are right. Why would they care? Debito is an activist who was tired of being harassed by police because he has white skin. His motives are very clear.
One thing everyone agrees upon is that even if you are suspected of a crime you have the right to first inspect their I.D. before showing your own and if you are in a hurry this would be enough. Take time and do it as publicly as possible and the pigs little power trip will be shot down in flames. Thats what its all about. They want people to see how "powerful" and "important" they are and I guess it would be quite humiliating to have a foreigner publicly inspect their I.D.
If stopped in such a way as I outlined above, if you simply pass over your I.D. without question, in my opinion you are a pityful and docile lackey and are doing a disservice to all foreigners here.
On this thread, people please recount their recollections/confrontation and dealings with the police.
The first time I was shocked and just complied. The second time I got a little pi##ed off, asked why and refused to show it. They then prattled on with some nonsense about a foreigner being reported doing something nearby (obviously if someone had just committed a crime he wouldnt have been casually strolling along a busy street as I was.), called for back-up and when another car pulled up and 2 more of the angry little pigs got out and started getting in my ear. At that time I had had enough and handed over my I.D. Both times they wrote down my details.
The third time, 2 weeks ago was the final straw. A guy I knew was in a little trouble. Very little. He was never charged, taken for interrogation of anything like that. I was there only to help translate for both parties. The guy couldnt speak any Japanese and the pigs couldnt speak any English. Suddenly, they turned around and demanded to see my I.D. After some harsh words were exchanged and i was surrounded by literally 10 of them, I again relented.
Japan is a nice and civilised place and Japanese people are generally very decent and thus, it came as a shock the pigs could do this. Well, it turns out that if you know your rights, they cant lawfully.
Some of you probably know of Arudo Debito and for those who dont, he is a white Japanese citizen, an associate professor and I guess you would say an activist for foreigners rights here in Japan. I guess he became sick of the pigs stopping him for no reason too and did some research on the topic.
Read some general info here and the specific laws here.
Now I understand why the pig came up with a childish story about a foreigner being reported doing something when I asked "why" he wanted to see my I.D. the second time.
Basically, the police cant stop you, ask for I.D. and question you unless you are under suspicion for a crime. Simply "because you are a foreigner" isnt sufficient.
Now, some people will probably interlope to this thread and say "no, Debito is wrong" and etc etc. Trust them if you like but then think about the kind of people they obviously are and the kind of person Debito obviously is and think for yourself who you would believe. Also, ask yourself why they are so desperate to make you believe they are right. Why would they care? Debito is an activist who was tired of being harassed by police because he has white skin. His motives are very clear.
One thing everyone agrees upon is that even if you are suspected of a crime you have the right to first inspect their I.D. before showing your own and if you are in a hurry this would be enough. Take time and do it as publicly as possible and the pigs little power trip will be shot down in flames. Thats what its all about. They want people to see how "powerful" and "important" they are and I guess it would be quite humiliating to have a foreigner publicly inspect their I.D.
If stopped in such a way as I outlined above, if you simply pass over your I.D. without question, in my opinion you are a pityful and docile lackey and are doing a disservice to all foreigners here.
On this thread, people please recount their recollections/confrontation and dealings with the police.