Police I.D. Checks

[shakehip]

Are there any people reading this who've had problems getting stopped REPEATEDLY by police for ID checks?
I realize that they have a right to ask for your GAIJIN card, but should being a foreigner make one so suspicious for it to happen about 7 times in a year ?
The first time it happened I was riding my bike past a koban...
Then they got me late at night riding my bike home from work...
I stopped riding my bike so then I just got carded on several occasions while walking... but I was willing to give the police some slack because it was 2 in the morning. (I don't drink by the way...)
Recently it happened in BROAD DAYLIGHT about 2 blocks from a MAJOR Yamanote train station on a street that leads to a well know FOREIGN LANGUAGE college.
I notice that police often do stops and ID checks in the area... but here's the funny thing... They're often questioning the ELDERLY or really young OTAKU looking school kids. Apparently I'm the only foreigner in Tokyo who's under
5'6, so I'm wondering if I fall into the safe and easy catch category.
The strange thing is that after I comply (which I always do), the questioning will continue as if its a game, but then if I start to lose my temper, they call it quits. This leads to my "easy target" theory...
The law is the law, but if APPLICATION of the law is abused to the point where just as a result of being "non-Japanese looking" you can expect a life of police questioning, I think issues must be raised... so my first question is am I the only person who's had this happen fairly regularly. (For the record it is never the same cop twice, meaning its a systematic problem, not something personal.) - - I should also point out that the way the police do it (atleast in my opinion and some friend's opinions) are also provocative, but that's another issue.

 

[Davey]

they only ask for your I.D.?

What's the problem? you flash your I.D. and your gone 1-2 minutes later, just have to bike a little bit harder, or do I see this wrong?

 

[Hachiro]

So are you trying to suggest/accuse the cops here of racial profiling.

 

[Riyko]

I don't see anything wrong with ID checks, if it keeps japan safer then do it. If the US did it, it could probably help the US out some but their not smart enough. You live over in japan so you should expect it to happen each and every day, I think it's their way to get rid of the people who are over there illegal which there is nothing wrong with it.

 

[Kakulin]

Just talk to the cops in Spanish or Russian or any other language that they don't understand. The stories I have read about Pachipro and other forumites' experiences with cops clearly show me that speaking Japanese to a cop is a no no.

 

[Grandpa Frank]

My guess is they watch the news .

You get so you believe anyone who looks out of place a bit may be a terrorist. I remember being asked for my ID once maybe twice in the 2 years that I was in Fukuoka; but, that was long before 911. Also, you get bored on a long shift and feel you have to do something while on duty. Don't think it is anything too personal, think they are trying to feel useful on their job as police officer?

Uncle Frank

 

[ghettocities]

They are looking for someone (covering my eyes).

Josh

 

[Ewok85]

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/696/2300/1600/IMG_3382.jpg

Didn't you know its the latest campaign?

I've never been asked for ID by the police, I normally just nod and smile whenever I see them, and most of the time I'm with Japanese friends (late 20's-40 yr old men and women).

 

[GaijinPunch]

They've recently gotten worse I think. I never had problems in my many years, but was checked once each time on the only two trips I've taken after moving away from Japan (last September and February).

Seeing how they can't arrest drug dealers and ****** for doing those things (which are illegal) but can on visa expiration, I guess it does make the streets safer... although it's a completely upside down situation.

 

[GodEmperorLeto]

Cops in Japan might also be looking out for foreigners (believe it or not). The editor of Outpost Nine had an editorial about how he was unwittingly being accosted by underage teen prostitutes (he thought they were only trying to flirt with older foreign guys). A police man was walking past him, then strangely changed direction and bumped into his shoulder, and kept on going. He noticed how the cops had been watching them, trying to communicate to the unwitting foreigners nonchalantly. When it dawned on the two Americans that the girls were looking for tricks to turn, they got themselves out fast, realizing that the cops had been trying to warn them about the girls.

Unfortunately, the editor of Outpost Nine is moving all of the tales regarding his Japan experience to Gaijin Smash, so that particular article hasn't been moved to it's new home yet. Give him a month or two, and if you are still interested by then, you'll probably find it on the new website.

I don't see anything wrong with ID checks, if it keeps japan safer then do it. If the US did it, it could probably help the US out some but their not smart enough.

Conservatives/Republicans wouldn't mind too much, it's your liberal friends here who would scream bloody murder if that started in the U.S. And please don't insult Americans' intelligence. It's unnecessary, and there are some Americans on the board that might be offended.

 

[JimmySeal]

I don't see anything wrong with ID checks, if it keeps japan safer then do it. If the US did it, it could probably help the US out some but their not smart enough.

It warms my heart whenever someone uses a sentence full of broken grammar to try to call Americans stupid.

 

[Ewok85]

Aww, if we didn't pick on the intelligence of Ameicans, it would be a very barren and quiet internet

You could always pull a Debito Arudou and exercise your rights under Japanese law - www.debito.org: What to do if the Japanese Police arbitrarily stop you for a Gaijin Card Check PT 2

 

[Riyko]

@ godemperorleto I was talking about the government not the normal citizens.

@ jimmyseal I don't care about my grammer and if it's correct or not.

 

[shakehip]

police checks....

What's the problem? you flash your I.D. and your gone 1-2 minutes later, just have to bike a little bit harder, or do I see this wrong?

Wait a minute... (And let me be clear, I have no objection to the police doing their jobs and AGREE that if in the U.S. police stopped people going down backalleys of peoples houses at 2:00 in the morning to ask them where they were going, it would be HELPFUL.) but...
First, most of the time I'm WALKING not biking, but that's besides the point.
So how many times have you been stopped...?
And no, its not just flash your i.d.
Usually they ask a ton of questions...
Where are you going to, where are you coming from, do you work...
In addition to purposely trying to pretend they misunderstood you or test to see if you know about the place.
They kept trying to get me to say that the area I said I lived was in a Neighboring ward while looking back and forth at each other hoping I'd slip up.
I do now agree that I should follow my friends' advice... start chirping away angrily in English. Some tell me it works, on the other hand, I realize that one day I might NEED them, and suddenly remembering Japanese would look funny. (And I do believe that this is Japan and even if my Japanese sucks, people have a responsibility to try to communicate in the native langauge.)
But if you think its "card and go" - - that's not it. If it was, I'd have no objection, just as I don't mind taking my sneakers off at airports or going through metal detectors. They sometimes play games.
Last time they kept pretending to misread information on my card and trying to get me to agree with them. I was pretty much getting a quiz on the local geography...
Most ARE polite... however, if this was to happen to you REGULARLY, do you think it would be fair?
Also I assume that basically I get carded because I live in a RESIDENTIAL area and I don't come and go according to the schedule of most other foreigners, hence the implication is I'm suspicious because I'm not behaving like the rest of them.
I think if you're a foreigner who's just hear PLAYING in Japan while you make bigger money teaching at NOVA than you would have than working at a Gas Station back at home... and are actually considered handsome (when back in America no girl would look at you) - - a few police checks are no big issue... you're getting laid and you're getting paid. However, if you're a long term resident, member of the community and have to pretty much assume that if you walk past a cop alone and he doesn't know you you are going to be questioned, I think a lack of concern for this shows a type of stupidity or apathy.
And by the way, in all fairness, JAPANESE are stopped too... though seemingly not as frequently. Another catch is if you see two middle guys in gym suits and gold chains having a violent arguement in the middle of the street... the police will actually stand off at a distance, and nervously watch praying they don't have to get involved.
A foreigner, little old lady or young person takes a walk... voom... they're doing their job. And the fact if the police are so concerned about crime, why is it that almost everyone in every area knows where the "illegal" places are, but they never get shut down. I personally don't think ANYONE should be deprived of their right to get soaped up and jerked off... and who knows, maybe after the police get their "service" they do ask to see the lady's identity cards.
All kidding aside... I think its dispicable that so few foreigners find any objection to this...
Its almost as if to say "Well Japan's a rich country, we're here for the money... civil liberties are no big deal, we're getting paid..."
I am definitely disturbed by that kind of mentality...
Regarding the DEBITO approach: I am thankful to him for posting the info.
Although I do assert myself when it goes on and on, that method tells you what to do when you get stopped, but not how to stop from getting stopped, however, since most foreigners seem not to mind, I think there's no problem with it. In fact, maybe to be fair ASIAN foreigners (who might look Japanese) should be forced to wear some kind of band on their arm (maybe with a yin yang symbol) so they can be more easily identified and not try to fit in as regular Japanese. (*I say this sarcastically of course!)

 

[DoctorP]

Regarding the DEBITO approach: I am thankful to him for posting the info.
Although I do assert myself when it goes on and on, that method tells you what to do when you get stopped, but not how to stop from getting stopped, however, since most foreigners seem not to mind, I think there's no problem with it.

Maybe he didn't post anything on how to not be stopped because there is no way to do this. The police will stop who they feel like stopping. Maybe you present some type of appearance that makes them want to stop you and say hello. Maybe they are gay and want a better look at you! Maybe they just think that you look cool and feel threatened that you will take all of the pretty Japanese women for yourself. Who knows why they stop you.


I lived in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto and never once was stopped. I understand that you are becoming frustrated with it, but although you are a "long term" resident, this is not your home. Some things are beyond your control. However, if you really want an answer probably asking gaijiin strangers on the internet is not the best way to get your answer. Maybe you should ask the police why they stop you. Have you tried this approach?

 

[Mike Cash]

OP, please learn how to format your posts.

I can't possibly be the only person who isn't going to bother to try wading through that oversized cauldron of alphabet soup hunting for a piece of meat to sink my teeth into.

 

[Mike Cash]

Just talk to the cops in Spanish or Russian or any other language that they don't understand. The stories I have read about Pachipro and other forumites' experiences with cops clearly show me that speaking Japanese to a cop is a no no.

What a crock of asterisks.

I've had dozens of interactions with Japanese cops, all in Japanese. What's the point of talking to them if you're not going to speak in a language that will further the accomplishment of the goal you had in mind when you went to find a cop to talk to?

Some recent interactions:

1. Pulled over at 4 a.m. by a pair of cops in a patrol car. They thought I had made an illegal left turn at a red light. I hadn't. I showed the cop who came to my car my license, told him why he was mistaken, and went on my merry way. Took all of a minute and a half, tops.

2. Went to a police station to report an abandoned car that was sitting partially blocking the road, on a blind curve. Spent about three minutes talking to the guy working the desk, showing him on a map exactly where the car was and why it was a safety hazard. When I drove down that road the next day, the car was gone.

3. Said 窶堋ｲ窶ｹﾃｪﾋ廱窶罵 to a cop posted next to the tollbooth I was passing through on the Tohoku Expressway and handed him a piece of cinammon candy. He smiled and thanked me.

4. At 4:30 a.m. I fell at work and cut a big gash into my kneecap. I drove my tractor into town and went to a hospital I thought was open 24 hours. They were closed. I parked my tractor illegally on the sidewalk and walked into the police box which was right across the street from the hospital. The cop called around to find which hospital was the ﾅｽﾅｾﾅ?ﾃ版?O窶懌?凪?敕 for that night. He finally decided it was stupid to send somebody with blood streaming down his leg hunting for another hospital and picked up the phone and called the folks across the street, rolling out of bed the night ﾅ?ﾃ??板敖人 and a doctor and a nurse to stitch me up. Told the cop my truck would be parked on the sidewalk while I was getting fixed up and he said not to worry about it.

5. Went into a police box to report a nearby motorist in a rage, beating the hell out of another motorist with a metal bar.

I've gone to police boxes to return wallets 5 different times, and turned in 2 abandoned bicycles (one of which I got 6 months later, as it went unclaimed).

I've twice called the cops to come take into protective custody drunken Japanese who had fallen on the sidewalk or in the street in the dead of winter and waited there until they came and got the people safely scooped up.

I've called the cops to report vandals at a high school near my home, and gone out to meet them. When the two who responded were getting the worst of it, I stood by to help and had a neighbor call the police station for backup, since they couldn't get to their radios. One of them lost his collapsible baton at the scene and I drove it over to the station and gave it back to him so he wouldn't have to pay for losing equipment.

I've called 110 (the police emergency number) numerous times. I've poked my head into numerous police boxes to ask for directions and whatnot.

I've done all that in Japanese. And you suggest that I should have done it in English? What on earth for?

Anyone care to guess how many times a Japanese cop has asked me for any I.D. other than my driver's license?

Anyone care to guess how many times a Japanese cop has remarked on the fact that I spoke Japanese to them? Or how many times they remarked on my being a foreigner at all?

 

[Kakulin]

I've done all that in Japanese. And you suggest that I should have done it in English? What on earth for?

I meant when the cops pull you over and similar situations. If you talk to them in a language they don't understand they might ignore you. When they say: "Show me your Gaijin Card" you then reply: "Lo siento pero no entiendo inglés, aléjate de mí, estúpido! aaa...jajajajajaja!" and then go about your bussiness.

 

[Mike Cash]

I meant when the cops pull you over and similar situations. If you talk to them in a language they don't understand they might ignore you. When they say: "Show me your Gaijin Card" you then reply: "Lo siento pero no entiendo inglés, aléjate de mí, estúpido! aaa...jajajajajaja!" and then go about your bussiness.

No, that ignorant, self-demeaning crap doesn't work like it used to.

I've had numerous people, Japanese and foreign alike, suggest that tactic to me and I find it insulting.

 

[RockLee]

Yeh, talking in your own language is rude as heck, I hate when for example Turks or Morrocean people do it I wouldn't do it myself if I could talk Japanese. I agree with Mike on this one.

 

[epigene]

I meant when the cops pull you over and similar situations. If you talk to them in a language they don't understand they might ignore you. When they say: "Show me your Gaijin Card" you then reply: "Lo siento pero no entiendo inglés, aléjate de mí, estúpido! aaa...jajajajajaja!" and then go about your bussiness.

I agree with Mike. I actually think you'll be taken to the police station for interrogation if you do that. And, if you try to walk away, you'll get arrested!

I think the police organize some sort of ID check campaign especially when there is a marked outbreak of burglary and other crimes in the area. That's when you get checked, regardless of your nationality.

My husband gets checked by the police.
Reasons despite being native Japanese:
(1) He likes gardening and peeks into the gardens of other people.
(2) He doesn't wear a suit and is usually dressed in T shirt and faded chinos (since he doesn't have a 9-to-5 job.)
(3) He is biking in the neighborhood at hours when people are supposed to be working and also late at night for exercise. (Because he works at home and goes out to relieve stress.)
Foreigners aren't the only ones stopped by the omawari-san!

 

[GodEmperorLeto]

What a crock of asterisks.

Asterix the Gaul Sorry, couldn't help it.

1. Pulled over at 4 a.m. by a pair of cops in a patrol car. They thought I had made an illegal left turn at a red light. I hadn't. I showed the cop who came to my car my license, told him why he was mistaken, and went on my merry way. Took all of a minute and a half, tops.

I'm stunned. Wow. 'round my parts, cops don't take it very well if you tell them that they are wrong, and start to look for additional reasons to give you more tickets.

Yeh, talking in your own language is rude as heck, I hate when for example Turks or Morrocean people do it

That's half the problem with many immigrants from Mexico. While many are eager to learn English in the United States, there are enough of them who simply refuse to learn as to create the whole bi-lingualism catastrophe that's been going on here.

If you move to Japan, you are obligated to learn the language. It is the height of arrogance (bordering on hatred, some may argue) to refuse to do so. Despite how many Japanese know English (just as many Americans know some Spanish), it is beyond rude to prattle on to someone in a tongue they don't comprehend, and indeed it fosters negative stereotypes.

 

[Maciamo]

Walkingwhilewhite, I agree with the totality of your post. I have had the exact same experiences, and felt exactly the same about it.

Its almost as if to say "Well Japan's a rich country, we're here for the money... civil liberties are no big deal, we're getting paid..."
I am definitely disturbed by that kind of mentality...

I was actually told a few times by some Japanese employers reluctant to pay me or trying to haggle on the lesson fee that "foreigners" come to Japan for the easy money. I quickly reminded them that the GDP per capita in my country was slightly higher than in Japan. Americans could easily do the same, and even insist that the GDP per capita (at PPP) is actually 30% higher than in Japan. If they get too annoying (窶堋､窶堙ｩ窶堋ｳ窶堋｢) about Japan's economic succes, I also remind them that the Japanese economy has been declining for 15 years, you don't get much for your money in Japan, houses are poor quality, or that Japan was so poor compared to my country 50 or 100 years ago... I wish I had the opportunity to tell that to a Japanese police officer, but the best I managed is accusing them of discrimination for trying to check my ID twice in 1 hour on a busy street while not checking ANY Japanese.

 

[Maciamo]

That's half the problem with many immigrants from Mexico. While many are eager to learn English in the United States, there are enough of them who simply refuse to learn as to create the whole bi-lingualism catastrophe that's been going on here.
If you move to Japan, you are obligated to learn the language. It is the height of arrogance (bordering on hatred, some may argue) to refuse to do so. Despite how many Japanese know English (just as many Americans know some Spanish), it is beyond rude to prattle on to someone in a tongue they don't comprehend, and indeed it fosters negative stereotypes.

I totally agree. That is also why I left Japan, because eventhough I learnt Japanese and did my best from the beginning to speak Japanese, even once I became fluent so many (older) Japanese would ignore me or say "No English !" and make gestures. That was the height of rudeness, and like in the opposite situation also bordering on racist hatred, as they just assumed that someone who didn't loook Japanese couldn't possibly speak Japanese. Btw, I speak Japanese with my wife, her family or her friends, and they do not have any problem understanding me (so the problem surely doesn't come from me).

 

[Maciamo]

My husband gets checked by the police.
Reasons despite being native Japanese:
(1) He likes gardening and peeks into the gardens of other people.
(2) He doesn't wear a suit and is usually dressed in T shirt and faded chinos (since he doesn't have a 9-to-5 job.)
(3) He is biking in the neighborhood at hours when people are supposed to be working and also late at night for exercise. (Because he works at home and goes out to relieve stress.)
Foreigners aren't the only ones stopped by the omawari-san!

So you are saying that in Japan people aren't really free to walk in tshirt or bike around the neighbourhood during regular working hours without fearing to be arrested. That's not what I would call a free society. In the Benelux, you would need to provoke a policeman to get any reaction at all. People just don't get stopped and checked for ID for no reason if they did not cause an accident or commit a crime/offence. I cannot accept being stopped and interrogated on my work, where I live, where I am going, asked for my ID, etc. for no reason. It sounds Nazi or Communist, but in any way not like a free society.