When asked for I.D. in Japan

P

playaa

Dog Youkai
Joined
15 Jan 2004
Messages
833
Reaction score
24
When asked for I.D. in Japan + legal age for drinking/smoking

Ok, say I go to the store for beer or a club/pub/or bar, and they ask me for identification, what will I have to show them? And the age is 25 right?

EDIT: Also do the Police regularly stop tourists and ask for passports etc? I am just trying to get an idea of what I am gonna have to bring to Japan/carry with me around everywhere.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
i think its 20 for drinking and smoking.
passport should suffice as ID but i really have no idea whatsoever
 
If you don't have a alien registration card or Japanese government issued ID (like a Japanese drivers license) you will need your passport.

However, if you are going out to clubs and planned to get smashed, maybe a photocopy would work better? Passports are pesky things to lose.

I have never been stopped by a policeman and asked for ID, but during the day you might want to carry around your passport just incase the worst happens.

Always leave a photocopy in a safe place both in your bags and with someone back home to help replace the thing if it gets lost. Enjoy your trip!
 
Thanks, for that... My worries exactly of losing the passport when out at a club or bar, maybe resturant, etc..
 
I went to Japan when I was under 20 and I was never asked for ID. Even when I bought alcohol from combini's...... 😊 I think they are too scared to ask us. Just like we find it difficult to guess a Japanese person's age, they can't tell our age either!

But of course it is important to carry ID. If you caught a Japanese policeman on a bad day it wouldn't be a fun experience...
 
BAHAHAHA, ID? I was 18 and never got asked once, but then again i got away with saying i was 23 for a fair while :D

If your staying for an extended time (more than 90 days) get an Alien Registration Card. Failing to get one will get you in trouble when you leave the country.
 
playaa said:
Ok, say I go to the store for beer or a club/pub/or bar, and they ask me for identification, what will I have to show them? And the age is 25 right?
Click to expand...

I confirm it is 20. How about Louisiana ?

EDIT: Also do the Police regularly stop tourists and ask for passports etc?
Click to expand...

If you are riding a bicycle at night (when it's dark) without light, you might be stopped by the police (chances of 1/100 on a 15min ride), and if that happens, you one chance out of 2 or 3 to be asked for an ID. I have had to show my gaikokujin tourokusho 3 times in 2,5 years in Japan, and everytime while riding my bike without light... :sorry:
Otherwise nothing to worry about, except if you look like a terrorist. :p
 
Maciamo said:
I confirm it is 20. How about Louisiana ?
Click to expand...

It's 18 for cigarettes and to get into some bars, and 21 for alcohol and to get into all bars. It used to be 18 for both, but that law was changed in 1995 due to federal restrictions on subsidies for highway repairs, to the best of my knowledge.
 
Hmm. I want to check something:
Where will I get this Alien Registration Card?
Will I get it from the local Japanese embassy (in my case the Japanese embassy in Helsinki) when I go and get my visa? I'll be staying in Japan for a little bit over 90 days.
And is it ok to carry the photocopy with you, I mean do the police satisfy with that?
 
i'm pretty sure it's a law that, as a tourist, you must carry your passport. But the likely hood of being stopped by a policemen is pretty small. But yeah, don't take it with you if you're going to go get smashed. a photocopy is fine, but it's probably less likely that the police will bother you if you're drunk, unless you're violent.

I'm 19, and had no problems getting into bars, or buying alcohol. No one asked for id. I even went to a "gaijin bar", with a gaijin bartender. He didn't care.

The amazing part is that i don't look anything close to 19. people tend to mistake me for something more like 15. 😊

really, the reason is that underaged drinking isn't really looked down upon there. It doesn't really have the same stigma as it does in most other countries. So while the drinking age is 20, no one really cares enough to enforce it. after all, how do you enforce it when beer is sold in vending machines.
 
really, the reason is that underaged drinking isn't really looked down upon there. It doesn't really have the same stigma as it does in most other countries. So while the drinking age is 20, no one really cares enough to enforce it. after all, how do you enforce it when beer is sold in vending machines.
Click to expand...

IMO, the laws in the US about drinking and the way they are enforced is extremly conservative compared to most other countries... I grew up in germany, where the official drinking age is 16 and nobody really cares about that restriction either...

right now i'm an international student in college in the US and i seriously feel like i'm being treated like a 10 year old kid! i mean, i can't even go anywhere NEAR the bar in most places, let alone have a beer with some friends or even have a glass of wine with my dinner... VERY frustrating!!!
 
Thanks budd, Ill do my best to read the site, my Japanese skills suck.
 
MikeH85 said:
IMO, the laws in the US about drinking and the way they are enforced is extremly conservative compared to most other countries... I grew up in germany, where the official drinking age is 16 and nobody really cares about that restriction either...

right now i'm an international student in college in the US and i seriously feel like i'm being treated like a 10 year old kid! i mean, i can't even go anywhere NEAR the bar in most places, let alone have a beer with some friends or even have a glass of wine with my dinner... VERY frustrating!!!
Click to expand...


I totally agree with that. I once went to Florida when I was 15 (and turned 16 there). Even for my birthday, they wouldn't let me drink alcohol, neither at the hotel, nor anywhere else. The strangest thing for me is that I was accompanied with my parents, and in Europe they cannot refuse to serve alcohol if the parents agree (anyway, if you are at home and your parents let you drink, what does it change if they also do when you are out ?).

If the legal age for drinking in Europe is usually 15 or 16, some countries (like Belgium) don't have any minimum age at all (and you know that Belgium is a beer-lover's paradise, with over 800 varieties - and it's smaller than The US state of Maine). The responsability for drinking is first individual (people are responsible for themselves since a young age), but especially that of the parents, tutor or alcohol seller (bartender, restaurant owner, etc.). In some bars, they won't let a 14 years old drink, but that's entirely their decision. What's more, if the parents come along, there are almost no chance that the bar or restaurant owner/waiter refuses.

That's all the difference between Europe and America regarding alcohol regulations.

NB : I have never heard of a legal age for smoking (except school rules, which vary and are usually set at 16-18 years old), but I have never smoked...
 
Yes, the U.S. sucks for that, alot of the difference though is the accident rate with vehicles and drinking. Somewhere like the U.S. where people mainly drive has to be stricter with drinking then other places like Japan where everyone walks everywhere. Simply because of the fatal accident/careless operations with vehicles every year due to over drinking. Anyways I guess you can blame it on the abusers. I disagree with having laws to treat me like a child, the way I see it is if I am old enough to be charged in court, arrested and jailed, as an "ADULT". And enlist/be selected, to fight in war/combat, and serve in the military as an "ADULT".

I should be able to drink and have any privelege my person may desire. But the U.S. Sees differently I guess.
 
playaa said:
I should be able to drink and have any privelege my person may desire. But the U.S. Sees differently I guess.
Click to expand...

Yes, isnt it funny that in the "land of freedom", people aren't even free to have a beer or glass of wine until they are 21 (or 25 in some states 😲 )

I had my first wine tasting lessons (with my primary school teacher 😊 ) when I was 11 ... Alright, that was a bit precocious. But I actually drink very little alcohol (though resist well), as Thomas will confirm. First of all, I don't like beer... :o
 
Im with you on that, as I do not smoke (never have) and can resist because almost all my friends/ and parents smoke, and Beer does not appeal to me regularly only social and occasional drinking for me.

But the U.S. is only considered the land of the free because of how easy it is to "Own your own vehicle, land, and money."

Oh and I forgot "we can vote" what a joke! Voting is nothing being an individuals vote counts merely 1/1000000000000000, its all about electorial votes and those are made by individuals of each state. Not "We the people" anymore. :D
 
In australia in my state drinking age is 18, driving age 16 (cant drive alone until 6months after frist getting liscence then a 0 blood-alcohol level for 2 years) and cant BUY tobaco till 18 (can smoke it, just not buy :S dumb law)

Im 18, been driving since my 16th birthday, never smoke and occasionaly drink (then take a bus, walk or sleep it off before getting near a car). Japan was great in some aspects. I got treated like an adult until it became known i was 17 and then it was 'oh hes only 17, still a kid' at which time i'd completed high school, had 3 years of work experience and had been driving for 18months. >_<
 
My construction teacher, Mr.Foster told us a story where he just came out of basic training, and he showed his military I.D. to like a liquor store to get alcohol, and some smokes, he told the guy that "everyone who serves in the military to protect his/her country, should have the right to alcohol/tobacco use if they even put in a situation where they would lose their life" but i think the people who just serve for that privellege shouldn't be given that privellege at all , because my neighbor told me there was an alcoholic medic ...
 
Easy fix, you work in the defence forces just drink on base (its pretty cheap at on base bars in australia)

You drink on the job you deserve all the fury your bound to receive off an officer or nco....... ☝
 
"Ill do my best to read the site,"

click the button that says club @ tokyo
here's another club link
MSN エンタメ
space lab yellow
clicking "次の写真" = clicking "next picture"
if short on bandwith
and don't be scared 🙂
if somebody going to japan, best get used to seeing japanese text :)
 
Last edited:

Similar threads

Maciamo
  • Sticky
  • Poll Poll
What are your interests for Japan?
24 25 26
Replies
644
Views
244K
thomas
thomas
Maciamo
  • Poll Poll
Is Japan a Western country?
15 16 17
Replies
400
Views
176K
Kulern
Kulern
J
How do you tell if someone is Japanese (without asking)?
2 3
Replies
60
Views
49K
Emshobee
Emshobee
Silverbackman
  • Poll Poll
Should Japan Abolish Kanji?
15 16 17
Replies
403
Views
129K
Master of Time
M
Maciamo
  • Sticky
  • Poll Poll
What do you like about living in Japan?
6 7 8
Replies
182
Views
141K
HJain
HJain
Back
Top Bottom