I want to ask for explanations from those of you who are against Japan fingerprinting foreigners.
Personally, I completely understand why the system is being put in place, especially when you have Canadian paedophiles running rampant through Asia for 3 years.
Are there any cases of fingerprinting gone wrong? All of the complaints I’m seeing on Japan-blogs are about conspiratorial theories of fingerprint misuse by authorities, not about any actual incidents that have arisen.
When you walk into someone’s house and they ask you to remove your shoes, I wouldn’t expect you to go on a rampage about your freedoms being obstructed. If you don’t want to take off your shoes, you have the freedom to not enter the house.
15 Comments
October 23, 2007 at 1:34 am
So long as they’re finger-printing natives as well, I don’t have a problem…
October 23, 2007 at 8:46 am
I agree with you, Alex. But - my issue is that the reasons they give are just not good enough. Truth is, Japanese people do acts of terrorism in Japan. Foreign people, not so much. I think the preemptive nature is a bit xenophobic, the tone of the conversation is quite condescending from Japan’s side, and I don’t often complain about that kind of thing.
Having said that, I agree with you. You’re absolutely right in saying that we can choose not to enter the house. And Japan’s got every right to require us to jump through hoops. I’m just disappointed that they are. That’s all.
October 23, 2007 at 10:42 am
Strictly speaking, I don’t think non-citizens have the grounds to demand entirely equal rights with Japanese citizens. After all, their allegiance is not officially in Japan. Having said that, though, I do find it courteous for a country to extend those rights to guests of the country, and Japan has been a lot more courteous than many other countries. (We’ve got to run a circus course just to get my wife into the States!)
Japan does offer citizenship to foreign citizens, but you’ve got to renounce your former citizenship. So, equal rights are in place, you’ve just got to make a commitment to get them.
October 23, 2007 at 2:37 pm
I can understand instituting such a system for foreign tourists or foreigners entering Japan for the first time, but I think permanent residents and foreigners with re-entry permits shouldn’t be forced to line up and be fingerprinted every time they re-enter Japan. We’ve already submitted paperwork and paid fees and immigration offices to have our continued stays in Japan approved, so it really shouldn’t be necessary to lump us in with the criminal check crowd. It will be an especially shitty task for foreigners who enter Japan through airports other than Narita, since they’ll be fingerprinted the old fashioned way.
Also, this system probably wouldn’t be particularly useful in catching Canadian pedos. The new Japanese system does not have access to other countries’ lists of sex offenders or their fingerprints. It takes action from Interpol to get guys like that Canadian put on international watch lists, and he was caught pretty soon after his identity was determined officially named as a suspect by Interpol(no high tech fingerprinting system was necessary).
October 24, 2007 at 1:22 pm
I can’t speak for non-US citizens, but US citizens certainly have no right to complain. The US fingerprints all foreigners passing through the airports as well. Personally I don’t mind the system as long as it does not hold me up in the airport for more than an extra minute or two.
In the US they scan your fingerprints at the immigration counter so it doesn’t take so long. I have not read about the system in Japan, I guess I will find out in a few weeks though.
October 24, 2007 at 10:48 pm
I’m with James; Japan treats people, including government workers that are trusted to work with people’s children like myself, like criminals. This kind of paranoia is a waste of everyone’s time and money. And I can’t help but think it is just xenophobia at work. Who was the last international criminal to hide out in Japan? Bobby Fisher?
October 25, 2007 at 2:22 am
Fujimori….
October 29, 2007 at 9:52 pm
Why Japan’s New Fingerprinting System Should Be Opposed
1. It Won’t Catch Terrorists: The documented cases of terrorist violence in Japan are (1) the Aum shinri cult sarin gas attack–all of the criminals were Japanese citizens, (2) the Japan Red Army–all of the criminals were Japanese citizens (3) kidnapping of Japanese citizens by North Korean agents in Japan–most of whom are special permanent residents. None of these people will be fingerprinted. Several years ago, a French convert to al-Quaeda was discovered after he had left Niigata. He was not engaged in terrorism, he was engaged in money-laundering, which is already covered by other laws in Japan not requiring fingerprints.
2. It Will Lead To International Tracking Of Japanese, Americans and other 3rd Party Nationals: Japan will share the data with the USA, and the USA perhaps with Japan. So, Americans who are not fingerprinted by their own country will nevertheless have their movements monitored if they enter Japan, and Japanese who are not fingerprinted by Japan will nevertheless have their entry into the USA (say, to launder money in Las Vegas or Honolulu) reported to Japan.
3. Japanese police already abuse fingerprints. Since Japanese police are used to forcing confessions to deal with crimes, they have not adequately developed the ability to solve crimes without a confession. There is no “CSI:Tokyo”. So, what the police are doing in a part of Tokyo with a home invasion and murder of a family of 4 that has remained unsolved for many years (leading to mass media pressure on the police) is attempting to connect foreigners’ fingerprints to the prints found at the scene. Since there is no central database of Japanese fingerprints, and since “the crime was too horrible to have been committed by a Japanese,” the cops may use fingerprints to frame a hapless, undefended foreigner (unless they can blame it on another favorite vicitim, the Japanese homeless vagrant).
4. It is counterproductive in a country trying to improve its inward direct investment, its tourism and its foreign relations with its neighbors. Fingerprint Carlos Ghosn (the French citizen who saved Nissan), Robert DeNiro (the actor who promotes Japanese cuisine as an investor in Nobu’s), the citizens of the leading tourist nation to Japan (These days it is China), Rupert Murdoch, Warren Buffett, etc. and see how fast your foreign investment and tourism drops. China and South Korea, as well as several Middle Eastern nations, are already threatening to reciprocate against Japanese citizens.
5. Japan could raise its status in the world community by doing the right thing instead of aping the United States again. Japan can find hundreds of excuses for not doing what the United States does, for example, not ratifying the UN Treaty preventing kidnapping of joint children by one spouse in a marriage, which the US has ratified, but when it comes to human rights, Japan will find any excuse to bottom-feed. The human rights record of the Bush Administration is terrible, but the USA has many human rights firsts in its history. What did Japan ever do to improve the world community, besides exporting things?
November 22, 2007 at 7:48 am
We fought hard to remove the fingerprint requirement for gaijin cards when I was in japan about 10 years ago. Mandatory fingerprinting is an invasion of privacy. It is rudeness - as simple as that. This so called terror threat does not exist, however the threat to our civil liberties is real. I have made a choice not to ever go to Japan again because of this. It is a pity since i lived there for so long and have so many friends and contacts there still. I’m really over Japan and its racism towards foreigners.
November 22, 2007 at 8:22 am
I just don’t see it as being racist. Whether or not it’s a flawed form of national security, and whether or not it impacts Japanese business negatively, that’s up to Japanese citizens to take action against. If you pledge your allegiance to the country of Japan, giving up your rights as a citizen in your home country, and you still don’t get the same rights that native Japanese citizens get, that’s another story.
I guess we’re just looking at this from different standpoints.
I couldn’t prove the validity of the claims, but the officials are saying the system has already flagged 5 people trying to enter the country. That could mean the system is working, or it could mean that 5 innocent people were denied entry. Again, can’t say either way.
December 5, 2007 at 9:32 pm
Don’t believe the hype. The War on Terror is the excuse not the justification for fingerprinting foreigners. If this was a move to prevent terrorism why would the government decide to include the 400,000 permanent residents in Japan?
In order to recieve permanent residence you must be judged by the Japanese government to be a person of high standing who contributes to Japanese society. You must be vetted to ensure that you have no criminal record and be employed. You also must have a Japanese person be your sponsor and they are responsible for your actions. What possible reason would the government have to include them?
Foreign residents pay the same taxes as Japanese, they pay into the pension system and have all the tax obligations as do Japanese. I’ve never met a foreign resident who thought they should be treated just like a Japanese. But in the least the government must protect their most basic human rights. It even says that in the Japanese constitution.
January 16, 2008 at 5:15 pm
>>When you walk into someone’s house and they ask you to remove your shoes, I wouldn’t expect you to go on a rampage about your freedoms being obstructed. If you don’t want to take off your shoes, you have the freedom to not enter the house.<<
And you wouldn’t be offended if the owner of the house kept their shoes on, citing your being foreign as a reason for the discrepancy?
January 16, 2008 at 6:09 pm
Not really. It’s their quirk. I already mentioned that it was a bad example on my part.
Instead, consider visiting an office building under strict security. As an employee, you just need to flash your company ID and you can go on in. As a visitor, you have to show your identification and write your contact information and name on a piece of paper. Same thing in Japan.
January 24, 2008 at 8:41 pm
Yep, Alex … except only the Japanese, Koreans and Chinese that are denied citizenship and only granted permanent residence despite the fact that they descend from WWII forced laborers, and children can be employees.
Other people that work, play and live in the office building don’t get the privilege of being considered employees in Japan Inc.
January 24, 2008 at 8:50 pm
Why is that, Anonymous? Westerners can become Japanese citizens as well, and Chinese and Koreans also have the choice to gain Japanese citizenship. They choose not to because they have to give up their citizenship to their mother-land. It’s their choice. I don’t think it’s a logical choice, but it’s theirs to make, none-the-less.
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