Japan Fingerprinting Commences
Japan’s new amended immigration laws (改正入管法) kicked in today, making it the second country in the world after USA to implement a compulsory fingerprinting system for foreign visitors.
Image shamelessly stolen from Stippy.com
This is a particularly unpleasant development in my opinion, not because I am a strong advocate of individual privacy (I am not), but because it really brings out the uglier, nationalistic, racist and ignorant side of Japan.
As of today, all foreigners entering Japan above the age of 16 have to have their fingerprints and photos taken or face immediate deportation. The interesting thing is that fingerprinting a Japanese citizen is specifically prohibited by law unless the individual is suspected of having committed a crime.
Supposedly this is done to fight terrorism, but can you really think of any instance of a terrorist attack in Japan that was executed by foreigners? The high profile sarin gas attack was perpetuated by the Aum Shinrikyo, a Japanese cult. Japan’s infamously closed society already makes it next to impossible for any Islamic fundamentalist groups to operate there with any success, so this new measure is clearly an overkill in fighting terrorism.
Apparently, the fact that a high-ranking Japanese official claims to have friends in al-Qaeda who managed to enter Japan with various passports is enough justification for tighter immigration measures. This would have been just a really terrible joke if it were not actually true.
The reality is that all this talk about terrorism is just for the foreign media. The real reason for this measure is because foreigners are perceived as the cause of crimes and social problems in Japan. This racist attitude is so pervasive in right-leaning media outlets that it legitimizes itself and influences the thinking of people in a way that is not immediately apparent and very, very sinister. For example, magazines supposedly detailing the criminal acts of foreigners can find shelf space in regular convenient stores.
Hive of Villainy
One look at Itai News’ article on the latest fingerprinting scheme gives you a glimpse into the mindset of xenophobic Japanese who have probably never interacted with a foreigner in their lives. Most of the comments are along the lines of:
- Japan needs to maintain its good public safety records
- Most crimes are committed by foreigners
- Only criminals would complain about being fingerprinted
- America is doing it too
Itai News does coverage on the latest hot topics on 2ch, so you can say that it’s not that reflective of mainstream Japan. But still, it’s mind-boggling just how ignorant some people can get when they refuse to see beyond their immediate surroundings.
Discrimination
In Japan, foreigners can be stopped for questioning for the “crime” of riding a bike. Bicycle theft is a very common offence and foreigners are likely to be criminals, right? Police officers are also known to randomly stop foreigners to ask for identification and detaining people who do not have the proper papers with them. How do they tell that you are a foreigner? By looks of course! Permanent residents, naturalized citizens and Japan-born citizens with foreign parents are thus screwed both ways. Not only do they pay taxes, they still get treated as foreigners. Of course, there are the ever-infamous no pets no gaijin signs.
Once again, it seems that my post has become too tangential. Let’s go back to fingerprinting.
Fingerprinting can be good
As mentioned, I am not a huge fan of over-emphasizing on individual freedoms. I think that a nationwide fingerprint database can probably do wonders for crime-fighting, provided that the right instruments are put in place and they are properly scrutinized for potential abuse. For example, I won’t advocate such an implementation in a country suffering from rampant institutional corruption because it would just be another tool for mid-level bureaucrats to profit off.
But I think that if proper procedures are followed, there is really no harm in a central fingerprint database. It would certainly help solve a lot of serious crimes where fingerprints actually come into play. (I doubt that they get any prints to work with in the case of a bicycle theft.)
What I do have problem with is the current implementation. Why is the fingerprinting of Japanese citizens restricted by law? Clearly the existence of such a law implies that there is something unpleasant about being fingerprinted. And yet we have a bunch of racist Japanese net commentators saying “only criminals are afraid of getting fingerprinted”. Well, if that is true why not fingerprint everyone then? This is just pure discrimination, nothing more and nothing less.
We didn’t start this!
And the argument that the USA is already doing it is even more laughable. Firstly, it implies that foreigners “deserve” it for starting this whole thing. Well, newsflash! Not all foreigners are American! Moreover, I don’t think the US is that great an example to follow right now.
According to Fareed Zakaria of Newsweek, the number of Japanese tourists travelling to the US each year dropped from 5 million in 2000 to 3.6 million in 2006 and the number of Britons travelling to the US decreased by 11% but increased everywhere else.
Declines in the number of tourists since 9/11 cost the US $100 billion in spendings and taxes. Overall, global travel is experiencing continuous healthy growth, except to the US. Why? I think the possibility of being anal probed at the customs may have something to do with it!
Clearly, today’s United States of America is a shitty example to follow as far as immigration policy is concerned. I don’t think Americans are any safer today than before 9/11, just a whole lot less free (and less rich thanks to the spiralling dollar). If al-Qaeda really hated freedom (and not years of being screwed over by America’s asinine foreign policies), then they have really succeeded in a big way. But I digress again.
To conclude…
I guess that in the end, getting fingerprinted isn’t that big of a deal. But what is disgusting is how discriminating against foreigners is taken as a given by so many Japanese, and how valid concerns like security are used to manipulate public opinions for such an insidious agenda. It’s the vile combination of ignorance and protectionism that paved the way to Star of David badges more than sixty years ago.
Fingerprint everyone or fingerprint no one!
Ultimately, I just hope that I don’t have to wait for an hour to enter Japan when I fly there next month. (More details about that at a later date.)
November 21st, 2007 at 12:28 am
Considering it was already next to impossible to immigrate to Japan in the first place - who cares ?
Also, there are decent countries in Americas, not only MassMurder States, so its really not fair to call one small country with the name of the whole two continents.
November 21st, 2007 at 12:30 am
Oh fine. I will change the name. *grumbles*
November 21st, 2007 at 12:41 am
Hilarious that a guy from Russia, a country that routinely butchered its own citizens in the 20th century, fought a 20 year quagmire in Afghanistan, and goes on internation assasaination campaigns, would call the US the MassMurder States. Roflcopter.
November 21st, 2007 at 12:47 am
I’m coming back to Singapore this Friday to attend Animation Nation, so I guess I’ll be unfortunate enough to experience this procedure first hand. :[
November 21st, 2007 at 12:49 am
Darkmirage, hi there again, just a few thoughts.
I’m from Hong Kong, but study in US, so I go thru the same fingerprinting and taking pictures shit every time I enter US. Before (now defunct), student visa holders need to go to this automatic kiosk to do the same thing (no person inside, it’s all automatic, just put finger prints and swipe visa) to get a receipt saying: “OK I’m leaving US for vacation/summer and will come back later”. I also often fly to Japan often with family for shopping and food. I have yet to try the Japanese version of fingerprinting. I don’t think US citizens are fingerprinted during entering US also.
So that now Japan is doing it, and it definitely is not a welcome sight. It really is a form of discrimination to just fingerprint foreigners. Japan definitely has a thriving of tourism business and I’m pretty sure fingerprinting foreigners does not necessarily mean crime and terrorism in Japan(terrorism in Japan? haven’t heard any for ages…) will go down.
November 21st, 2007 at 12:56 am
There are two ways you can look at the scenario.
One, since less foreigners are going to Japan, it helps to keep their peace of minds. Now that less foreigners are in Japan, everyone can now focus on the next target to group. As we have seen, already otaku enclaves are being swiped out.
And, as evident in the Myanmar debate, where do we draw the line between foreign interference and moral support? If we are to demand that Japan is to stop the fingerprinting, any nationalist will play the “who are you to dictate our cultural norms?” card.
On the flipside, Japanese had already this proverb to strengthen their cause: “Any nail that sticks too much get hammered.” [..."If the nail is difficult to hammer in, it is removed."]
Looking at a globalization scale.
This is the result of the resistance to change in globalization. I think many countries are adopting the resistance to having too much change in their society. Looking at Britain, Germany, France, a majority of South-east Asian nations, South Korea, Canada, United States and many multiculturalist nations, most newspapers around the world seemed to hype the failures of multiculturalism, and bring to light the need to “protect their interest against economic imperialism.”
As a result, many nations are also adopting this “nationalist” approach of ensuring that not too many foreigners will take away the native citizens’ jobs and means of living, but at the same time attracting those investments.
Welcome to the uncertain 21st century. So, what are the voices of the New Silent Generation? (God I love sociology!)
November 21st, 2007 at 1:01 am
“Considering it was already next to impossible to immigrate to Japan in the first place - who cares ?
Also, there are decent countries in Americas, not only MassMurder States, so its really not fair to call one small country with the name of the whole two continents.”
MassMurder States? Perhaps you should look up some of your own country’s heritage. Try hitting up Wikipedia for post-WWII Russia and the Great Purge for greater massacres than anything you can claim the U.S. participated in. And when people say America they mean the US, if you want to refer to North and South America you say The Americas.
As for fingerprinting, yeah it’s unfortunate, but I kinda agree that fingerprinting itself is not really that big of a deal. It’s not that intrusive, and can be used to fight terrorism. Like you said though, the way they have justified it in Japan seems to reinforce a lot of the inherent racism and misunderstandings about terrorist.
November 21st, 2007 at 1:22 am
Dude, chill out, man. Every nation has a skeleton in their closets. The Russian guy is probably enticing a trap joke here.
In the case of Japan, unless you can device a method to alter your fingerprints (why should you, for that matter?), if you’re going to be there, not visiting the brothels (it seemed the argument — that being in the vicinity of a brothel doesn’t mean you intend to solicit a prostitute — is now changed to “guilty until proven innocent”), then what do you care about? If you’re a tourist, give them what they wanted. This is one move for nationalism for them, anyways. Welcome to New Sakoku Policy.
I will just enjoy the whole world contradict and fight each other. I, on the other hand, will sit down, somewhere in the figurative “lone island with a volcano”, looking at the screen, displaying the world map, and icons depicting the situation in each region. With my Persian cat on my lap, I caress my staff as an evil laughter emanates between my lips as I plan the next plan for world domination………
November 21st, 2007 at 1:36 am
There is no way I would ever travel to a country that treats my like a criminal instead of treating me like a guest. For me this means that the USA has been a no-go-area for a few years and I guess I will add Japan to this list as well, even through there are a few places I’d like to visit once, but I won’t betray my ideals just for that.
Over here it’s the other way around. Since the beginning of this month we have do give away our fingerprints if we want to get a passport. These fingerprints will be saved on the passport using an RFID-chip. Of course, this is all in the name of terroris..err..fighting terrorism. (I’ve yet to see a terrorist through and I still think that it’s far more likely to be killed by a drunken driver or even a piano falling off someone’s balcony than being killed by a terrorist attack.)
“only criminals are afraid of getting fingerprinted”
*lol* I’m terribly familiar with this kind of argument. “Only those having something to hide care about their privacy!” is one of the most popular arguments our right-wing politicians and their followers put on the table to get unconstitutional laws passed. Maybe we should just ask these people to show us the contents of their porn stash as well as their current account balance to find out if they really don’t have anything to hide. Following their reasoning they would be criminals if they refuse.
A lot of dumb laws have been passed in the name of fighting terrorism like a law that prohibits pilots to overfly the government district in Berlin. (I’m sure al-Qeada is screwed now, because they can’t crash their plane into the parliament without breaking a law! *lol*)
It looks like fighting terrorism is an argument that makes people putting their brains on standby-mode. Sometimes I ask myself what to fear more: The terrorists or the government that sells out everyone’s rights in the name of fighting them.
Looks like the societies shifting toward right-wing attitudes is global threat since 911 and this trend scares me way more than al-Qeada (etc.) ever could. We throw our freedoms and ideals down the drain in the name protecting them.
November 21st, 2007 at 2:01 am
Hence, the mind thought shift.
Looks like the societies shifting toward right-wing attitudes is global threat since 911 and this trend scares me way more than al-Qeada (etc.) ever could. We throw our freedoms and ideals down the drain in the name protecting them.
This is what the Al-Qaeda trap wants the Western world to believe in.
Don’t anybody see? It might be far-fetched, but it’s not impossible that because of restrictive policies many Western or developing nations are increasingly adopting, many are beginning to see Al-Qaeda in a more positive light. The bloody 1984 cycle begins:
Government restricts citizen rights further
People feel despaired and disillusioned
Al-Qaeda (through their innovative propaganda) spreads the message of hate against said government
People rejoiced, fights back
Government fights back (sometimes with brute force), whole cycle begins
Ah, guys, I hate to say this, but ever since George Orwell coined the “1984″ effect, reality seemed to adopt such actions more and more.
Time to buy ourselves a new volcano island and begin our global preparations. My new name is Dr. No. [/bond-joke]
November 21st, 2007 at 2:48 am
@TP
I’m pretty proud of my country, I really don’t think it’s wrong for me to get offended when it’s referred to as “MassMurder States.” I could care less if he was trolling for a response or not.