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 3:38 am
I guess the comments on this article will run and run, what with this proposed renaming of the US, not to mention the controversial subject of the original blog entry.
Every nation has its more unpleasant quirks. This fingerprinting initiative slots neatly into what little I know about the quirks that Japan has.
I would like to point out that “Only those having something to hide care about their privacy!” is not an argument unique to the right wing - plenty of left wing governments say similar things. It’s more an authoritarian/liberal axis, which operates nearly independently of the left/right spectrum (just as there are left- and right-wing thinkers who advocate an unregulated economy, and left- and right-wing thinkers who advocate economic protectionism).
November 21st, 2007 at 4:27 am
In my honest opinion, Japan has always been a very “secluded” state because of it’s rather stubborn policies. Though it is not as disgusting as the Juche idea, the idea of being just plain selfish towards foreigners already puts many travellers off.
With the advent of ideal privacy, personalised protection and image maintainence, we have become more fearful of each other because we are just simply scared of opening up and getting cheated. Being a little too overprotective doesn’t sound good.
Besides, it is not fair to justify that foreigners commit crimes. It is no different from the “no blacks allowed” signs placed up a century ago in America. Besides Eugenics have been debunked again and again by modern science, so there is absolutely no reason to say that one race is superior to another.
In 1996, Japan has effected International Convention Of Elimination Of Racial Discrimination, and 11 years down the road, they still haven’t kept their end of the promise.
I believe that Japan is going to close up its trade doors soon, live in seclusion, until some superpower come along with a trade-or-else indictment. Then Japan rapidly modernises, and suddenly starts WWIII. If this same old bullshit is going to happen every century, I would gladly take up a religion, go to heaven, and stay right there.
P.S DM when are you going to Japan?
November 21st, 2007 at 5:09 am
Japan, you morons.
I’m for Israel. maybe the most active place in the whole world in terms of terrorism. and I will tell you what we to with fingerprints. we collect them from the dead corpses of the terrorists who just blew themselves up and killed a dozen of people.
Taking fingerprints in the name of fighting terrorism is bullshit. it will not stop terrorism. if terrorists would really want to attack japan, I’m sure they will find a way to succeed. there are other ways to stop terrorism, and in my country they work well. what does the fingerprint of a person helps if you don’t know who he is? nothing. If you wish to stop someone, you need intelligence. and intelligence IS the most effective tool to fight terrorism. fingerprints identification is just a lame measure, which I’m sure no terrorist will be caught with.
Damn it. before reading your article I thought that I want to travel to japan some day in the near future. now I’m rethinking it. Japan, terror, what do they have in common? absolutely nothing. the Japanese government is just pure racist.
And speaking of foreigners. Does the Japanese economy need the rest of the world? oh yes. so please japan, stop doing these stupid racist acts. it’s for your own good.
Did you think that Progress brings freedom? I think it’s the other way around. and japan are not all alone in this. welcome to the 21st century :)
November 21st, 2007 at 6:41 am
Why are people kicking this around like it’s ground-breaking OMG news? Japan’s debate on fingerprinting foreigners and subsequent revisions has been going on since the 1950s. It’s unfortunate but it isn’t exactly new.
November 21st, 2007 at 6:41 am
@arcanes
Let’s fix Israel’s racism problems first and not just towards the arabs before complaining about another country’s racist immigration measures.
On the net every Israeli is a che guevara type but when you walk down the street, you see it’s just Israel.
November 21st, 2007 at 7:16 am
@LikesGames
We have our own problems that’s for sure. but not every citizen shares his own country/government thoughts. why can’t we join the discussion even if are own country is racist? I’m a person for myself, and my thoughts on the matter are my own. it’s like not every Japanese is racist( I sure hope so :) ).
The bottom line is this: we are not perfect, they are not perfect, but in the open internet, we should always say what we think. even if it doesn’t help, we know we said what we thought, and that is what matters. I’m not a racist, I think every one is the same human being, and every time I encounter racism, it piss me off. come on, what is all the stupid conflicts about? they are all just meaningless fights. yeah, the world sucks, but at least you know you can be good :)
November 21st, 2007 at 7:28 am
I don’t really have any problems with this system. I have nothing to hide and i’m not a criminal so go ahead and finger print me, retinal scan me and take my picture for all i care. The only problem i can see is longer lines at immigration. Hopefully they can overcome this cause the lines at LA Airport were terribly long and very slow, although maybe it’s always been like that…
November 21st, 2007 at 7:53 am
Hmm… I’m just offended that I am not accorded the protection of the Consitution and law of Japan just because I’m not a citizen YET.
I’m for national fingerprinting anyway. Not that it’s going to deter a determined criminal, but it does seem sort of efficient.
November 21st, 2007 at 8:40 am
@ griever
This issue significant because Japan stopped with these sorts of measure for many years, so this newest incarnation seems to many like a big step backward.
It’s also because a lot of the tension caused by day-to-day experiences with racism in Japan lies just below the surface for many expat gaijin, and something like this is more than enough to cause all that frustration to boil over.
Besides, it’s always relevant to point out recent and significant events, regardless of whether they represent a big change or not.
Also, while I believe it’s a bit anal to complain about referring to the United States as “America”, I also think the Americans who responded need to wake up and realize that the reason people make those complaints is because the U.S. has a pretty deservedly shitty international reputation. There’s a reason people don’t want to be associated with the country.
November 21st, 2007 at 9:05 am
Fingerprinting, schminterprinting. The whole foreign debate has been in Japan for pretty much their entire history.
Next thing we know, they’ll want to examiine all foreigners ANALLY, and beat them with Japanese phonebooks :P
November 21st, 2007 at 10:09 am
I have wanted to go to Japan for many, many years now but I haven’t been able to do so thus far. I have looked forward to it for a long time but on the other hand I have also heard from people that have been there before that the Japanese are pretty xenophobic, which kind of disappointed me. After reading this, I think those people that told me that might be onto something after all. Not that I’m a fan of my country’s practices by a long shot either though…
November 21st, 2007 at 10:26 am
Ahh. Not good. Especially with my heighty ambitions.
November 21st, 2007 at 11:10 am
I am a strong advocate of personal privacy.
I also have no problem with border fingerprinting by itself. A nation’s first priority is toward its own citizens, that obligation to their citizens trumps the respect offered to others. They don’t have to make any one else happy. Nonetheless, what they’re asking isn’t so bad: Fingerprints and photographs are a small personal cost.
I do have the same problem with it you do: The racist platform it is based on.
The proof that it is racist isn’t just in that citizens are exempt. That’s a practical issue. The proof of the racism lies in the fact that there are special classes of permanent residents that are exempt, namely ethnic Chinese and Koreans. Yes, the only thing a racist Asian person hates more than people from other Asian countries are people from non-Asian countries. (Singaporeans don’t count. You guys are Asian-Lite.)
November 21st, 2007 at 12:07 pm
TempestGarden:
Actually, travelling to Japan is fine. You will only see the uglier side of it when you live and work there.
Whether out of good intentions or bad, Japanese people feel compelled to treat foreigners differently. It’s actually a good thing for a tourist because you get a lot of help, but if you are living there semi-permanently it does make you feel excluded.
Ryuko_Hikaru:
My flight there is on the 23rd of December.
November 21st, 2007 at 12:28 pm
@ Mac
“The proof of the racism lies in the fact that there are special classes of permanent residents that are exempt, namely ethnic Chinese and Koreans. Yes, the only thing a racist Asian person hates more than people from other Asian countries are people from non-Asian countries. (Singaporeans don’t count. You guys are Asian-Lite.)”
I think you’ve got things a bit backwards there. First of all, “special permanent residents” is just a nice politically correct way of referring to the descendants of Chinese and Korean slave prisoners the Japanese brought over during their various territorial conquests in Asia. Regular Chinese and Korean residents are still subject to these new policies.
Second, in my experience the racism is rather the other way around. If you’re white looking it’s ok to be foreign and different; Koreans and Chinese on the other hand, are often discriminated against even more so. Many of them take on Japanese names and try to blend in and look Japanese so as to keep a low profile.
I don’t have any statistics or real solid proof, but my general experiences and the experiences of others I’ve talked to seems to indicate that if anything, non-Japanese Asians have far more racism directed toward them than immigrants from Western countries.
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Epic Win Blog » Fingerprinting Schmingerprinting, Japan Still RocksNovember 21st, 2007 at 2:17 pm
[...] entering or leaving the country, as I was reading through the various comments on different blogs and news sites there was one particular type of reaction that stood out to [...]
November 21st, 2007 at 2:30 pm
Actually I couldn’t agree more with what Orion had said. This was just a huge step backward, back to the days of the crusades and clanship in which there is the ultimate pure race which will inherit the earth. Alexander the Great killed many on the battlefield for such ideals for racial purity, and so did those (A)SS MIBs who slaughtered the Armenians and Jews.
In fact, we are already pure, consider the fact that we are the only possible living entity within infinity light-years radius (the only extraterresial I believe in is STITCH!!!). And even if they/we are racially pure, what is the big f***ing use of being genetically pure when our hearts are tainted with such unfairness and hatred (I don’t believe in a pure mind xD)?
Also I have taken up a Japanese name in order to prevent myself from being “gaijinised” on BBSes and forums. It is a sad thing that most young people have taken this up as a form of trend. And lol no Orion I don’t think we Singaporeans are Asian-lite, we are just so diffused that it is difficult to accurately pinpoint our ethnicity anymore.
@ DM
I just finished my ‘A’s and I wanted to take a first time trip to Japan to buy some stuff and do sightseeing, but I don’t exactly know how much money I need (financially independent ‘A’ levels students are always poor), and I don’t even know how to speak a single word of Japanese. Is it possible if you give me some advice, or if possible, can we travel together?
November 21st, 2007 at 4:25 pm
I wonder if Japan really is afraid of terrorist attacks…
While Japan is a known ally of the United States, Japan’s pacifist constitution prevents Japan from giving military aid to the US.
In fact, their congress/diet recently blocked legislation preventing the renewal of the oil refueling mission Japan used to provide to Afghanistan forces.
I suppose that due to Japan’s decision to halt the mission, Al-Qaeda decided to reward japan by sending an envoy there to buy some anime products to boost Japan’s economy…. and certainly not to conduct terrorist attacks…
The point is… if al-Qaeda wants to bomb somewhere, they should choose to bomb the surging American forces in Iraq right now, bomb America, or bomb Britain or any other NATO allies which are actively involved in the war.
Of course security is a good thing, and you can never guess what those terrorists are thinking, but it is more likely that the Japanese government is also hoping to do something - which is to hype up anti-foreigner sentiments so as to eventually get rid of their pacifist constitution.
Think about it, any leader with any knowledge of realism will know that a strong military is needed to pursue the country’s interests or to even ensure its own survival…..Much less Japan is so near China an emerging power.
The pacifist constitution came into existence because the US coerced such a humiliating deal, in an effort to cripple Japan’s prospects of becoming a military power.
Right now, Japan is already trying to break its pacifist policy, the most obvious of it is the upgrade of the defense agency into a ministry.
And Japan also has to hype up nationalistic sentiments in order to achieve such a change… this can be reflected in Japan’s policy…
Why do you think Japan refuses to do anything about its textbooks even when it is used as a pretext by China to block Japan’s bid for a permanent Security council seat? Why do you think that ex-prime minister continue to visit that shrine amidst condemnation? And why Japan only admitted about the slaves issue now?
It is simply to prevent their own citizens from ever fully realizing the atrocities Japan committed so that eventually Japanese people won’t protest when Japan build giant Gundams and conquer the world again
November 21st, 2007 at 5:18 pm
We (Vietnamese people) all had to register our fingerprints when we apply for UK Visas.
2nd country in the world after USA? Maybe not…
November 21st, 2007 at 5:31 pm
@0rion
I’m not saying this is an insignificant issue or shouldn’t be pointed out, but the type of responses that you mentioned in your blog regarding this are a prime example of what happens when the full picture isn’t given. IMHO.
This doesn’t mean that even with the full picture, the anger and resentment would disappear and everyone would be rebooking their flights. People, rightly so, would probably still be just as angry. But at least people will be angry at the entire problem and not just the newest aspect of it. (But then again, I’m biased as I’ve spent a fair amount of time reading up on the minority treatment here.)