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JimDunlop2 · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Posts: 2286 Location: Japan

Thinking of living in Sakura House or other similar places? Well, just know that if you do, Big Brother will be watching you -- and checking your papers when you come and go. You won't find a sympathetic ear with Sakura House's management either as they fully condone the police's illegal actions.

The following is an excerpt from Debito Arudo's mailing list. For more information on social activism and racism in Japan, visit his website. www.debito.org

(bold=mine)
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GAIJIN CARD CHECKS OUTSIDE "SAKURA HOUSE"

Received a mail (I get a lot of these, especially on weekends) from people wanting some advice. This time, a person named Alisa told me about how cops keep hanging out outside the "gaijin guesthouses" of Sakura House (http://www.sakura-house.com) essentially to snare foreigners (this is not the first time I've heard about this, by the way):

======== EXCERPT BEGINS ===================
Anyway this morning I was stopped by three men in black jackets (windbreakers) and one of them flashed me a badge. They asked me if I had my "card". Even though I had read your article, I was running late for work and was extremely frazzled at being approached like that. I could feel my Japanese fumbling but did manage to ask "nan de desuka?". They told me that they had heard that some sakura house people had overstayed their visa and were "just checking". They went to far as to ask my room number and whether I lived alone. They made double sure to check the address on the back of my card and sent me on my way. I was very insulted and humiliated at being stopped like that...
======== EXCERPT ENDS ===================
Entire email at http://www.debito.org/index.php/?p=86

Alisa even took the trouble to print up copies of the law regarding these instant checkpoints for the benefit of fellow residents
(see http://www.debito.org/whattodoif.html#gaijincard)
and to contact Sakura House about the harassment.

Well, let the hand-washing preclude any hand-wringing. Response from Sakura House:

======== SAKURA HOUSE RESPONSE BEGINS ===============
Dear Ms. Alisa West
Thank you very much for your staying at Sakura House.

In fact, Japanese police officer or imigration [sic] officer has a right to check your passport, visa status and alien registration card. If they ask you to show your passport, you have to show it to them. This is a leagal [sic] action. They do that kind of inspection without informing.

With best regards,
Takuya Takahashi
======== SAKURA HOUSE RESPONSE ENDS ===============

Pity Mr Takahashi doesn't know the law better. It's not quite that simple. So much for helping out his renters.

As I'm sure I'll get nitpickers with short memories or attention spans thinking this is much ado, a few reminders from the record accumulating on debito.org:

Re the developing tendency towards racial profiling in Japan:
"Here comes the fear: Antiterrorist law creates legal conundrums for foreign residents"
Japan Times May 24, 2005
http://www.debito.org/japantimes052405.html

"Justice system flawed by presumed guilt
Rights advocates slam interrogation without counsel, long detentions"
The Japan Times: Oct. 13, 2005
http://www.debito.org/japantimes102305detentions.html

An excellent summary from the Japan Times on what's wrong with Japan's criminal justice system: presumption of guilt, extreme police powers of detention, jurisprudential incentives for using them, lack of transparency, records or accountability during investigation, and a successful outcome of a case hinging on arrest and conviction, not necessarily on proving guilt or innocence. This has long since reached an extreme: almost anything that goes to trial in a Japanese criminal court results in a conviction.

Point: You do not want to get on the wrong side of the Japanese police, although riding a bicycle, walking outside, renting an apartment etc. while foreign seems more and more to incur police involvement.

fion · Joined: 03 Feb 2003 Posts: 69 Location: tokyo

I think jim d is quite right in his post here. Actually i have been staying in a gaijin house for the last five years or so and have never had this bad experience, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Maybe it just means the local koban are used to the sight of me, ( ah yes that's fion on her way home from the pub, no need to stop her, ) but I have noticed them stopping filipinos in the street for no obvious reason. Frankly I would not expect the gaijin house management to support me unless I got really stroppy with them and made an issue of it, which I probably would. However it's not really the fault of the guest house management, they are not the guys who are breaking japanese law. It is the fault of the peoople who stop foreigners in the street for no good reason, whether those guys are police officers, vigilantes, undercover immigration officials or whatever. I would probably take it up with those guys, or their bosses, rather than the guest house management. Anyway I think Jim D is raising an important issue here, and just because it's never happened to me so far doesn't mean it never will.

Seibu · Joined: 29 Nov 2006 Posts: 65

You've been living in a gaijin house for 5 years?!?! That must be some sort of record.

I lived in a gaijin house for 6 months along with 45 other gaijin. I almost committed ritual Japanese suicide. Horrible.

fion · Joined: 03 Feb 2003 Posts: 69 Location: tokyo

They vary. I like mine and I don't have to waste time on housework, paying bills etc.

gaijinalways · Joined: 29 Nov 2005 Posts: 2279

Gaijin houses vary, though most people want to move into real living situations eventually Laughing

.

A record for living in guesthouses was one guy I knew who was living in a gaijin house for the second time after having lived in an apartment for 2 years (1 lease term). Now some people might do it temporarily while they wait to move into the next new place, but this guy moved back in the gaijin house until he moved out again about 2 years later.

As to police harassment, when I lived in Apple House for 3 weeks back in '97, the police used to snare people coming by on their bikes (both going to work and coming back home), checking their IDs and registration on the bikes on an almost daily basis. Didn't encourage me to run out and purchase a bike right away Rolling Eyes

!

bluefrog · Joined: 28 Feb 2005 Posts: 87 Location: Osaka

markle · Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Posts: 1316 Location: Out of Japan

shuize · Joined: 04 Sep 2004 Posts: 1270

Things like this are annoying. But it's the price one pays to live overseas. As suggested above, people can cry as much as they like but my bet is they'll only be creating extra grief for themselves. Can't think of many governments that don't do the same, if for no other reason than put pressure on illegal workers.

In my opinion, a much better approach is to play dumb. Repeat questions with questions, etc.

J-Cop: Alien Registration Card?

Foreigner: Sorry, don't speak Japanese.

J-Cop: Alien Registration Card?

Foreigner: Sorry, can't understand your English.

J-Cop: Alien Registration Card?

Foreigner: My passport? Sorry, my passport's inside.

J-Cop: Alien Registration Card?

Foreigner: Oh, that alien registration card.

Or you can answer different questions After the usual run around, of course.

J-Cop: Where do you live?

Foreigner: Sorry, don't speak Japanese ...

J-Cop: Where do you live?

Foreigner: Where?

J-Cop: Where do you live?

Foreigner: Where do you live?

J-Cop: Where do you live?

Foreigner: Sorry, I'm a little hard of hearing.

J-Cop: Where do you live?

Foreigner: Yes, Japan is very nice. I'm having a great time.

c-way · Joined: 19 Nov 2004 Posts: 226 Location: Kyoto, Japan

Another fun form of civil disobedience that will most likely go unpunished is to feign a seizure.

Assuming of course that you have your foreigners' card on you, when asked by strange men (presumably police) to produce your card, act very agitated and distressed. Give them a hard time with poorly formulated questions in Japanese (If, like me, your Japanese sucks, this is a breeze) such as "nan de cardo desu".

Keep this up until they get a little impatient, and then get weak in the knees and blink rapidly as if you are going blind. Then fall back, making sure to not put your hands out (this gives it away) and breaking your fall with your but and not your head (which can invoke a real seizure). The rest is fun 'n games.

shake your limbs like you were teaching hokey pokey and for good measure throw in the occasional chest convulsion to make them think you just might die. You can also keep your eyes slightly open to watch the classic looks on their faces as they scramble to keep you alive.

Most likely they will call an ambulance to come to your aid. Make sure you awake before they arrive (You don't want to pay for this). When you "come to", look very disoriented and hold your head.

I doubt after all this you will still be made to produce your card, and if they persist, puke on their shoes.

markle · Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Posts: 1316 Location: Out of Japan

JimDunlop2 · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Posts: 2286 Location: Japan

Venti · Joined: 19 Oct 2006 Posts: 171 Location: Kanto, Japan

nickelgoat · Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2006 8:34 am Post subject:

.....

furiousmilksheikali · Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2006 9:35 am Post subject:

fluffyhamster · Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2006 9:55 am Post subject:

What type of insurance did you have, nicklegoat? Even if it was the Japanese national scheme, that only covers 70% of costs...

Anyway, 7000 yen doesn't sound too bad, and if it was the full cost (maybe you had some shady scheme not really recognized in Japan, that you'd need to reclaim from later), you perhaps got off cheap - I mean, an x-ray costs about 5000 yen.