RetireJapan

I was ID’d by the police today while walking home from my local railway station.

The policewoman was polite and talked about checks happening at the moment because of the election. Fortunately, soon after I was stopped, an old lady approached and asked the policewoman for help and I just walked off without being followed so I didn’t end up showing any ID.

Some sections of the foreign community are ID’d more regularly than others because of how they look and I’m lucky that it’s only my second time in 15+ years living here.

But it doesn’t alter the fact that several hours later, I’m still really annoyed at being challenged so close to home.

What are your experiences at being stopped by the police?

Twice I think, in 20 years. Also very close to home. One time I didn't have my zairyu on me so he just took my address instead. I don't think I was annoyed about it, though if it happened every few months I definitely would be.

Never been stopped but some of my colleagues are racially profiled and frequently asked for ID by the police.

Some of my non-Japanese-looking Japanese friends get stopped and asked for their ID often; Passport or Zairyu Card, but they are under no obligation to carry any form of ID, and don't have a Zairyu Card, and maybe not even a passport...

Tkydon wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2024 7:09 pm Some of my non-Japanese-looking Japanese friends get stopped and asked for their ID often; Passport or Zairyu Card, but they are under no obligation to carry any form of ID, and don't have a Zairyu Card, and maybe not even a passport...

I feel the lazy conflating of appearance with nationality will take a long time to abate here. Probably not in my lifetime, sadly.

I think there's a video about that

https://youtu.be/OYDnB0Nz940?si=uJZFo81N80Z1Ew6s&t=1302 (cued up to the police checks bit)

I don't like being stopped for no good reason and will certainly push back politely. But only to a certain point. I have no intention of getting arrested because I am too stubborn to acknowledge that the situation here is not alwasy how I would like it to be.

But I have a lot of priviledge here due to my age, ethnicity, language ability, etc. Not sure I would be as bold if those were different.

Twice. First time while popping out on my bicycle to a nearby convenience store without lights, sadly for them they made the mistake of stopping me in the convenience store car park so all they did was verify that my bicycle was registered to someone with a foreign name. Second time was while taking a short cut through Kabukicho in broad daylight, and I ended up spending a good 20 minutes or so convincing them that the crappy 100 yen store multitool thing I had forgotten deep in my rucksack (with a cutting tool which could do some serious damage to a slab of butter if you let it warm to room temperature) was not intended to facilitate some kind of wild stabbing spree.

CluelessToshika wrote: ↑Tue Oct 22, 2024 11:23 am , and I ended up spending a good 20 minutes or so convincing them that the crappy 100 yen store multitool thing I had forgotten deep in my rucksack (with a cutting tool which could do some serious damage to a slab of butter if you let it warm to room temperature) was not intended to facilitate some kind of wild stabbing spree.

This sort of stuff would really really grind my gears.

Deep Blue wrote: ↑Tue Oct 22, 2024 11:25 am

CluelessToshika wrote: ↑Tue Oct 22, 2024 11:23 am , and I ended up spending a good 20 minutes or so convincing them that the crappy 100 yen store multitool thing I had forgotten deep in my rucksack (with a cutting tool which could do some serious damage to a slab of butter if you let it warm to room temperature) was not intended to facilitate some kind of wild stabbing spree.

This sort of stuff would really really grind my gears.

Yeah, it was a source of involuntary annoyance for a few weeks afterwards. However I've passed through Kabukicho in various directions probably hundreds of times (it is inconveniently situated between places I need to be) and never a problem before or since, so chalked it down to One Of Those Things.

CluelessToshika wrote: ↑Tue Oct 22, 2024 11:23 am I ended up spending a good 20 minutes or so convincing them that the crappy 100 yen store multitool thing I had forgotten deep in my rucksack

The knife laws here are wild. You gave them permission to search your bag presumably?