{"id":194,"date":"2006-05-18T11:05:38","date_gmt":"2006-05-18T02:05:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2006-05-18\/194"},"modified":"2006-05-18T11:05:38","modified_gmt":"2006-05-18T02:05:38","slug":"big-hubub-about-photographing-and-fingerprinting-foreigners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2006-05-18\/194","title":{"rendered":"Big Hubub About Photographing and Fingerprinting Foreigners"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\n\nThe Japan Times (English-language daily in Japan) has an article today\nabout a plan<\/span> to photograph\nand fingerprint foreigners entering Japan<\/a>. It had been<\/span> in the works for\nsome time, and has been a topic<\/span> of some debate, but now it's law.\n\n<\/p>\n

Here are some excerpts:<\/p>\n\n

\n

Diet passes bill to take foreigners' prints, pics<\/a><\/p>\n

By Masami Ito<\/small><\/p>\n

A bill requiring fingerprinting and photographing of foreigners upon entry\nto Japan was passed Wednesday as a way<\/span> to prevent terrorism.\n\n<\/p>

An estimated 6 million to 7 million foreigners entering Japan every year\nwill be obliged to have their fingerprints and photographs taken, along\nwith other personal identification information.\n\n<\/p>

“By targeting only foreigners, the Immigration Bureau is\nencouraging discrimination against foreigners,<\/i>” said Makoto\nTeranaka, secretary general of Amnesty International Japan. “(This\nlaw) is a violation<\/span> of a person's<\/span> right to privacy.<\/i>”\n\n<\/p>

The measure exempts people under age 16, [and some others, like diplomats]\n\n<\/p>

Other than that, all foreigners will be targeted. For people<\/span> already living\nhere and regardless of having a permanent,<\/span> work or spouse visa, all will be\nobliged to be fingerprinted and photographed when re-entering the country.\n\n<\/p>

Teranaka pointed out that foreign spouses of Japanese will now be treated\ndifferently than their partners.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

\n\nTo be clear, I'm one of<\/span> the “foreign spouses” that will be treated\ndifferently than my partner. I will be<\/span> fingerprinted and photographed.\n\n<\/p>\n\n

\n\nWith this law, I will require<\/span> special permission to enter the country (I\nwill<\/span> have no basic right to be here). I will be<\/span> allowed to remain only so\nlong as the government (and my wife) allow. Now, I will not<\/span> be allowed to\nvote in Japanese elections. I will have<\/span> to have special state-issued\nidentification on my person at all times. I will not<\/span> be allowed to hold\npublic office.<\/p>\n\n

To sum it up, with the passage of this law, I will be<\/span> treated like\nI'm not a Japanese<\/span> citizen<\/i>.<\/p>\n\n

Oh, wait. I'm not<\/b> a Japanese<\/span> citizen. I'm already<\/span> not allowed to\nvote or hold public office, and I already<\/span> require a visa<\/span> to be here, and\nalready am at the whim of the country. I already<\/span> have to carry around an\n“alien registration card” at all times. I'm already<\/span> treated as\nif I'm not a Japanese<\/span> citizen.... because I'm not<\/b>. <\/p>\n\n

I just don't understand all the hoopla around this whole thing. The person<\/span> quoted in the article complains that it will encourage\ndiscrimination against foreigners, but since this law centers around the\nprocedures required to enter the country, it's about a subject<\/span> which\nintrinsically<\/i> treats nationals differently than foreigners.<\/p>\n\n

You do need to be photographed for a driver's<\/span> licence, but not to walk\nacross the street, and no one complains about the discrepancy — such a\ncomplaint<\/span> would seem comparably silly to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here's the aforementioned “state-issued identification”<\/a> that\nI have<\/span> to carry around with me at all times. Informally called a\n“gaijin (foreigner) card” in English, in Japanese it's \u5916\u56fd\u4eba\u767b<\/span>\n\u9332\u8a3c\u660e\u66f8<\/span> — gaikokujin touroku shoumeishou<\/i> — “proof of\nforegnier registration”<\/p>\n\n

Years ago these cards had a fingerprint on them (right hand index\nfinger, if I recall<\/span>), and that was always a hubbub<\/span> for some. I was here<\/span> and\nwas fingerprinted for it three times (the original, and two renewals over\nthe years), and the fingerprint requirement didn't bother me in the least.\n\n<\/p>

\n\nThe last time I renewed the card, the guy was really sheepish about getting\nmy fingerprint, and they provided a sticker<\/span> I could<\/span> put on the card's\nprotective sleeve to cover the exposed fingerprint, should I feel<\/span> sheepsih\nabout it as well.<\/p>\n\n

I don't really believe the “anti-terrorist” arguments the proponents of\nthe law are using to grease its skids (in what country have we seen that\napproach before?), but at the same time, I think<\/span> it's well within reason\nfor a country<\/span> to want to do if they want. It's their<\/span> money and their time\nto waste, but it's also their country to do with as they see fit.\n\n<\/p>

\n\nI'm a guest here. If I don<\/span>'t like it, I can always<\/span> go to America where none\nof this will apply.... to me, at least.\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Japan Times (English-language daily in Japan) has an article today about a plan to photograph and fingerprint foreigners entering Japan. It had been in the works for some time, and has been a topic of some debate, but now it's law. <\/p>

Here are some excerpts:<\/p>

Diet passes bill to take foreigners' prints, pics<\/p>

By Masami Ito<\/p>

A bill requiring fingerprinting and photographing of foreigners upon entry to Japan was passed Wednesday as a way to prevent terrorism. <\/p>

An estimated 6 million to 7 million foreigners entering Japan every year will be obliged to have their fingerprints and [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}