I just recently started to get into urban/street photography and I am not sure about the legal situation.
What I could find is, that so long as the photo is taken in a public place and does not show people in an embarrassing state.(for example drunk people) it should be okay.
I just wonder if this is true.
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I usually just make myself as touristy as possible den they won’t care. They just think ima nudda dumb gaijin.
Taking pictures with people in them is a dicey proposition legally speaking. In Japan you have the right to privacy in your public image. For instance the streamers who come to Japan and stream with people in the frame, even in public, could wind up in a less than good position if people decided to raise a stink about it with the police. The normal thing to do though is to just apologize and delete the photos when asked (difficult if someone is streaming/videoing). This becomes especially important when you are planning on profiting from those pictures/videos that the people are unwillingly in. You could very well be sued if the people find out they’re in your video/picture/whatever. People here have a right to privacy and their own image even in public.
BUT that being said taking pictures for your own personal use, such as landscapes or buildings or tourist stuff, where people just happen to be in the picture (because it’s not like you’re paying to shut down the street for your photo shoot, you’re taking some pictures to preserve the memories) is extremely unlikely to cause a problem. As long as it’s obvious you’re taking a picture of whatever and that person just happens to be in the frame. Even if they police arrive just delete the picture with the offended party in it and retake the picture without them in it.
You mentionned “people”, but be aware that there are some buildings/structures that are considered to be “artwork” and may be the subject of licensing fees when used commercially.
Famous ones include the Tokyo Tower and Skytree. Tokyo Tower is especially known to send invoices here and there when they find they’ve been used in commercial projects (but just having the tower blurred in the background should be no problem….).
It’s hard to answer your question without specifics. For example, if your plan is to take photos of Sky Tree and put them on a very popular site like Getty, yes, there’s a chance you can expect some interference. On a smaller stock photo site, probably not, but you never know
If you’re putting them on Instagram to promote your own Photography business, no, it’s very unlikely that you’ll get in trouble
People are a different issue. Unless you have a written consent from a person appearing in a photo, the repercussions can be serious. I would strong recommend against candids from telephoto, etc. Even if you don’t tag someone in a photo, most social media have some sort of face recognition. Blur or ask.
Street photography is legal in Japan.
There is no law against taking photos of people in public places. It’s the publishing, or uploading them to the Internet where the laws come into play.
If the photo is of a wide street with hundreds of people, I wouldn’t worry too much. But when you crop and start to focus on individuals, that’s an issue. You should blur the person’s face so they are not immediately recognizable.
If the photo is taken on private land, you need to get permission from the land owner.
In relation to your original point of “showing people in an embarrassing state”, if the person is unrecognisable (e.g passed out on the street with a can of Strong Zero in their hand and a newspaper over their face) then fill your boots.
I haven’t seen anyone mention this, but I once saw some tourists get arrested for taking pictures of school kids. They just finished school and were walking to their after-school club and the tourist thought they looked cute, so took their picture (a group of them) and then the police came and arrested them.
Not sure if it is illegal or not, but I would try to avoid taking pictures of underage kids.