I discovered that i happened to have a swiss army knife in my bag and came to think of that it may not be legal in japan. Its however practical to have it with you sometimes so I wonder weather i need to take it out or not. What are the laws on this?
The blade of such a knife is 6cm and from what I found in google you can carry a 6cm pocket knife.
But its borderline i suppose, if I run in to an obstinate police they could claim its 61mm or something. Is it not worth the risk, any experiences or knowledge on this?
34 comments
I would say, go to a police station and ask them directly. They will ask you to show it to them, and ask why you want to have a knife in your bag.
Just make sure you don’t answer something like “to defend myself” because then it means you got a knife in your bag in the intent to hurt people.
whether *
Also why would you need to carry around a knife for? For your job?
its illegal brother, if you get caught in that you will be in trouble for that.
I wouldn’t carry it.
As a foreign, this will just cause trouble if the police decides to stop you and ask for ID and check your bag for “dangerous materials”
Unless you’re going camping, leave it at home.
No, you cannot carry around a 6cm pocket knife without a specific purpose for its use. The only difference in the blade length is whether 銃刀法 applies or 軽犯罪法 applies.
If you have a legitimate reason, it is generally ok.
I.e.
You are camping.
You are using it for work.
The following is not a legitimate reason:
You are on your way to go camping.
You are on your way to work and need it there.
Many people get arrested for knife posession while returning home from camping.
Why do you want to carry a knife?
What’s your job? If it isn’t outdoorsy/construction related then you’re not going to encounter a situation where you’d need a knife but couldn’t make do with something like a set of keys.
Don’t. Just leave it at home, that’s what I do with mine. Sits in the tool box, with the other tools, where it belongs.
Is the JSDF doing training exercises with the Swiss Army?
When buying a knife at Mont Bell I asked the law and he said if it’s appropriate it’s okay.
Camping in the woods? Yay.
In a suit going to work? No, you don’t need it.
2cm is max in japan
Did you know this story? https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2009/08/25/voices/one-pocket-knife-nine-days-lockup/
Question to add on to this—I’m a young woman living alone. Is pepper spray something I should not carry?
Technically speaking the only ‘legal’ swiss army knives are the little minis, even the medium sized ones (that were my edc for decades) are technically illegal since they measure the blade not from where the edge starts but from where the handle starts.
Even then if the cops are being dicks technically they can confiscate it under the dangerous items laws unless you have a good reason to carry it. Good reasons being completely subjective and well, you know how that goes.
Best to leave anything bladed at home unless you’re on your way camping/fishing/etc. with enough gear to satisfy even the most jaded Taro. I remember a guy getting arrested for having a leatherman, in the case in his glove box, when the cops decided to illegally search his car while he was parked outside a combini (thrown out but do you really want to deal with the hassle?).
Not legal unfortunately. Would come in handy in case of a natural disaster and sounds like a good idea to carry it around but nope.
It has to do with the length of the blade.
“It is illegal to carry a blade of any kind exceeding **6 cm**, without justifiable grounds. Persons violating this law face imprisonment with work for up to 2 years or a fine of up to 300,000 yen.”
Hope this helps.
I carry the small Swiss Army Knife and I know a few others who do, too.
The size is within legal limits, so technically no problem. I do keep mine in a small bag that I keep my pads, eye drops, etc in, so if I were to be stopped and searched, it would be immediately understandable that it’s not in a super easy to access place ready for stabbing.
If you have a larger Swiss Army Knife, leave it at home.
They sell them all over the place in Japan, including places like tokyu Hands and Shimachi – but there is a size restriction. I would not keep it with you if you are not sure.
Anyone know if the saw on a muti tool is consider a knife? I was thinking of buying one of those leatherman knifeless rebar.
I wouldn’t carry around any knife “just because” here. If the police stop you for a bag search, you don’t have much to say.
I once carried a bundle of kitchen knives about 3km to take to a sharpening shop. But I had called the shop told them I was coming so if anyone asked, I could just call them.
Before I came to Japan I carried a Swiss knife everywhere I went, a habit instituted by the Victorinox I received as a 12th birthday present from my Dad. I had Swiss knives in my various bags and a couple lying around home and one in the office. I cut fruit with them, I opened letters with them, I used the scissors all the time, I opened drink bottles with them, fixed loose screws on my eyeglasses with them, broke obstinate screw-top bottle seals with them… and because my fingernails are on the brittle side, I used them to cut off shrink wrapping on bottles.
I was absolutely stupefied when I learned about Japan’s knife policies… but I worked in a Japanese company outside Japan for the best part of a decade before I moved here, so I knew that Logic was not going to be my ally against The Rules. You just find ways of doing things differently. My Swiss knives are all stowed away at home now.
Glad to see this topic actually. So I’m a cook and I always carry a knife, what’s the laws around that? I’ve seen plenty of chefs with knives obviously and they sale knives all over the place. How’s all that supposed to happen?
Don’t do it.
My friend had a leather man in his car (he camps very often), the police found it, and he spent 2-3 hours at the station explaining why it was in his car. In the end, he walked away without issue, but it’s not worth the hassle or risk.
Just leave that knife in the depths of your biggest bag.
Unless you have an *actual* need for it, leave it at home. If you’re stopped and searched, which is happening more frequently these days, any knife at all without an immediately explainable reason is going to result in a trip to the police station and half a day wasted – at best. At worst, cop decides it’s being carried for use as a weapon, and charges you under minor crimes.
And no, “I might need to open boxes” is not a reason they accept.
I stopped carrying knives years ago. If you want to scratch that EDC itch, get a key-tool. Those are legal (if a cop will even notice them).
> What are the laws on this?
Under the sword and firearm control law, knives to be carried must have a blade of less than 60 mm (measured from hilt to tip – the entire blade, not just the sharpened edge) if they have any form of locking mechanism, which includes sliplocks such as those found on swiss army knives. Knives with no locking mechanism at all (friction folders) may have a blade 8 cm in length. Double edged blades or blades that use a spring to propel the blade through more than 20% of its arc are limited to 55 mm.
HOWEVER
Under the minor offenses act, carrying anything that can be used as a weapon is illegal. This is up to the individual cop’s interpretation, so even a legally carried knife can potentially land you in hot water.
My ex (Japanese ) got arrested for carrying a floral daiso nail clipper due to the tiny pointy fold out nail file it had in the middle. They targeted him because they thought a middle aged dude carrying a packback and wearing jeans on a weekday afternoon was suspicious. Charges were officially dropped months later and the nail file returned in a brown envelope a short while after that. They did keep him until he agreed to fingerprinting and a DNA swap. He agreed because he just wanted to go home.
i kept a small swiss army knife on my keychain. on base we were told leathermans and multitools with blades were illegal but the little ones were okay. i never got stopped by the police though and now i just leave it at home.
Carry at your risk.
They are weird about pocket knives.
Personally have never been searched or even encountered the police outside, but I’m also Asian, so could just be that. I carry a small multitool that’s functional enough for my purposes, and cheap enough to replace if need be.
Maybe I’m just optimistic, but I figure if I ever get into such a situation, worst case I just feign foreigner ignorance about knife laws and lose the multitool. That’s worth the convenience to me.
In other words, don’t carry something stupidly large and be willing to lose it.
A couple of years back I bought a cheap 300 yen multi-tool thing in Daiso or somewhere, and put it deep within my daily rucksack with the vague idea it might be useful, and forgot all about it.
Until one day I was wandering through a corner of Kabukicho (because it is between points A and B, between which I regularly wander for normal life-related reasons) and a couple of nice policepersons decided they would like to inspect my rucksack and I wasn’t in the mood to go all *Debito*, and of course said cheapo multitool thing became an Object of Interest because of the 3cm-ish blade of butter-knife levels of sharpness, and a small saw-like attachment, both of which could presumably be used to cause damage to someone if they were patient and sat nice and still while being damaged. Took 20 minutes or so of my nicest “*oh so sorry officers*” and documentary evidence that it was reasonable for me to be passing through that particular corner of Kabukicho until they let me go with a warning to leave it at home next time.
YMMV.
You’re probably not checking responses by now.
I hear you. You just want to be prepared. But don’t carry the knife- the law is purposefully ambiguously written to favor police officers. Basically, they’ll find any excuse to waste taxpayers’ dollars and bend you over the table.
I carry this:
https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/gp/product/B00N24X5MQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
May not look like much but it cuts cables and boxes, and the (so-called) blade is dull enough that you can squeeze your finger on it without cutting. So it would be very hard for a judge to deem this “dangerous.”
Aside from the cutter, I use the flat-tip a lot.
After that, the bottle cap opener is OK but not the best. It’s not a one-and-done, you will need to pry 3 or 4 teeth off the bottle to open it.
All that being said though, it’s a good multitool for Japan.
If you get controlled and police find it you will go straight to prison. That happened to someone I know.
If I were you I would stop carrying it
What about those small Swiss army knives that go on a keychain?