Can be considered a rant. Not sure if I’m overreacting but here goes:
I asked one of the security/police at the busy train station where the bus station is. Said something along the lines of “Sumimasen, nihongo ga wakarimasen. Basutei wa doko ni arimasu ka? Arigato”
The first thing he asked (through Google translate):
What country am I from?
Being a half Japanese / Filipino with a Japanese passport/nationality but who grew up in the Philippines.
I naturally said I’m from the Philippines. Because saying I’m from Japan would just make things more confusing to explain. Saying I’m a Japanese citizen from Japan but can’t speak Japanese wouldn’t make sense for him. So I just told him that I’m a Japanese citizen that grew up in the Philippines, at that time I thought it would be the easiest to grasp).
He asked for my passport (I have a Japanese passport, no Philippine passport). Luckily I had it with me.
Him thinking I might be a foreigner is to be expected imo, I’m a browned-skinned Asian that doesn’t speak much Japanese.
But the follow up questions while inspecting my passport is odd I think?
(Translated from google translate)
Are you staying in Japan forever? (I said I’m staying for only a month more before I return to the Philippines for my studies)
パスポートの入国したところを見せてください。
Please show me where you entered the country on your passport?
(From my understanding, he might be asking where the stamp on my passport is, so I showed it to him).
Are you here for sightseeing?
(From what I understand, isn’t this question a bit redundant?)
In total, we spent about 5 minutes trying to communicate about my residency, what the purpose of my visit is, and where I live. All the while looking at the passport like it’s forged. In the end, he gave a vague direction to the bus stop and we go our separate ways and thanked him.
I’m sensing a bit of discrimination here, since it seems like he’s more interested about my migrants’status or something, than the simple direction I was asking for.
tldr: Half Japanese that grew up in the Philippines with a Japanese passport don’t know much Japanese, asks train station security/police for directions. Ended up getting asked redundant and irrelevant questions.
*re-edited for clarity again*
32 comments
Do you have other Japan-issued ID?
If you don’t, I think it’s normal to bring your passport with you as a form of identification.
Do you have citizenship? If so, you have no obligation to present any form of ID to the police unless there’s reasonable suspicion you are currently involved in a crime and they are investigating.
My understanding is if you’re here on a visa, then both police and immigration can unfortunately ask to see your zairyu card or passport at any time for no reason and you must comply. Legally you aren’t necessarily required to answer any other questions or to actually submit your ID to them unless, again, they’re investigating a crime in progress and there’s reasonable suspicion you’re involved.
However, practically speaking, the police here are so bored and generally useless that doing the old gaijin check might be the only “work” they do that day other than following up on noise complaints or ignoring reports of sexual assault. So it’s best to just hand over your ID even if you have citizenship, comply with whatever they ask, and learn the lesson that police aren’t here to help or give directions. Otherwise they can escalate without consequence and waste your whole day if you resist. It’s not common, and there are plenty of nice people on the police force, but it’s best to accept the profiling to avoid the possible follow up harassment.
Talking to a cop is your first mistake. Don’t look at them, don’t go near them, or you’re going to have a bad time. There are unfortunately issues with Philippines nationals overstaying, marriage fraud, and so on so if you mention you’re from the Philippines they’re going to be thrilled at the chance to make an arrest. If you’re looking for something ask the train station staff (by the ticket windows) or a random person that doesn’t look too busy.
Since you have Japanese citizenship, you should say that and end the conversation. They can’t ask for your passport if you’re Japanese without suspicion of a crime. However, if they don’t believe you and you refuse to cooperate they can arrest you for interfering with police duties.
If you don’t want to deal with it, take your passport (ideally Japanese) with you when you go out. Don’t talk to cops, don’t take your passport out unless instructed to by a cop only.
1. Don’t talk to the police
2. If you have a Japanese passport/citizenship, you shouldn’t be entering on a different passport and shouldn’t have a visa
3. As a Japanese citizen, you don’t need to carry any form of ID or proof of citizenship. Nor do you need to show cops(or hotels) anything as for proof. Unless you’re suspected of an actual crime, telling them you are a Japanese citizen is sufficient.
EDIT:
Since people have pointed out that the police will do whatever they want: your best bet is to get a picture mynumber card and also introduce yourself as 日本人 or フィリピンのハーフ rather than a foreigner. I wouldn’t let myself be bullied into carrying around a passport as a citizen though.
>Should I always bring my passport with me?
If you are a Japanese citizen that speaks fluent Japanese and can explain that to police, then no… Japanese citizens have no obligation to show identification when asked. Foreign nationals on the other hand do. But to avoid getting yourself into any difficult situations since you don’t speak fluent Japanese, it’s up to you if you want to carry it as a safeguard.
>Are you here for sightseeing? (From what I understand, isn’t this question a bit redundant? Since from my understanding, it’s to ask a foreigner what business they have in that country)
This is a pretty normal question to be asked as a foreigner by anybody so nothing unusual about being asked about it. But just because you’ve been asked a question, doesn’t mean you have to answer it. Actually, unless police are asking questions due to suspicion of having committed a crime, you have no legal obligation to answer.
I’ve walked away from police on a few occasions after being stopped to show identification and explaining to them in Japanese that I’m not going to answer their questions. Police have always let me go since they told me they weren’t actually asking questions in relation to a crime.
In other words, it’s your choice if you want to answer. But in many cases, it’s probably easier just to answer all questions to avoid any complications until you are able to communicate easily with police in Japanese.
I wouldn’t take it so personally OP. Unfortunately , you weren’t aware of the issues with the Philippines and Japan.
Many Filipino people have been tricked into slave labor by black companies who bring them in with vacation visas. Then they over stay and work for almost no money and no way home. For a Japanese company to legitimately hire a Filipino, it requires a large amount of intense paperwork. The government over there is very cautious of these issues and comes down hard on Japan to keep an eye out.
Some people have also of course willingly came into Japan to do nefarious things using fake passports.
So unfortunately, the minute Philippine left your mouth, it set off all the red flags and they needed to figure out if you are on vacation, a legal resident, a victim of slave labor, a victim of human trafficking, or someone using a fake Japanese passport. You just accidentally got caught up in something you weren’t aware of.
I’d just let it go and not take it personally. I’m almost certain it was related to those issues and not discrimination.
It’s already many years ago now (2009), but I always have to think of the incident where a 74 year old US citizen visiting his son in Japan asked at a police box for directions to the Kinokuniya bookstore. Instead of getting help, he was asked whether he carries any knives. He showed his pocket knife, was arrested for carrying a weapon and held for ten days.
As a Japanese national you don’t need to carry a passport. As a foreign tourist you are required to always carry your passport. Since your situation is unique, I would carry the passport to avoid lengthy explanations.
That being said, aside from getting stopped a few times in Tokyo on the bike to check whether it belongs to me, I have only made exceptionally good experiences with police in Japan. However, I’m a white looking female, so I don’t have to suffer racial profiling.
[removed]
>What country am I from?
“Sorry, that’s private information. I just need to know where the bus stop is.”
>He asked for my passport
“Excuse me officer, but I am a Japanese citizen and do not have any obligation to show you ID unless this is formal questioning. Which this isn’t, because I am asking for directions.”
>Him thinking I might be a foreigner is to be expected
Only if he’s being racist, which he was. Extremely. And technically what he did was illegal.
>I thought would only be asked for overstayers.
As you’ve experienced, the police will do this to any racial minority for literally no reason.
Edit: Yeah, nah, not wasting time with people trying to make excuses for blatant racial profiling.
Should have said that you were Japanese (which you are).
They have no legal right to ask your passport or any form of ID if you are Japanese as it falls under racial discrimination laws, unless they have reasonable suspicion that you committed a crime.
Your nationality is not determined by the language you speak and you can find plenty of examples of Japanese nationals born and raised abroad who can’t speak Japanese and don’t know anything about the Japanese culture.
Just ask staff who work at the train station they know all the locations for transport/ change overs etc and will actually help you.
You’re Japanese. You don’t have to show ID of any kind.
The Police Duties Execution Act details how police are supposed to behave in this kind of situation.
You should not be carrying your passport around normally, not unless you’re going to be using it for something that day. It’s an important document that should be kept safely at home.
If the cops decide to detain a Japanese citizen for no reasonable reason, and then later find out that they really are Japanese, then you can seek compensation and are entitled to a 91° bow and public apology from the police chief.
Citizens don’t have to carry ID.
Just say “I am a citizen of Japan but I grew up overseas and unfortunately cannot speak Japanese well.”
Ask your Japanese parent to teach you how to say basic survival Japanese.
Carrying passport is for people without a proper visa, so get some sort of ID issued. Also, look up some basic stuff you can say to defend yourself against this sort of thing because if you look Filipino, you might experience similar stuff more often than you’d like.
And as many have already mentioned, don’t talk to the police. They’re literally trained to be racists. Stopping random foreigners for no reason and asking for their personal info is included in their training.
I made that same mistake years ago. Cops are useless here and only go for low-hanging fruit.
Asked a cop for directions to a hospital as I was visiting a friend and was late. Instead of helping me, he looked at me with an expression I can only describe as disgust and asked me “where did you buy that bicycle?”.
After checking my papers and my bicycle registration, he never ended up giving me the directions. I ended up asking some ladies waiting at the crossing and they very politely gave me directions with big smiles and wished me the best.
Same thing happened when I decided to do the right thing and hand in a phone that I found on the street to the Koban. Never making that mistake again.
Stay away from police. Ask people walking on the street many people will help you. It’s Japan
Unfortunately you found one of those cops who think that people voluntarily going to them to ask questions might actually be committing some kind of fraud.
Yes; it’s really insulting to think you would be that dumb. Happened to me too.
In the future, I would not say to avoid cops (they are not ALL like that). You don’t need to carry a passeport. A possible way to handle this would be to just disengage the conversation or keep asking for the bus stop instead of answering them.
Yes. always carry your passport if you’re only here temporarily.. I once caught a shoplifter and my gf(who’s korean and was only here for vacation) and I had to go to the police station to get our statements and that’s when they asked for her passport and when we said that we didn’t bring it we were told that she should bring it with her at all times and there was no big deal about it.. only reminded to do so
Even though you don’t look like it to them, you are a Japanese citizen, so don’t tell them you are a Filipino. Tell them you are Japanese which you are and that’s that. As a Japanese citizen you are under no obligation to carry any ID with you
i think this month is also anti illegal immigration month or something like that? so they might also be on the edge with any/all foreigners
I’m sorry for the possibly stupid question, but, why did you have an entry stamp in your passport? You entered on your Japanese passport, right? I thought countries don’t stamp their own passports.
I know “we, foreigners”, have to keep an ID on us everytime when we go out but I found your interaction infuriating :/
A prime example of why you NEVER talk to the police unless absolutely necessary. They’ll even twist something as simple as asking for directions into a witch hunt, it’s literally their job to harass you, they have quotas.
DEBITO.ORG has all the info you need on your rights in Japan.
I think losing your passport would be worse – just carry the zayryu card
This upsets me for you. It’s really, really hard to imagine a circumstance where any of those questions aren’t discriminatory when you just asked where the bus stop was. Stories of police encounters really scare me here sometimes.
I was told to always keep my residence card on me, that it’s very important, but passport should be left at home. But you encountered this, so it leads me to believe keeping it on you just to protect yourself seems smart, even if the necessity of doing that is stupid and it shouldn’t be that way.
Full on discrimination. He went on a fishing expedition on you.
I would go back to that police station with a Japanese friend and talk to the guy and hopefully his superior, if he’s around. Get the guy’s name and/or badge number. **Politely** explain to him why his questions and his behavior towards you were distressing and how it made you feel unsafe and undermined the trust you had on Japanese police.
100% there won’t be any consequences for him, but at least he may think about his behavior.
Cops can’t prove a negative, if you’re a citizen you aren’t even required to carry ID, much less a passport. So they can’t ask you for proof of your citizenship unless it is in the pod line of their duty. But here’s the kicker, racially profiling people and asking them about their nationality isn’t part of their duty, they can only investigate it if you are suspected of a crime, and “not looking Japanese” does not qualify as reasonable suspicion of breaking immigration law.
>please show me where you entered the country on your passport? (He might be asking where the stamp on passport is, so I showed it to him).
You’re a Japanese national but entered on your Philippine passport?
Japanese national are supposed to enter (and leave) on their Japanese passport
I would carry a photo of your passport.
If you are a schoolboy/girl on a bicycle you are cops prime target in my hood…
Once you showed a JP passport it should have been over tbh…