Hello. I’m not sure if this is the correct place to ask this.
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Today, my partner and I wanted to meet up outside our home station in Tokyo. My partner is foreign. He was stopped by police today. Apparently they asked him for his ID so he took out his wallet, and they demanded to see his entire wallet. He handed it over, which revealed that he was holding my Pasmo card. Luckily, I approached right as they were demanding to know why the name on the card didn’t match his ID. I showed them my ID and said I willingly let him borrow it when he lost his own yesterday. The police chewed us out for a bit about not letting others borrow your train pass before letting us go.
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My question is, did he have to hand his entire wallet over? He said he felt like he had to, but I was wondering if he could have refused and just handed over his ID. My former boss bragged about refusing police who tried to stop him and search his bag. I don’t believe he’s a person to look up to, but I was wondering if it really was just that easy to say no. My partner thinks the police would have taken him to the station if I didn’t appear right then.
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What should we have done? How could we have done this differently? What should he do if he’s alone? Neither of us thought holding my Pasmo card was bad, I don’t want him getting in trouble for another innocuous thing we didn’t consider.
18 comments
From my understanding, it’s the train company that say one card by person and you cannot lend your card, but it’s technically not against the law. At best the police could suspect the card is stolen.
For the bag search, like you do not have to show them, but they can annoy you until you do. So unfortunately, if you have nothing illegal to hide, might be just easier than to lose your time arguing with the police. Or you do like this girl who filmed herself, they asked if she have something she does not want them to see and she said yes, my panties (and it was true as she changed after going to the gym).
It’s a waste of time trying to argue with police. They most likely don’t have any right to search but are you gonna take several hours of your life to argue that ?
my students a famous lawyer in Kansai, and former head prosecutor, and according to him the police don’t have the right to search you on a random stop and certainly wouldn’t have the right to look through your friend’s wallet…
most people just let them … same as the random bicycle stops … you see most people stop and let the police do a check but technically a person doesn’t have to stop..
They don’t have the right to look through your belongings but they act like they do anyway. Same with taking a picture of your zairyu card. They’re not supposed to do that. I asked a police why he took a picture and what he’s doing with the picture, and he said “We need to take note of your name but it takes time to write it now, so I’m taking a picture so I can write your name later.”
This Japanese site explains why it’s **NOT** a good idea to ***use*** a named commuter pass (e.g. SUICA, PASMO, etc.).
[https://financial-field.com/living/entry-16838](https://financial-field.com/living/entry-16838)
He didn’t HAVE to give them his wallet. The only obligation he really had was to show his Zairyu card. The police don’t have the right to search your person or possessions without a warrant.
Now, that being said, he probably did the right thing here. Had he refused, it would have taken a long time and the police would have possibly surrounded him (depending on how many showed up after a call for backup), leaving him with no clear route of escape. If you bump into a police officer in a case like this, it’s a trip to the station and a charge of obstruction of official police duties.
But I have to agree with your partner. Had you not shown up at the right time, he probably was headed to the station for an “investigation”. The boys like to make a big deal of little things like that, as they are bored.
It’s better to do what he did in most cases. But he probably didn’t think having your Pasmo on him was going to be an issue, and it likely would have been.
If you speak Japanese fairly well, have plenty of time to waste, and are sure you are clear in the eyes of the law, you could have a go at demanding a warrant, but normally, just let them take a look and get it on with your day.
I don’t mind showing my ID to the police. Some people really dislike this, and I don’t understand why. They are just doing their job. As others have already said, you don’t have to cooperate with the police, and you can ignore them, but it’s also encouraged to cooperate with the police when you’re asked. Legally, you can choose to ignore them.
You don’t have rights if that’s what you mean. Well, you do but actually you don’t.
#ACAB
Lol what a coincidence, I also posted a similar thing on r/Tokyo yesterday. Tldr: they said that I looked suspicious and checked the content of my wallet
Refusing will just cause more trouble.That’s one of the things we have to suck it up as foreign in Japan.Refusing may make you suspicious and they going to throw you in jail for 21 days.
Didn’t I read here that you are legally obliged to show the zairyu card but it’s best not to hand it over as it can be kept by the officer as a means of getting you to the station – as without it you are technically breaking the law.
As others have mentioned though how far it’s worth pushing this is debatable.
Police can stop and question someone if they have suspicion the person is connected to, witnessed, or committed a crime. (Race is not cause for suspicion.) They have to show ID if you ask.
A cop coming up and demanding your immigration papers isn’t following “shokushitsu” procedure, so technically what happened to your partner was not a legal stop, it was a private conversation. He literally just gave two randos his wallet. He was pretty much just mugged.
Obviously if you tell a cop you’re not Japanese, you’re not going to get away without showing him your papers. But unless you tell him, he has no way to know. So the only real thing you can do is shut the fuck up and try to get him to follow actual procedure, that is, do his job.
If a random guy comes up to you and starts demanding your ID for no reason, just follow common sense and 1) ask for their badge/police ID 2) ask why you’re being stopped/are you being formally questioned 3) record the interaction 4) don’t volunteer unnecessary information.
Also, there are no privacy laws covering your zairyu card, only an obligation to “present” it to *any* public official performing their duties. So if it’s a legitimate shokushitsu, you have to “present” it – but literally no one but you will protect your private info, so at least *try* not to let the cop take a picture or copy your info. It’s absolutely insane for cops to be going around collecting private info of racial minorities from private convos they’ve had.
At the same time, if a racist cop wants to harass you, there’s nothing you can actually do, and showing your zairyu card to the racist with a gun is your safest option. If he refuses to follow actual legal procedure, you’re basically on your own, and should do whatever keeps you safe, then report it to a police station later.
The last time this happened I showed my gaijin card and the cop walked away with it for about two hours and didn’t give it back to me so I just called my Japanese wife and told her to call the police. Two squad cars arrived and my wife explained on the phone that I was coming back from work and my dinner was cold. The most senior cops berated the cop who had been harassing me and he got in trouble for wasting everyone’s time.
Police in Japan cannot search your private items without your consent, unless they have a warrant or probable cause.
If you refuse they will take a lot of your time but eventually will let you go.
Just wondering, can you film the encounter for protection? I understand that you can film so long as you don’t share the video without covering the face.
On a sidenote, are we allowed to ask for the officer’s name, badge, station, etc.?
I don’t know the laws, but as a foreigner covered in tattoos, I get searched, nearly daily, every time I’m in Tokyo. I just let them do it. Yes, it’s degrading and annoying, but I don’t have anything to hide, and it’s usually very quick. I haven’t heard the stories of them planting things in people (like where I live in Bangkok), so I don’t stress over it. Just accept it as good old fashioned Japanese racism/xenophobia.