Big in Japan: Welcome to Japan, now surrender your identity!

by Matthew Firestone on

Much has already been written about Japan’s new immigration control system.

For those of you who may have missed the news, as of November 20th, all foreigners entering Japan must now give their fingerprints, have a photo taken and submit to a detailed interview.

Although these new entry procedures have been attacked by human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, the Japanese government has been steadfast in their defense of the initiative.

Needless to say, the vast majority of foreigners living in Japan are all together pissed off.

It’s one thing to collect personal information on tourists, but it’s another to submit spouses of Japanese citizens, registered journalists and long-term residents to this level of invasiveness.

Following a brief vacation to Australia, I had the pleasure of having my personal rights violated first hand, and will now describe them to you for your learning pleasure.

Upon arriving at Narita airport, I was shuttled into the gaikokujin (??????; foreigner) line, at which point a dashingly attractive but ice cold woman handed me a Q&A form to explain the new rules.

Although I was initially surprised at the lack of English mistakes (a rarity on official Japanese government forms), the justifications for the new immigration control system were amusing enough.

Intrigued? It gets better. Click below to keep reading…

For instance:

Q: Why do I need to be fingerprinted and photographed at immigration control?
A: By collecting personally identifying data of visitors to Japan, we will be able to indentify persons considered to pose security risks. This will help us to prevent terrorist attacks.

Sure. It’s interesting that this legislation comes at a time when the birth rate is dropping, and economists are arguing that increased immigration is the only way to save the Japanese economy. In a country as intensely xenophobic as Japan, it’s a shame that politicians can’t follow America’s lead by building a giant wall around their country. Oh wait – Japan is an island!

Q: What if I am not able to provide a fingerprint from my index finger?
A: If you are not able to provide a fingerprint from your index finger because that finger is missing from your hand, then you will be required to provide a fingerprint from another finger.

Sure. You will then be escorted directly to the police station and interrogated for hours on end regarding your suspected affiliation with the yakuza criminal organization.

Q: What will happen if I do not provide fingerprints or a facial photograph?
A: Your immigration control officer will carefully examine your case to determine whether or not you fall into one of the exempt categories.

Sure. For those of you who aren’t accustomed to Japanese subtlety, this actually says that you will escorted to the departures area, checked in on the next flight back to your country, and blacklisted forever from Japan.

Anyway, the good news, at least in my case, is that I made it back to Japan safe and sound, and managed to secure myself a shiny new work visa. So, it’s fairly likely that Big in Japan will continue well into 2008, assuming of course that I don’t happen to lose any fingers between now and then…

Border patrol is Googling and Facebooking you

by Iva Skoch on

Here’s a good warning to those travelers who have a net presence in Facebook, blogs, other social networking sites, or anywhere on the web. Watch what you write; “They” are watching, and you can’t escape your past.

It turns out that Homeland Security is now googling (that’s a verb, now, right?) foreigners entering into the U.S., and using this information in order to bar entry.

Andrew Feldmar (pictured right), a Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor and now Vancouver psychotherapist, was detained four hours, fingerprinted, and barred entry after DHS noticed an article of his in a literary and scientific journal, talking about using LSD and other drugs in the 1960s…even though he has no criminal record and hasn’t used drugs since the 1970s. He was told he now needs formal permission from the U.S. consul to enter into the U.S.

It’s doubtful the border agent consulted lawyers to determine if a U.S. crime had been committed by Feldmar’s drug use, presumably in Canada, and over 30 years ago. What if his drug use was legal? If a person can imbibe, quit, and become President of the U.S., should others’ actions from thirty years ago come back to haunt them today? What about journalists that write less-than-flattering articles about the U.S.?

The Department of Homeland Security has got your Number. Literally.

by Grant Martin on

Naturally, I left my passport at the Detroit airport last Monday. At 9:35 as I lay in bed gchatting Saturday morning, my phone rings.

“Hey, this is so and so at the Mac Terminal customs office. Just wanted to let you know that we’ve got your passport.”

“Really? Didn’t even know that I lost it. I’ll pick it up on my way to Prague next week.”

Et cetera.

It gives you a warm fuzzy feeling inside when the bureaucracy actually does its job, things find themselves in the right place and the system works. It gives you a creepy feeling inside though when you realize that the business card I have taped to the back page of my passport doesn’t have my mobile phone number on it.

I wonder what else is in my file at DHS. Personally, I don’t care how intrusive it is — I’ve got nothing to hide. They can implant a tracking device in my arm and send helicopters to follow me around, as long as my passport finds its way home before I go on my next journey.

I never liked that passport picture. It’s no wonder that I can’t lose it.

Consolidated Visa Guide for your Hard to Reach Neighbors

by Grant Martin on

Like many other travelers, I usually don’t spring for the easy-to-reach canonical tourist destinations. It’s not that I feel that I’m better than Cancun or a Royal Caribbean cruise around the Dominican Republic, it’s just that I feel like I should go to the difficult places while I still have the energy and wanderlust to get there.

Many of these places, though, have stringent visa requirements. And let’s get something straight before I continue: you need a visa for any foreign country that you visit — it’s just that most places you can get a stamp at the border or can get waved through without stamps or papers. Trust me, when your 90 day tourist visa is up you’ll still be in trouble, regardless of the country you’re in.

But to go places like China or Russia it’s necessary to apply and get a visa before you leave the country — often times several months before you leave. This can be as simple as sending your passport into your local consulate or as difficult as paying some draconian service to take your passport into the embassy, fill out the forms and charge you a hundred bucks for their “service.” Luckily, CNN has compiled a comprehensive list of countries in which you’ll need visas in advance and procedures to get them.

My advice: plan ahead and go to the consulate in advance yourself. You may have to jump through a few extra ridiculous hoops to get your visa, but that’s more time that your passport is in your hands and not in the hands of a middleman who could potentially lose the most important document that you own.