You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
China-Japan-Koreas
Japan detains 5 with new fingerprint checks
2007-11-22
Fingerprint checks on foreigners arriving in Japan matched five people to an immigration blacklist on the first day, the Justice Ministry said on Wednesday. The five individualsÂ’ fingerprints came up on a list containing around 800,000 names including Interpol suspects and people deported from Japan in the past, the ministry said. It refused to give any details of the five people or say which countries they came from. One of the five is to be deported and the others are still under investigation, a ministry official said.

Biometric scanning of almost all foreigners entering Japan was introduced on Tuesday, sparking anger among long-term residents, businesspeople and human rights campaigners. Introduced as an anti-terrorism measure, the system has been criticised for linking foreigners with crime. Opponents demonstrated outside the Justice Ministry on Tuesday.
Posted by:Fred

#2  the system has been criticised for linking foreigners with crime

Same as in the US, people can't deal with facts that stare them right in the face. The problem isn't so much Western foreigners as it is Africans and other Asians. They're poor and come to Japan because life is easy there. They then proceed to shit all over their hosts, just like every other country.
Posted by: gromky   2007-11-22 05:15  

#1  Outstanding.

Just spent a few weeks there, and was very pleased upon arrival to see a (somewhat crude, by perfect Japanese standards) banner in the arrival hall above the passport checkers announcing "measures to reduce risk of terrorism." Something so unvarnished and yet still politely Japanese about it.

Gotta LOVE the standard "objections" from the usual (useless, or worse) suspects, too!

In general Japan manages to ooze both incredibly solicitous politeness towards foreigners (well, Caucasians who are clearly foreign) and a sense that no messing about will be tolerated.

I could see how they might want to create express treatment for resident foreigners (all of whom would be thoroughly checked and documented), but other than that, this is great news. If they don't screw it up it will demonstrate how, in fact, a very easy thing like serious border controls are quite feasible. Another nail in the coffin for another of the preposterous claims of that bizarre collection of the clueless (sadly, stretching from the Oval Office to the wackiest "non-profit" crime-advocacy office in San Francisco).

Posted by: Verlaine   2007-11-22 03:36  

00:00