Foreigner Registration Cards

[Nagged]

Those damn foreigner registration cards...

What do you think of them?

Here are three ways of looking at them. Please add your own opinions too.

1) They are downright insulting. Why must I carry around ID like I'm a suspected criminal? At least they are doing away with the fingerprint.

2) I don't mind carrying them around so much, but the fact that they are compulsory is annoying.

3. Actually they are not a bad idea considering the large number of foreigners who either do not speak Japanese well or don't have any other means of ID that locals could understand anyway. All of your important information is recorded if you ever have an accident or something. They were probably designed more to help rather than anything else.

Okay, now I know a lot of people are going to disagree with me on this. It's a forum so go ahead, couldn't stop you if I wanted to in any case.

I think Option 3 is close to the truth myself. I can't really see the Justice Ministry going to all this trouble just to insult a few foreigners. I think these cards are a safeguard to check for illegals (Hey, it is their country and they do have the right to check), not to mention that is also a good form of ID as mentioned above.

I've been asked to show it to the police and each time there was good cause and I did not mind doing so. (I was not under suspicion, I was entirely under the impression that this was the most obvious form of ID and they knew I would be carrying it)

If driving, they ask for my license and there's no problem there either.

One the other hand, if I am asked for my registration card by anyone not in an official capacity (police, ward office etc),
such as at a video rental store etc, I make a point of showing other ID (usually driver's license) instead. Nobody's made a fuss of this yet - if they did, they would lose a customer.

My view is that I am here as a guest, a foreigner who just showed up here one day without any official invitation, but I am also a tax paying resident who does contribute something beneficial to the community (at least my company hasn't fired me yet). I have rights to protest against discrimination, but I also have an obligation to obey the local law (well, maybe not all of them )

Nope, I'm no Japanese wannabe. I just live here like the rest of you guys.

Go ahead, I want to know what everyone thinks - flame me all you want - sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me.

[AssKissinger]

I don't think it's a big deal at all. I think Japan should keep tabs on foreigners and I think Ishihara is right to crack down on illegals, especially Iranians, middle easterners in general or any type of Muslims. Al Qaeda may very well have terrorist cells planning and organizing in Japan. It only makes sensee to monitor where foreigners live and what we're up to. In America, people act like the sky is falling if foreigners are questioned or finger printed or monitored in anyway. If they had been watching more closely they could have prevented 9/11. Maybe all the crackdowns have prevented or at least delayed the next big attack. It doesn't mean terrorism can't come from within. McVeigh, the Unabomber and Aum all show that it can. But that's another issue. The truth is we don't live in never-never land. It's only normal for people to take some interest in what foreigners are up to in their country. I always carry my gaijin card, always keep it updated, but I've never been asked for it or hassled by the police in anyway what-so-ever. If a policeman ever wants to see it, I'll show him, smile and say 'arigotou'. Hey, I've seen racism in Japan but on a day-to-day basis I have a good and hassle free life. The idea that gaijin are some kind of seriously oppressed minority is mostly just a white middle class fantasy. Now we know what it's like to be down with the brothers back home! Yeah, whatever. But Koreans who were born here are different matter and I'm not addressing that issue.

As for the bicycle thing well...I have stolen ,I don't know, maybe three bikes here. It's a dicky thing to do I know, and I did it basically to save the cab fare after failing to get laid on a night out in my bachelor days. That being the case, it would be a bit hypocritical to act all aghast if a cop suspected the bike I was riding at some point may not be my own. I've also had bikes stolen from me so I guess it is a kind of socialism .

[Nagged]

It's only normal for people to take some interest in what foreigners are up to in their country.

Gotta agree with that. Every country does so and has every right to do so.

The idea that gaijin are some kind of seriously oppressed minority is mostly just a white middle class fantasy.

I think there might be more truth in this statement that some people would care to admit.

I'm curious about the Green Card in the States. How does that work? Isn't it similar in some respects to the Registration Cards that are in use here?

Hey, I don't tell other foreigners how to live their lives here (I'm never one to say "If you don't like the place, go home"). At the same time, I do think if you go to another country it's only natural to obey that country's laws.

[Speed]

No different in the US.

Wifey (Japanese) and I were driving through Arizona and we were stopped at a makeshift immigration roadblock in the middle of the desert. Wifey wasn`t carrying her greencard at the time and the guy threatened to levy a hefty fine on her.

He decided to be nice after threatening us and let us go.

[Taro Toporific]

No different in the US.
Wifey (Japanese) and I were driving through Arizona and we were stopped at a makeshift immigration roadblock in the middle of the desert...

I gotta better one:
Japanese GF and I are driving just outside Window Rock on the Navajo Indian Reservation. I pull over at a rest stop to off-load some major cargo in the the only flush toilet for the next 80 miles and GF pops open a can a beer at the picnic table for the wait.

Get the picture: no ID, no passport, Japanese girl with a tan, wearing braids, boots, jeans and denim shirt working her way through a 6 pack on the "Rez" were drinking is illegal for Indians. The Reservation Police pull up slap the cuffs on her, haul her off and throw her in the the drunk tank in Window Rock before I finish completing the nitrogen cycle. When I come out of the toilet, she's vanished and I think she abducted by aliens in a UFO.

A day later 1 finally find her and I bail her out of jail with her passport. The Reservation Police said her raving in Japanese at them was a sign of the "Gods Madness"....I told them it was sort of true for Japanese speakers.

[Taro Toporific]

PS: Even Navajos themeselves can't distinguish a Japanese girl without an LV purse and a drunk American Indian hooker.

[kamome]

I'm curious about the Green Card in the States. How does that work? Isn't it similar in some respects to the Registration Cards that are in use here?

A green card is actually a permanent resident alien registration card in the US. Similar to an FG card, but probably harder to obtain. A green card acts as proof of permanent residency and ability to work legally. I think the FG card is not proof of permanent residence (obtaining permanent residence in Japan is a whole other ballgame).

ONLINE APPLICATIONS FOR US GREEN CARDS NOW ACCEPTED HERE!

[Caustic Saint]

No different in the US.

Wifey (Japanese) and I were driving through Arizona and we were stopped at a makeshift immigration roadblock in the middle of the desert. Wifey wasn`t carrying her greencard at the time and the guy threatened to levy a hefty fine on her.

Those "middle of nowhere" roadblocks in the Southwest are weird. My cousin and I (both plain old white guys) got stopped at one en route from El Paso, TX to Carlsbad Caverns, NM. We got hassled for having a rental car. Even after we showed them all the paperwork, our licenses and military IDs they still thought we were shady.

Must've been a slow day.

[AssKissinger]

I've been hassled by the man in the great southwest as well. In my college days I was driving from the great state of Utah (where I was known as the king of sex) to Phoenix with my Indian (feathers not dots) friend, Baby Star. I got pulled over and the fuzz got all interested in this image I had on a sticker on my rear window. He was like, "What're yall Satanists?" "No, sir" We lied. So then he searched through everything but fortunately for us he didn't have anything to plant on us and all the 'nice' was waiting for us in Phoenix. Those kids down there had some wild ass parties out in the desert. The porkers could never get at you way out there! The American southwest, oh hell yes!

[Nagged]

You guyz sure have some good stories. As for Taro's GF, that sucks big time, she must have been really pissed...

[Shinigami]

I order to get a green card in the US all one needs to do is

1. Enter the country illegally.

2. Sit around for a few years collecting welfare and getting a free education in the public schools and just wait till the wacked out liberals hand out another blanket amnesty


It's just that simple

[Snapped]

I have nothing against the cards themselves. I think they're useful for ID, as I don't have a driver's licence. However, I don't like the idea that the police can just stop you in the street and ask to see it. This hasn't happened to my yet, though.