Will we always need our Gaijin cards?

[kurohinge1]

I guess my Japanese friends are . . . just amusing me ne.

Of course they are - you're their Pet Gaijin.

Now, roll over, so they can tickle your tummy.

[momotobananaoishii]

lol good thread. I am a pet. I liked to be stroked. I'd even wear a leash. I guess that's why I have a favorite SM love hotel.

[IkemenTommy]

All salary men look like penguins, girls look like Koda Kumi or Otsuka Ai and the guys look like Arashi or SMAP members. Pretty much zero individualism. I'd much rather prefer to stand out as a gaijin.

What are you talking about? I came here to beat up the salary men penguins and the sManko wanabees, and bone the Koda Kumis and Ostuka Ai look-a-likes. You're missing out the fun.

[Greji]

What are you talking about? I came here to beat up the salary men penguins and the sManko wanabees, and bone the Koda Kumis and Ostuka Ai look-a-likes. You're missing out the fun.

You got here too late Tommy! Been there, done that and already got their Tee shirts and panties!

[IkemenTommy]

You got here too late Tommy! Been there, done that and already got their Tee shirts and panties!

Yep, I have personally "signed" many panties before. OK, I will restrain myself now before going way overboard like J*ck would do.

[ttjereth]

New to living here but no staying here. And are you denying that on the OUTSIDE there is no individualism? Everyone looks the same. Are you telling me different even though my Japanese friends agree? I guess my Japanese friends are not really Japanese or just amusing me ne.

Just because your friends are Japanese doesn't make their opinions facts.

Ask your friends about Japan's unique 4 seasons and reevaluate the value placed on their opinions

[ttjereth]

Nudge nudge, wink wink.

Just my naive innocence that leads me to believe that is it?

[Blah Pete]

Japan in one of the few countries in Asia where the citizens don't have to carry a gov. ID card. I think most require foreigners to carry an ID card.
If I didn't have a drivers license then I would probably depend on my Gaikokujin Torokusyou more often.

[American Oyaji]

Carrying a gaijin card is no big deal at all. And you know what...it's for your own protection. Japan knows it does not want illegal aliens, so they tell you to keep your card on you so you won't be taken as one and you'll be safe.

Funny thing was, I only had to show my gaijin card once outside of government offices and that was because I was opening a bank account. Usually I just showed my driver's license which had my picture and address on it.

[Hokuto-shinken]

Just wondering, can you use your Japanese driving license as an ID without the Gaijin Card, and does that mean that you don`t need to carry the ID with you 24/7?

[American Oyaji]

The law states you are to carry your gaijin card 24/7. I'm saying that I used my drivers license as an ID because it had my name and address on it. You also cannot get a japanese drivers license without the gaijin card. AFAIK

[Greji]

The law states you are to carry your gaijin card 24/7. I'm saying that I used my drivers license as an ID because it had my name and address on it. You also cannot get a japanese drivers license without the gaijin card. AFAIK

Actually, it is your passport that you must have if you wish to get down to the very letter of the law. The gaiji toroku is a convenience to preclude you from having to carry the passport 24/7 and risk loss and/or theft. This has developed into the gaijitoroku becoming the substitute system for having a family register like the Japanese have. Also, I think it is also another method to get that extra couple hundred yen off you at the city office for certified copies of your registration.

[CrankyBastard]

Does anyone remember when the card used to be a little green book.
I was always forgetting to carry the damn thing. The problem was twofold, because it also served as a convenient holder for condoms.

(Sorry, Love, can't do it tonight, I forgot my ID again)

[Mulboyne]

I always carry my passport in Japan even though I've never been asked to show it. It's been quite useful at times. Many clubs in Japan now require photo ID no matter how old you look and you can get the 5% sales tax back in a number of shops if you have your passport. I've also never lost it - until yesterday morning.

A new cover I bought to protect it seems to have reduced the friction between my arse and my trouser backpocket so it slipped out. I realized on getting back to the hotel because I'd also kept my key card in it and then groaned as I recalled how many bars and taxis I'd been in over the course of a heavy night.

The correct thing to do would have been to retrace the route straight away but, unfortunately, I was somewhat tired and emotional. Also, there seemed a pretty good chance that it would show up if I checked around later. As it turned out, the phone rang at about 7:00am and it was the hotel lobby telling me that a girl was calling from Meguro, saying she had my passport. That was good news since it was the last place I'd been drinking before heading back and the girl was probably the bartender.

The conversation then went a bit weird:

"Thanks very much. Can you put her through?"

"No, I'm afraid she doesn't know your full name, she only knows your first name"

"Well I know her so it's OK"

"I'm sorry, we have strict privacy rules to protect our guests"

"Oh...well, tell her to look in my passport and read out my name and then put her through"

[Shuffling sound]

"I'm sorry, the name doesn't sound right"

"Well, it's not easy to pronounce. If she spells it then that should be OK. It is definitely my passport because it has my hotel key card which is why she had your number"

"She has your hotel key card? This is very difficult"

"It's no problem. You just issued me a new one so the old one no longer works. Anyway, just speak with her again and put her through"

"I don't think she speaks English. She seems to be in a coffee shop. I think you must do something"

"It's a bar. What do you suggest I do?"

"This is very difficult. Just a moment please"

[Prolonged shuffling]

"She is in a coffee shop and she has your passport"

"Can you get her number? I will call her"

"She can't speak English. I don't think she will give you her number. Just a moment please"

[More shuffling, then another hotel employee comes on the line]

"We will call you back"

[Ten minute pause. Phone rings.]

"This is very strange. She has a mobile number 090-xxxx-xxxx. Please call me back to tell me. She doesn't speak English"


I then called the number:

"Hi, it's me"

"Hey, you dropped your passport"

"Sorry about that. Are you waiting in a coffee shop?"

"Coffee shop? No, I'm still in the bar"

"That's strange. The hotel guy said you were in a coffee shop. Can you keep it there and I'll pick it up tomorrow? Sorry for the trouble"

"No problem. The hotel guy was an idiot. He seems to think I'm a prostitute. He wouldn't put me through and he told me I shouldn't give you my mobile number. He pissed me off"

[American Oyaji]

mulboyne, you speak Japanese don't you? So what was the guys issue with him saying she doesn't speak English?

[Hokuto-shinken]

Happy to hear you got your passport back

Just so you know there are not many countries where you need to carry a Gaijin card with you. I think you only need one in American and maybe Canada. Not sure about Australia. In Europe you don`T need one, and you don`t need to carry your passport around with you 24/7.

It is only in the US and Japan as far as I know.

[GomiGirl]

The hotel guy was an idiot. He seems to think I'm a prostitute.

Cos you are such a bad customer and have prostitutes in all the time right??? *rolls eyes*

You are such a good customer of theirs they should be treating you better than that. And besides that - what business of theirs is it to decide who you can and can't speak with???

[Mulboyne]

The hotel has been very accommodating whenever I've used them so I'm happy not to get too wound up about this guy. He only ever works on the nightshift anyway.

He doesn't know I speak Japanese. I've found with hotels over the years that it pays to do business with them in English. They will often go out of their way to help you on something and some of the staff like the chance to use English because they joined an international hotel with a view to dealing with foreigners. Most of them have come to know that they can use Japanese with me if they need to so somebody has probably already told him. I didn't tell him at the time partly because I didn't see that it was his business to screen my calls for English speakers but also I could tell there was something odd going on and I didn't want to give him licence to speak to me in Japanese while I was still drunk.

The girl who called didn't realize she would need my full name to reach me. She just assumed she could call with my room number and ask for me by my first name. The guy might have been concerned that I was being stalked by a hostess or else was the victim of a scam. I think he expected me to say "I don't know her" or "call the police" so was surprised when I wanted to speak with her. I wish I hadn't mentioned my hotel key card because that seemed to throw him. I also think he started saying "coffee shop" to spare my blushes because he assumed that the only place I would have been at that hour was less reputable than a bar. She would just have used the word "mise".

As it turns out, when the girl was struggling to pronounce my name, she just got angry with being put on hold and finally just told the guy to get me to call her. She got even more annoyed when he suggested that bar's number would be more appropriate than her keitai number. The mobile number must have made him even more worried that I was being scammed. He never asked her whether she spoke English (she does speak a little) so he would have just drawn that conclusion from her trouble with my name.

Everything is hunky dory now, assisted by the presentation of a couple of boxes of shortbread which I keep on hand for just such eventualities.

[Greji]

mulboyne, you speak Japanese don't you? So what was the guys issue with him saying she doesn't speak English?

Come on AO! You know better than that! Any J-person knows that Japanese is such a unique language that no fg can speak it and understand all its unique nuances. Especially when talking to a unique prostitute.

[Greji]

Happy to hear you got your passport back

Just so you know there are not many countries where you need to carry a Gaijin card with you. I think you only need one in American and maybe Canada. Not sure about Australia. In Europe you don`T need one, and you don`t need to carry your passport around with you 24/7.

It is only in the US and Japan as far as I know.

Most places in Asia used to require it, I don't know if that's changed recently!

[Greji]

Everything is hunky dory now, assisted by the presentation of a couple of boxes of shortbread which I keep on hand for just such eventualities.

To the guy at the hotel, or to the girl when she brought your passport to your room?

[CrankyBastard]

Everything is hunky dory now, assisted by the presentation of a couple of boxes of shortbread which I keep on hand for just such eventualities.

Shortbread, huh?
Should've given him a hot cross bun. And for the lady, tarts.
And I deserve some corn bread.

[Mulboyne]

To the guy at the hotel, or to the girl when she brought your passport to your room?

I wondered later whether she might have thought I'd "dropped" my passport and hotel key as a ruse to get her over. She did mention something about having a belly dancing class in Chiba later that day which seemed like a non sequitur but might have been a way of telling me she wasn't about to head my way under any circumstances.

[American Oyaji]

Huh! Well, I'm glad you got your passport back!

[Blah Pete]

Just wondering, can you use your Japanese driving license as an ID without the Gaijin Card, and does that mean that you don`t need to carry the ID with you 24/7?

No.
My friend got pulled over and he somehow removed his Gaikokujin Torokusyou from his wallet. Although he had his Japanese drivers license with him the cop told him that he could arrest him because as a foreigner he didn't have his Gaikokujin Torokusyou. The cop let him off though, probably because the car was registered in his name and his J-wife and kids were with him, workwed for a big J-company. More like trying to scare him a bit.

[amdg]

I wondered later whether she might have thought I'd "dropped" my passport and hotel key as a ruse to get her over. She did mention something about having a belly dancing class in Chiba later that day which seemed like a non sequitur but might have been a way of telling me she wasn't about to head my way under any circumstances.

Or it might have been her way of telling you she can not only serve liquor but can also belly dance. Just a thought...

[sillygirl]

A new cover I bought to protect it seems to have reduced the friction between my arse and my trouser backpocket so it slipped out...

*giggles at thought of Mulby's slippy bum*

[Greji]

*giggles at thought of Mulby's slippy bum*

Hey, watch your mouth girl. Further, if you come back to Japan you better have a card for that red lizzard also. We're already placing the watch alert out for you and the gay gekko!

[vaultdweller25]

I got out of showing my Gaijin card when I was asked by playing dumb. I was walking (quite drunkenly) to the convience store in semi rural Nara at 3 in the morning with a friend. A unmarked police car came past and 3 J-cops got out demanding to see our Gaijin cards. Since I was underage at the time (18) I reverted to "playing dumb". They repeatly tried to explain what they wanted in broken Japanese and English but to no avail, I was as dumb as dumb could be in their eyes. They settled with my Australian drivers licence and that was it more or less. Oh and...

They asked me what I do in Japan. I said I was an exchange student, and they said I should go home and study.