caught by da fuzz

[kotatsuneko]

had to go a bit out of the way in sapporo today, on the steet car line and had something of a surreal experience, maybe even a f*cked gaijin moment?

i always try to be early when going to work as i work in so many places its easy to get lost at times, so i arrived 30 minutes early

no problem i thought, it was 6 or 7 degrees outside, and i had the trusty gba with me, and had flashed the weekends roms on it ..

so as the streetcar stop is incrediby narrow, i crossed the road and slouched against a lamp post and started bashing away at one of the latest roms to be dumped, dancing sword senkou as i wanted to get the training part out of the way

so after about 10 minutes, these 2 young, maybe no older than 25 year old cops come out of the koban i`m next to and the following conversation takes place:

cop 1 - what are you doing here then?

me , in a cocky mood - playing game boy , its fun

cop 2 - we can see that , but why are you doing that outside? its raining a bit and its cold

me, not in the mood to be harrased - err its hand held, you can play it anywhere, besides , no problem look its made in japan!

cop 1 - why are you here?!

me - i`m working

cop 2 - WORKING?!

me - yes i work , i`m just waiting here for the japanese teacher, but i`m early, look heres the address i`ll be working at today

cop 1 - ID now! please

me - still cocky - which would you like? gaijin card, passport, bank book, koseki tohan? koseki shohon?

cop 1 and 2: NANI?!

me - i`m not a terrorist, i can give you any ID you want

cop 2 -ID now

me , with shit eating smile - well seeing as youre just street cops, heres my gaijin card

cop 2 - oh, you are "name" arent you?

me - yes, thats why my photo is on the card, good photo isnt it?

cop 1- so you work for this "company"

me - er yes thats why i also have this employees card with photo, lookee

cop 2- YOUR`E WIFE IS JAPANESE!

me - er, that isnt illegal is it?

cop 1 and 2 ...... checks back of card to see if i have been moving address which i havent, somewhat downfallen by this they give the card back

me - do you want to speak to my friend "X"? she works for the british embassy

cop1 - no, err that will be ok

cop 2 - well, its chilly so dont catch a cold

me - well its colder in britain

cop 1 and 2 - BECKHAM

me - err yeh, well if theres no more questions, i was really enjoying this game...

cop 1 - err yes, of course


wtf? if i was a crook or terrorist why the fuck would i hang outside of a police box? maybe they were just bored or something, maybe just curious?

either way, i forgot to ask their names/police numbers, i wont forget next time..

anyone else have this kind of experience? is it normal or was it harrassment?

[Andocrates]

Try that in America and the cops would beat the shit out of you. Why did you feel the need to be so rude? Is this supposed to impress us?

[kotatsuneko]

why would it be to impress anyone? i dont know anyone here and have nothing to prove so i dont understand that sentiment at all

its just what happened is all

i wasnt rude at all, if i was japanese they wouldnt have hassled me

they gave me shit, i made it clear i didnt want to be hassled, and they had no reason to hassle me

i did make note of the street address the koban was on, and will make a complaint in writing to the local govt office which is 1 minute walk away from me

i`m sorry to hear you have such violent police in america. in england that certainly wouldnt happen, and standing outside a police station certainly wouldnt lead to anyone being hassled as i was

consider yourself ignored :P

[American Oyaji]

Kotatsu,
You'd do well to just comply if they ask you questions. There is a balance to things.

If you had complied initially without question, they would have been shamed by their own suspicions and probably would have invited you into the koban to wait. And perhaps you could have popped in to say hi every now and then and been on the way to making some friends in high places.

But since you were rude to them, they were less disposed to anything but getting away from the disagreeable foreigner.

Just be nice. It costs nothing and gains you much.

[Gaisaradatsuraku!]

Kotatsu,
You'd do well to just comply if they ask you questions. There is a balance to things.

If you had complied initially without question, they would have been shamed by their own suspicions and probably would have invited you into the koban to wait. And perhaps you could have popped in to say hi every now and then and been on the way to making some friends in high places.

But since you were rude to them, they were less disposed to anything but getting away from the disagreeable foreigner.

Just be nice. It costs nothing and gains you much.

Yeah, Kotatsu, don't play the angry foreigner routine. They all think foreigners are American and you will be making us look bad with your slovenly manners.

[kotatsuneko]

heh yeh

now if they were female officers itd have been different...

tho their skirts are a bit longer than the mini sukua police ¬¬

on reflection i probably shouldnt have been so cocky, but i still think that had i been japanese they wouldnt have hassled me, and thats what riled me..

[Taro Toporific]

is it normal or was it harrassment?

It's normal harrassment. You can't be an FG without being f*cked every once in a while.

Check out Japan's newly-minted citizen, the ever-cranky Arudou Debito nee David Aldwinckle...
Arbitrary ID checks by Japanese Police, and what to do about them

And here to about, "Japanese Police. are wilfully targeting foreigners for spot identity checks."

[kotatsuneko]

heh yeh i know that site, havent had time to look thru it properly yet..

stupidly, on leaving england i thought i was leaving behind harrasment and racism

how wrong i was..

i wont mention the kind of racism both me and the wife encountered in england, for a start i dont imagine anyone would believe it, and most of it is too awful to type if truth be known

i know i should have just smiled and shown the card, but if you had encountered the sort of shit we did in england , then came here and had the full fucked gaijin treatment - its my first time here- then perhaps you could understand my take on things like this

[GomiGirl]

Check out Japan's newly-minted citizen, the ever-cranky Arudou Debito nee David Aldwinckle...

I sometimes think that guy goes out of his way to find trouble....