MOJ Website on fingerprinting/photos at Immigration from Nov 2007

[Greji]

can you imagine if China ever got a hold of Japan's helicopter fuck technology?

What a horrible thought. Damn! ain't nothing sacred anymore?

[kusai Jijii]

[ttjereth]

Nice eyeball.

The issue for me is what do I do when I am traveling to and from Canada with my son? He is 8 and I am not going to go thru a different line thank you-fucken much.

I imagine it will be the same as in the U.S. and you can both use the foreigner line.

Whenever I go back to the states with my wife I have to go through the foreign national line with her and she gets fingerprinted and photographed.

To be perfectly honest, I wouldn't be surprised if the U.S. put Japan up to this.

[ttjereth]

As to the whole "information being lost" thing.

I say we all get together and get ready for a big ass class action lawsuit and cash in on the inevitable fuck up where our information is "possibly" (they often seem to be unable to confirm exactly what has been lost) stolen.



Err... does Japan have class action lawsuits?

[kusai Jijii]

As to the whole "information being lost" thing.


Err... does Japan have class action lawsuits?

Yup. But they are rarely successful. Especially the ones lodged against the State.

[Greji]

Yup. But they are rarely successful. Especially the ones lodged against the State.

When they are successful, they barely obtain enough settlement to pay the lawers.

[kusai Jijii]

When they are successful, they barely obtain enough settlement to pay the lawers.

true enough. Fucking lawyer sharks...

[Taro Toporific]

[omae mona]

So, from the sound of it, Narita passengers with "pre-registered fingerprints and photographs" can use an "automated gate system". Other airports will follow behind.. for now I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt that they really mean it.

Big question for me is how to get my fingerprints and photographs pre-registered. Maybe if I walk over to my local koban and show off my marijuana stash, I'll get in the system.

[Greji]

[SIZE="4"]New Biometrics Requirements for Foreigners Entering Japan[/SIZE]
The Government of Japan recently informed us that as of November 23, 2007, all foreign nationals entering Japan, with the exemption of certain categories listed below, will be required to provide fingerprints and a facial photograph at the port of entry. This requirement does not replace any existing visa or passport requirements. Foreign nationals that are exempt from this new requirement include special permanent residents, persons under 16 years of age, holders of diplomatic or official visas, and persons invited by the head of a national administrative organization. Please note that permanent residents will also be expected to submit to this new requirement.
The Immigration Bureau of the Ministry of Justice posted an explanatory video on the new procedures on June 14, 1007. The short video entitled "Landing Examination Procedures for Japan are Changing!"can be viewed here.....(same shitty video, but newsy). The video does state that if the FG refuses fingerprinting or photographing, the FG will be barred from entering Japan. It would appear that this little piece of information pretty well resolves any questions you might have on this as a topic.

[Kuang_Grade]

Good thing all those North Korean kidnap/sleeper agents will most certainly be flying into Narita and would never, ever do something like arrive on a boat.

[rooboy]

More than anything. And who can blame them in a way? It's a pain in the arse but I don't think it's got as much to do with terrorism as gaijin overstayers and look at the track record of some of em living for a decade or so as illegals.

Much as I think the Js are xenophobes, you can understand them over this.

[omae mona]

More than anything. And who can blame them in a way?

Me! It's not the intent that bothers me. It's the implementation. For people who live here and have re-entry permits, our fingerprints do not change each time we leave the country and return. There is no reason to subject residents to the process multiple times and force them to wait in the much longer lines for visitors. It remains to be seen whether this will happen or not, but I will be mighty ticked off if they do. It would be seriously inconveniencing residents purely because the MOJ did not bother to plan well, with no possible security benefit. Having two, three, four sets of my fingerprints on file is no better than having one.

It's a pain in the arse but I don't think it's got as much to do with terrorism as gaijin overstayers and look at the track record of some of em living for a decade or so as illegals.

I agree. I think that is the real intent. I just wish they would be honest about it instead of making up this baloney about terrorism.

[FG Lurker]

More than anything. And who can blame them in a way? It's a pain in the arse but I don't think it's got as much to do with terrorism as gaijin overstayers and look at the track record of some of em living for a decade or so as illegals.

Yeeeeah, they can catch the overstayers when they enter the country! That's the ticket! Must be some cool ESP tech they have going with that camera system.

Much as I think the Js are xenophobes, you can understand them over this.

No.

The system is pointless and will do nothing to stop any potential terror threats. I hope to hell it drives tourism numbers ever lower though, that is about the only thing that might get this stopped.

[American Oyaji]

You think the ministry new that NOVA was probably going to go down and did this to catch a lot of the soon to be unemployed teachers?

[Jack]

I wish they only did it to Americans like Brazil does in retaliation to the U.S. entry procedures but I don't mind it. If they want my photo and fingerprints I can give them two of each. Why would I care?

[Iraira]

I wish they only did it to Americans like Brazil does in retaliation to the U.S. entry procedures but I don't mind it. If they want my photo and fingerprints I can give them two of each. Why would I care?

Jack, get used to it...Canada is the 51st state of the Empire...suck on our made in Detroit carbon monoxide baby.
And stop killing dogs in that pointless race across the glacier...great lot those maple leafers are.

[Jack]

Jack, get used to it...Canada is the 51st state of the Empire...suck on our made in Detroit carbon monoxide baby.
And stop killing dogs in that pointless race across the glacier...great lot those maple leafers are.

You okay bud? I worry about you. You sound constipated. Nah, scratch that. You sound drunk cause what you wrote is incoherent.

[omae mona]

If they want my photo and fingerprints I can give them two of each. Why would I care?

You wouldn't care, and nobody said you should. The people who do care are Japan residents who currently can use the 2-minute Japanese citizens line instead of the 1-hour visitors line. This may change (depending on which rumor you believe).

[rooboy]

and fly back in the face of the authorities. It's going to be chaos and there will be a lot of angry people at the airports, worsened by the inevitable delays.

I think Japan will fuck itself up re tourism too.

[Iraira]

You okay bud? I worry about you. You sound constipated. Nah, scratch that. You sound drunk cause what you wrote is incoherent.

Y'know, people who use the word "bud", "pal", etc....really need an enema.

[Taka-Okami]

I'll be coming into Japan on the 21st of November, 1 day after the measures are implemented. I'll make sure I use my middle finger.

[Jack]

and fly back in the face of the authorities. It's going to be chaos and there will be a lot of angry people at the airports, worsened by the inevitable delays.

I think Japan will fuck itself up re tourism too.

I think Japan is not very tourist friendly and not a big tourist destination anyway. If a westerner has to pick between Japan and China as a destination, China will always win. Beijing has a lot more attractions than any city in Japan. Where Japan can attract more tourism is intra-Asia because Japan is the U.S. of Asia and so it has more pull for neighbouring Asians as a destination. I believe Asians will not care one way or the other if they are fingerprinted or photographed, not that many westerners will care either because many like myself don't give a damn and are not offended by it. Bottom line Japan doesn't have much to lose in tourism because it is absent from the world's tourism scene anyway.

[American Oyaji]

I would not say it is absent Jack, but it is definite that it does not have the draw that other countries have. Especially since they are cracking down on stuff in Roppongi. Roppongi is one of the places I wanted to see.

[GomiGirl]

Roppongi is one of the places I wanted to see.

Why? It is a filthy place. I only go down there when I have to - eg a friend has organised a party. I think I have to be down there this saturday night.

[ttjereth]

Why? It is a filthy place. I only go down there when I have to - eg a friend has organised a party. I think I have to be down there this saturday night.

I pride myself on having lived here for 9 years and never once actually having been to Roppongi

I've been to kabuki-cho though, so that probably cancels it out...

[GomiGirl]

I've been to kabuki-cho though, so that probably cancels it out...

Nah - the 'cho is a great place to hang out. I happen to know a cute little bar there too!!

[Greji]

[quote="GomiGirl"]Nah - the 'cho is a great place to hang out. I happen to know a cute little bar there too!! ]

Why would you want to hang there, when me and me goat are standing in front of Almonds waiting for ye?

[amdg]

Tips on how to give the finger (print) to immigration.

Keep in mind that, while none of the below is illegal (the onus is on them to take your prints, not for you to give them), if they can’t get good prints from you they may just decide to refuse you entry to Japan and send you on your way back to where you came from.

I’m not 100 percent sure, but from the public announcements it looks like the fingerprint machine is an optical scanner. If so, then the scanner has a light source under the plate where you place your fingertip to illuminate the ridges of the finger. So any substance which reflects light, such as certain kinds of make-up, may interfere with the image collection process. However, if a clear print cannot be obtained the officer might simply check your fingers for foreign matter (pun intended) and ask you to wash them and try again. Another method might be to soak your fingertips in water for an extended period of time, which will result in bloated skin layers also preventing an accurate image from being taken. However, again, they may simply just throw you in the gaijin tank for a few hours until your skin excretes the excess water and then try to print you again. The best way to prevent an accurate image of your fingertip being taken, if one were so inclined, would probably be abrasion of the fingertip – either with a fine wet/dry sandpaper (as has been suggested by Mike Oxlong earlier), or micro-lacerations to the epidermis with a razor (not deep enough to draw blood) to create a pattern of false ridges and troughs. You can always say you just got back from a rock-climbing expedition.

N.B. You'll need to do all your fingertips, not just the index fingers because if they can't get an index print they will try to get one from another finger.

When it comes to the photographs, bear in mind that facial photo ID is a notoriously innacurate method of ID’ing someone. You can do the following things to make the job even more difficult:
- style your hair differently to cover or expose your forehead
- grow a beard/stubble (guys), outlandish makeup (girls)
- open one eye wider than the other
- puff out/suck in your cheeks
- stand closer or further away from the camera than you are supposed to
- tilt your head back



Remember – these new invasions of liberty/privacy have nothing to do with stopping terrorism. If they were serious about public safety then they would have passed laws to bust open groups who pose the greatest risk to public safety – yaks and cults etc. Even if prints and photographs were a means for stopping terrorism, which they are not, and if they were serious about it, which they’re not, they would have passed laws to print and photograph everyone, and not just make the arbitraty (or rather, politically expedient) decision they’ve made in this case, i.e., Japanese + Zainichi + government officials (natch) + under 16's, vs everyone else. They also would have implemented the plan without notice, rather than providing the very long window of opportunity that they have to let people in without photographing them or printing them. We can only assume that all the would-be terrorists have taken the opportunity of sneaking in before the new procedures are implemented.

Finally, while other people may have had different experiences than I, the police don’t even seem to check for fingerprints when investigating a crime. When my car was broken into and my clothes/wallet stolen, they didn’t even check for prints, just said “they won’t have left any prints – they’re professionals”.

[American Oyaji]

Hey Gomi, I've been there, done that as far as Roppongi goes. I'll try and swing by the bar if I have time.