Legal Knife Length

[ToastedSorbet]

Hey there!

Would anyone be able to tell me what the legal limit for carrying fixed blade knives and foldable knives in Japan is?

Thanks for your help!

[ttjereth]

Hey there!

Would anyone be able to tell me what the legal limit for carrying fixed blade knives and foldable knives in Japan is?

Thanks for your help!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knife_legislation#Japan

Any fixed knife containing a blade length of 5.9 inches or more requires permission from the prefectural public safety commission in order to possess. Permission requirements also apply to any type of pocket knife over 2.2 inches (including switchblades), spears over 5.9 inches in blade length, and Japanese halberds

http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Asia/Story/A1Story20080611-70248.html


I dunno how up to date that info is though, but I really wouldn't want to be gaijin with unexplained pocket knife, legal or not, any time the police decided to ask me random questions (Do you have any weapons, knives, etc. has seemed to be a common question I get when a cop decides they want to [s]harass me[/s] see my gaijin card).


Also, Ultra, do you ever sleep?

[AML]

Hey there!

Would anyone be able to tell me what the legal limit for carrying fixed blade knives and foldable knives in Japan is?

Thanks for your help!

Why? You planing to carry a concealed weapon to stab someone?

[ichigo partygirl]

Hey there!

Would anyone be able to tell me what the legal limit for carrying fixed blade knives and foldable knives in Japan is?

Thanks for your help!

That is a slightly odd reason to join FG and post. Surely Google could have told you that answer....

[Taro Toporific]

Well, Taro has a 12-inch diving knife. (Legal?)

My 12-inch diving knife is legal IF it is packed in my sea kayak kit. It would highly illegal tucked in waistband in a Shimbashi bar.

Likewise, my Swiss Army Knife with corkscrew with the standard 2 5/8 inch blade in my car is illegal unless it's packed in my picnic basket.

[B]Tourist's 10-day detention rapped
Lawyers say elderly American should never have been jailed for holding small pocketknife
--It all started when an American tourist asked a police officer for directions to the Kinokuniya bookstore in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo.--
Japan Times --- Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009
The Californian, 74, could never have imagined the officer would reply to his question with: "Do you have a knife?"
He could never have dreamed, either, that his possession of a pocketknife, which he calls a "customary personal item," would be illegal in Japan and lead to 10 nights in detention...
... The tourist had no criminal record whatsoever.
When he asked a couple of police officers on patrol for directions near Shinjuku Station at around 4 p.m. on July 2, one of them asked if he had a knife.
"Yes," he said, showing them the knife he had carried from the U.S. He was subsequently arrested for alleged violation of the Firearm and Sword Control Law, which prohibits possession of a knife with a blade 5.5 cm [color="Silver"][2.17 inch] [/color]or longer.
One Shinjuku Police Station officer involved in turning the tourist over to prosecutors told The Japan Times the arresting officer's official crime report noted the blade was 8.6 cm [color="Silver"][3.5 inch][/color] long...more...

[Samurai_Jerk]

Hey there!

Would anyone be able to tell me what the legal limit for carrying fixed blade knives and foldable knives in Japan is?

Thanks for your help!

First take out your knife. Now take out your penis and stroke it till erect. Is your knife's blade longer than your penis (in this case, 3 inches)? Yes. Then it's too big to carry in Japan without a permit. Sorry.

[Rube]

Wow that's the second time I've heard of Americans being put in jail for swiss army knives. A guy who worked at the embassy told me a very similar story.