KEMPEITAI at the door!

[Taro Toporific]

[Taro Toporific]

[TennoChinko]

Not that I think any more of these cases are attractive (eg. Chris Johnson, Todd Macdonald) but at least this month we get a report on Japanese law enforcement/bureaucracy acting badly in a clean straightforward fashion.

Although I doubt he'll find out, I'm wondering whether the raid was sparked by a report to the Immigration snitch site:

http://www.immi-moj.go.jp/zyouhou/index.html (Japanese-only)

Theoretically, you could use it to "drop a dime" on anyone - even yourself (eg. get a Japanese friend to call from a payphone or whatever ... "suspicious-looking" gaijin living down the hall in #507; speaks fluent Japanese. Very unusual. Kimoi"

[Yokohammer]

This one's a bit disturbing.

Looking forward to further details, should any be forthcoming.

[damn name]

He/she is damn lucky to be in Japan. He/she'd be dead if this encounter was in the US when the police swat team raided the house at 3 A.M., even though it was the wrong house.

Someone must have turned him (or her) in to the illegal gaikokujin hotline. A jilted lover?

[Yokohammer]

Although I doubt he'll find out, I'm wondering whether the raid was sparked by a report to the Immigration snitch site:

http://www.immi-moj.go.jp/zyouhou/index.html (Japanese-only)

Theoretically, you could use it to "drop a dime" on anyone - even yourself (eg. get a Japanese friend to call from a payphone or whatever ... "suspicious-looking" gaijin living down the hall in #507]Kimoi[/i]"

Assuming his story is on the level, and it sounds like it is, this is the only reason I can think of.

Could quite possibly have been someone he pissed off somewhere due to some real or imagined slight, or even a pissed-off ex-girlfriend. We know that some Japanese won't get in your face when they're upset with something you've said or done, but will happily take the anonymous backdoor approach to revenge. Registering your name and number with tele-marketers is one cowardly method that has been discussed here (been a victim of that one myself, in fact).

So yeah, revenge sounds like a likelihood.

But you'd think that immigration would already know who and where you are, so there'd be no need to physically show up at the door. Of course it could just be the lazy response. Too much trouble to check with the ward office.

Still, this is a disturbing story.

[matsuki]

Assuming his story is on the level, and it sounds like it is, this is the only reason I can think of.

Could quite possibly have been someone he pissed off somewhere due to some real or imagined slight, or even a pissed-off ex-girlfriend. We know that some Japanese won't get in your face when they're upset with something you've said or done, but will happily take the anonymous backdoor approach to revenge. Registering your name and number with tele-marketers is one cowardly method that has been discussed here (been a victim of that one myself, in fact).

So yeah, revenge sounds like a likelihood.

But you'd think that immigration would already know who and where you are, so there'd be no need to physically show up at the door. Of course it could just be the lazy response. Too much trouble to check with the ward office.

Still, this is a disturbing story.

THIS

I'm just glad the bitch that was broadcasting my keitai mail on deai sites doesn't have my home addy. Not the kind of situation one wants to be in.

I bet "PS" is wishing he never even opened the door. (I sure as hell don't anymore...unless its Takyubin bringing me packages!) As to the behavior of of the immigration officials, that's insane. Physically blocking the door? If that had been me, he would have had a bloody nose and his fingers smashed in the door jam before the po po's showed up. (similar situation happened to me in the US years ago but it wasn't immigration) Unfortunately, while one would hope the po po's would find your position reasonable when you explain immigration wouldn't let you have a reasonable look at their badge...but TIJ

[Level3]

[bichiguso]

Not that I think any more of these cases are attractive (eg. Chris Johnson, Todd Macdonald) but at least this month we get a report on Japanese law enforcement/bureaucracy acting badly in a clean straightforward fashion.

Although I doubt he'll find out, I'm wondering whether the raid was sparked by a report to the Immigration snitch site:

http://www.immi-moj.go.jp/zyouhou/index.html (Japanese-only)

Theoretically, you could use it to "drop a dime" on anyone - even yourself (eg. get a Japanese friend to call from a payphone or whatever ... "suspicious-looking" gaijin living down the hall in #507]Kimoi[/i]"

Every once in a while, Japanese TV will do a special about illegal foreigners living in Japan, and years ago, that's how I found out about the anonymous tip-off site... Kind of a shitty [albeit very Japanese way] system to point people out, but if he's been an upstanding citizen who pays his taxes, it sounds like something done out of spite, and possibly not likely to have been by a neighbour.

Immigration has a tendency to do regular checks anywhere that gaijin houses exist...I heard stories back in 2003 of people coming into the building I used to live in [it never happened when I was there] and other buildings in the area where foreigners were likely to live, banging on all the doors inside until they felt satisfied with everyone's papers.

That's what you get for having a genkan door that's always open o_O

I wonder if he can seek damages for the damage to his personal property [I'm wondering if the door just came off its runners, or was actually destroyed in the scuffle].

[IparryU]

THIS

I'm just glad the bitch that was broadcasting my keitai mail on deai sites doesn't have my home addy. Not the kind of situation one wants to be in.

I bet "PS" is wishing he never even opened the door. (I sure as hell don't anymore...unless its Takyubin bringing me packages!) As to the behavior of of the immigration officials, that's insane. Physically blocking the door? If that had been me, he would have had a bloody nose and his fingers smashed in the door jam before the po po's showed up. (similar situation happened to me in the US years ago but it wasn't immigration) Unfortunately, while one would hope the po po's would find your position reasonable when you explain immigration wouldn't let you have a reasonable look at their badge...but TIJ

Well, taken that they did not have mace or a PR24, it would have been easy to take on 4 people in a door way or narrow Japanese corridor for that matter... door knocker would have been first down and most likely quick... but the guy second from the left looks like the suppression guy and the female is there to mental fuck the guy from doing anything more aggressive than what has already happened.

shitty situation... me thinks it is from some unhappy lemur...

[GomiGirl]

Sounds like there needs to be some cultural training done at immigration. Most foreigners will NOT just show ID if asked by somebody flashing a badge. Arc up and most people will mirror this. It will most likely continue to escalate until some force is used by either party.

There is a cultural issue here in that people showing up at your door are treated with suspicion rather than compliance. Unlike in Japan where most people will happily comply with somebody they feel is in a position of authority.

The three people hiding in the stairwell was an interesting twist.

Certainly does sound like they were prepared for a battle - somebody dropped a dime on him most likely. Hell hath no fury and all that. Pretty low blow though.

What I don't like is the comment that "I pay their salaries as I pay my taxes." That is pretty lame. Public Servants are not your actual servants dude.

[matsuki]

What I don't like is the comment that "I pay their salaries as I pay my taxes." That is pretty lame. Public Servants are not your actual servants dude.

Must not be payin' enough....when their badges are so bad they have to be handwritten...not exactly making it very credible in the eyes of most people...Japanese or FG.

[GomiGirl]

He no Honky!!

That was pretty lame even for me - but it is friday.

[Netherlander]

[Catoneinutica]

Must not be payin' enough....when their badges are so bad they have to be handwritten...not exactly making it very credible in the eyes of most people...Japanese or FG.

Plus, kind of a dubious-looking mofo. You expect to see his pic with a caption under it like, "WANTED: for sex crimes."

[Catoneinutica]

[GomiGirl]

After being in Japan for a long time, I kinda think that this type of handwritten ID is more likely to be the real deal.

[Greji]

A quick call to 110 ban, saying there are four people breaking into my home with no warrant of any kind, and who claim to be some sort of police officials would have started some interesting action. The police are jealous and do not like any other agencies coming on to their turf without notification. Might of prompted a good old fist fight when the koban crowd arrived.....

[james]

What I don't like is the comment that "I pay their salaries as I pay my taxes." That is pretty lame. Public Servants are not your actual servants dude.

how is that lame? they're government officials whose salaries are, in fact, paid out of the public purse, which is what you, me and every other law-abiding gaijin grab our ankles and lube up to pay into every god damn year with nothing to show for it. the least they could have done was shown some fucking courtesy.

[IparryU]

A quick call to 110 ban, saying there are four people breaking into my home with no warrant of any kind, and who claim to be some sort of police officials would have started some interesting action. The police are jealous and do not like any other agencies coming on to their turf without notification. Might of prompted a good old fist fight when the koban crowd arrived.....

Well said... will also do if someone comes a knocking at my door

[GomiGirl]

how is that lame? they're government officials whose salaries are, in fact, paid out of the public purse, which is what you, me and every other law-abiding gaijin grab our ankles and lube up to pay into every god damn year with nothing to show for it. the least they could have done was shown some fucking courtesy.

Totally agree that they were in the wrong - this is not what my comment was referring to.

But the general attitude of "I pay their salaries" makes it sound like you are trying to act like their boss or superior and makes you sound lame.

If you work in the private sector it doesn't mean that you are higher on the social totem pole than a public servant - public servants pay their taxes too.

Nobody enjoys paying taxes but saying there is nothing to show for it is a bit naive.

[Coligny]

Personally I'd trip the building alarm first. The siren will let them know they are in for a long ride...

Then after we can calmy check with the popo why they went past the "no trespassing" sign at the entrance of the parking...

If they were to block the door before I close it that would be a good plus... since the safety cam footage would do no good to their case...

Usually, only police and custom officers have right to some extend to enter people home without the owner authorisation (I get that from Matlock reruns and... the french law... for Japan I don't know, but from what I get aboot property rights, I would not even dare entering someone else parking place to rescue a cat( that's why I have bait cat food and spare patience, always ready in the car (That's how I got Douin BTW, at first he was crying in the street but when he saw me, ran away under a car, so I fetch some food a cardboard plate and a laundry net and waitind a good 40 minutes sitting in the cold on the middle of the street... at night... and was nearly run over at least 5 times (best free cat evar))). For the other agency... they need the popo to enter first, and after they can do their job...

[james]

Totally agree that they were in the wrong - this is not what my comment was referring to.

But the general attitude of "I pay their salaries" makes it sound like you are trying to act like their boss or superior and makes you sound lame.

If you work in the private sector it doesn't mean that you are higher on the social totem pole than a public servant - public servants pay their taxes too.

Nobody enjoys paying taxes but saying there is nothing to show for it is a bit naive.

cynical maybe, naieve no. the private sector can do what it wants with its money. when it comes to public funds however, i believe there should be a certain accountability, which quite frankly seems nonexistent at best given the ratio of prolifigate spending to actual productive work i see conducted on a daily basis.

anyway, that's getting well beyond the scope of this thread.

they sent out four people on the public dime without a warrant to harass some poor guy without just cause, who, as far as we know, had done absolutely nothing wrong. i'd be pretty pissed too if this is the system i were paying into and i sincerely doubt his comment was directed at all public servants or that he sees them as servants in the literal sense. just my interpretation of how he probably felt at the time. only he would know this but it was probably a heat of the moment thing.

as for totem poles, i'll refrain from commenting.

[Mike Oxlong]

Totally agree that they were in the wrong - this is not what my comment was referring to.

But the general attitude of "I pay their salaries" makes it sound like you are trying to act like their boss or superior and makes you sound lame.

If you work in the private sector it doesn't mean that you are higher on the social totem pole than a public servant - public servants pay their taxes too.

Nobody enjoys paying taxes but saying there is nothing to show for it is a bit naive.

But, public servants are there to assist the public in their needs as citizens, not lord over them as though they are some sort of minor nobility, nor act like they are being imposed upon when asked to do something that is part of their job description. Their very job and salary are a direct result of the needs and funds of the public - not due to some superior ability or authority granted by the gods. By the account presented to us, the civil service personnel were acting like petty thugs with SWAT team pretensions, the not minor officials acting outside the bounds of their authority they are.

[Level3]

I just don't get why they sent 4 extra people to this guy's place. Why the fuck do they have us all register at the kuyakosho, hand over our head shots, and even our fingerprints, if they can't be bothered to just check those records?

"Yeah, some old fucker (or angry-sounding young lady) called in a tip on the Rat-a-Gaijin Hotline about a gaijin living at this address... and the records say - yup, a American lives at this address.. case closed... well, it's 4:40, close enough to 5:00, time to go home and keep drinking away my well-earned civil servant winter bonus."

It just doesn't make sense unless the tipster called in like 10 Vietnamese lookin' fellers all crammed into 1 apartment or a gaijin who looks like he's a drug dealer or something.

But if that were true, why didn't these "immigration officers" come with a squad of Koban Keystones? (Maybe I just answered my own question.) Or why did they not instantly recognize the guy who answered the door is the guy whose picture they have on file already as living at that address ith a proper visa and start apologizing immediately!?

Sounds like they didn't do any friggin research at all.

No sense can be made of this case. Welcome to bureaucracy.

[Mike Oxlong]

According to Debito:
Dai Higashi Nari [I assume the district of Higashinari-ku] Number 20-24

Tokyo Immigration Bureau
Immigration Patrol Officer Motoki Hideyuki
DOB April 3, 1979
Issued March 30, 2009 (stamped by a M. Nikai)

[matsuki]

Was this ever posted here?
http://www.japantoday.com/smartphone/view/crime/cop-arrested-for-allegedly-sexually-assaulting-two-junior-high-school-girls

Someone mentioned it on Debito in response to a response for this incident...

[Dreamy_Peach]

I bet "PS" is wishing he never even opened the door. (I sure as hell don't anymore...unless its Takyubin bringing me packages!) (

Same here. Having an intercom is a great thing. NHK ... nope, takyubin ... yes.

Jees, I didn't even know the number of the old bill till I read this. If these dodgy looking geezers came round that's certainly who I'd be wanting to call.

[omae mona]

I just don't get why they sent 4 extra people to this guy's place. Why the fuck do they have us all register at the kuyakosho, hand over our head shots, and even our fingerprints, if they can't be bothered to just check those records?

That's a good question, but I think there might be an answer. Two possibilities, aside from pure laziness.

1) The guy didn't tell us whether his alien registration was up to date. A lot of us are notorious for forgetting to file address changes on time, if at all. So who knows. He might not have been registered at this address.

2) We know the ARC system sucks. That's why it's being overhauled starting this year. Assuming the guy's ARC was up to date, it's true the kuyakusho has his info on file. But I have every reason to believe it's on paper only, in file cabinets, organized by name. There might be no method to reverse look up by address. I am almost sure this will change with the new cards in July, so I think that's an upcoming change that actually works to the benefit of legally residing foreigners.

Also, not that it is a good excuse, but I am not sure immigration necessarily is always working hand in hand with the local government office. It's insane that the local office is the organization with our up-to-date info, yet J-immigration is in charge of policing our status. Again, this will change starting in July. Probably a good thing.

That being said, I think that for a change, we see a story on debito.org that doesn't sound like it's being twisted to artificially increase the level of outrage. I believe this story, and I think the officers' behavior is pretty inexcusable. Yes, they need to follow up on tips. But they should be much more civil about it if so. And they should have a system in place to discourage abuse of the system, like whoever reported this guy. They should have been on their hands and knees apologizing for the meiwaku.

[legion]

I bet they asked him what his address is