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Just a reminder that you're not entitled to having a lawyer present while Japanese police interrogate you. Once arrested in Japan, you essentially lose all basi

Just a reminder that you're not entitled to having a lawyer present while Japanese police interrogate you. Once arrested in Japan, you essentially lose all basic rights. The police can also keep you in jail for months without charging you with anything. This pretty much ends your career and family life. All of the above has happened to e.g. tourists accused of stealing a single dumpling. Forced confessions are the bulk of what makes up that 99% conviction rate. Japanese lawyers always advise their clients to produce a confession regardless of the circumstances. Non-natives are strongly advised to follow the law to the very letter and that they're fucked if ever arrested no matter how insignificant the infringement might first appear - and police will downplay the severity of infringement to make you confess. The Japanese criminal justice system is only marginally better than Chinese. It's one of the areas where they just failed to advance as a society.

crazygringo 7y ago
Do you have a source for a tourist being arrested and held for months for stealing a single dumpling? I don't doubt there are problems, but this honestly doesn't sound plausible, and Googling I can't find any reference. I can believe a tourist being (rightly) arrested for stealing something (even if small value), and I can believe people being held in jail for months without being charged in the case of very serious suspected crimes (e.g. large-scale fraud or suspected murder), but I can't find any evidence of the two combined. You're making it sound like everyone should avoid visiting Japan for tourism at all because you might be incarcerated for months on a misunderstanding... which just doesn't match any of my experience there, or their thriving tourism industry.
gryson 7y ago
Technically, the police have 23 days to charge someone before they must be released. In serious crimes, police can (and likely will) re-arrest the person on a different charge. I very much doubt that the police have held someone for months for stealing a dumpling, though. In addition, for everyone mentioning the 99% conviction rate, it's important to keep the other part of that in mind as well: Japanese prosecutors typically drop ~50% of cases.
- earthboundkid 7y ago
  I have heard in a podcast of a case where police would wait the 23 days, let you out, and then immediately bring you back in on a "new" charge.
rangibaby 7y ago
Japan’s 99% conviction rate comes with the 2nd lowest prison population per capita in the OECD. > The Japanese criminal justice system is only marginally better than Chinese. It's one of the areas where they just failed to advance as a society. Commit a crime in both countries and let us know which one lets you keep your kidneys.

crazygringo 7y ago

Do you have a source for a tourist being arrested and held for months for stealing a single dumpling? I don't doubt there are problems, but this honestly doesn't sound plausible, and Googling I can't find any reference. I can believe a tourist being (rightly) arrested for stealing something (even if small value), and I can believe people being held in jail for months without being charged in the case of very serious suspected crimes (e.g. large-scale fraud or suspected murder), but I can't find any evidence of the two combined. You're making it sound like everyone should avoid visiting Japan for tourism at all because you might be incarcerated for months on a misunderstanding... which just doesn't match any of my experience there, or their thriving tourism industry.

gryson 7y ago

Technically, the police have 23 days to charge someone before they must be released. In serious crimes, police can (and likely will) re-arrest the person on a different charge. I very much doubt that the police have held someone for months for stealing a dumpling, though. In addition, for everyone mentioning the 99% conviction rate, it's important to keep the other part of that in mind as well: Japanese prosecutors typically drop ~50% of cases.

earthboundkid 7y ago
I have heard in a podcast of a case where police would wait the 23 days, let you out, and then immediately bring you back in on a "new" charge.

rangibaby 7y ago

Japan’s 99% conviction rate comes with the 2nd lowest prison population per capita in the OECD. > The Japanese criminal justice system is only marginally better than Chinese. It's one of the areas where they just failed to advance as a society. Commit a crime in both countries and let us know which one lets you keep your kidneys.