13 ms·

Entering Japan there's a nice friendly line marked "Japanese" where everyone just passes in smoothly, and a grim dystopian line marked "Foreigner" at which your

Entering Japan there's a nice friendly line marked "Japanese" where everyone just passes in smoothly, and a grim dystopian line marked "Foreigner" at which your fingerprints and photo are taken before you're allowed entry. It's like humans vs. fookin' prawns in District 9. And this is Japan, one of the more liberal East Asian states. Japanese businesses often refuse foreigners outright, or, like famed cheap-goods retailer Don Quijote, have notices posted indicating they can demand you cough up your passport at any time, so have it ready before entering. At least the customs agents were friendly, in that Japanese way, even as they asked me probing questions like why I flew in from Helsinki on Finnair instead of over the Pacific on an American airline. Though they seemed content with my answer ("because it was cheaper").

alkh 1y ago
To be fair, getting fingerprints and photo taken is a standard nowadays for many countries in the world, especially if you need to apply for a visa. My guess would be that this is a norm for the majority of people not from the first-world countries. I personally had to do that for Canada, Japan, and EU
- bitwize 1y ago
  I flew through the EU on my way into Japan and didn't have to get printed. The bored Parisian customs guy didn't even stamp my passport properly... which caused a bit of trouble when I landed in Helsinki. But no one, not even the Finns, demanded my fingerprints. Of course, this was 2011, which was forever ago in national-security time.
  - gregjor 1y ago
    Finland along with most of the rest of western Europe will roll out biometric identification ( fingerprints and photos) as part of the delayed ETIAS program, scheduled for this year.
gregjor 1y ago
You gave some exaggerations and misinterpretations. Every country has separate immigration lines for citizens and foreigners. Immigration officials have access to national databases but not those of other countries. Like the USA and most other countries Japan has biometric data associated with passports, but only has direct access to match that for Japanese passports. Perhaps you have never experienced the “dystopian” foreigner entry process in the USA or your own country. Don Quijote has no such signs and does not demand your passport to enter or shop. If you want to get the VAT refunded — a privilege many countries extend to foreign tourists — you can do that by showing you have a tourist visa. Essentially duty-free shopping extended out of the airport. The USA does not have a national VAT so no American store needs a passport to refund taxes. Japanese businesses do sometimes exclude foreigners, mainly because they don’t have multilingual staff, but also because they want to reserve some places for Japanese and not have tourists overrun every locals restaurant and bar. Customs and immigration officials everywhere ask probing questions to catch smugglers and criminals. Annoying perhaps but hardly a Japanese thing. Part of the job description. You have no right to enter a foreign country, the immigration officers get to determine that.
- bitwize 1y ago
  > Don Quijote has no such signs and does not demand your passport to enter or shop. The one I visited had just such a sign posted at the entrance. > Customs and immigration officials everywhere ask probing questions to catch smugglers and criminals. I've never been asked such questions by customs in Australia, Canada, France, or the UK. The only ones who gave me a harder time were the American customs officials, as I was re-entering my own fucking country from Canada. They couldn't even be bothered to smile or act polite. For good or ill, Japanese trust of foreigners is much lower than in the Western world. Maybe they loosened up a bit since 2011 but they're tightening back up now what with idiot streamers gaijin-smashing into construction sites and the like. Racism and open discrimination against people who even look foreign is higher than what a Canadian or Brit would be used to. Given that the Japanese are more interested in preserving their culture against foreign influence than the Brits or Canadians, it makes sense, yes. But it still felt dystopian at the point of entry. Once I'd cleared that hurdle, though, I had a great time in Japan and most of the people I met were pretty laid back.
unstablediffusi 1y ago
do you give uninvited strangers in your home the same level of trust you give your family and friends?
jemmyw 1y ago
> Entering Japan there's a nice friendly line marked "Japanese" where everyone just passes in smoothly, and a grim dystopian line marked "Foreigner" So exactly like the US then? They take your fingerprints and photo and ask probing questions about your visit which the officer doesn't actually care about but are designed to rattle you and trip you up.
ranger_danger 1y ago
> they can demand you cough up your passport at any time No, they cannot. They are required to ask for it for duty-free purchases, though.

alkh 1y ago

To be fair, getting fingerprints and photo taken is a standard nowadays for many countries in the world, especially if you need to apply for a visa. My guess would be that this is a norm for the majority of people not from the first-world countries. I personally had to do that for Canada, Japan, and EU

bitwize 1y ago
I flew through the EU on my way into Japan and didn't have to get printed. The bored Parisian customs guy didn't even stamp my passport properly... which caused a bit of trouble when I landed in Helsinki. But no one, not even the Finns, demanded my fingerprints. Of course, this was 2011, which was forever ago in national-security time.
- gregjor 1y ago
  Finland along with most of the rest of western Europe will roll out biometric identification ( fingerprints and photos) as part of the delayed ETIAS program, scheduled for this year.

gregjor 1y ago

You gave some exaggerations and misinterpretations. Every country has separate immigration lines for citizens and foreigners. Immigration officials have access to national databases but not those of other countries. Like the USA and most other countries Japan has biometric data associated with passports, but only has direct access to match that for Japanese passports. Perhaps you have never experienced the “dystopian” foreigner entry process in the USA or your own country. Don Quijote has no such signs and does not demand your passport to enter or shop. If you want to get the VAT refunded — a privilege many countries extend to foreign tourists — you can do that by showing you have a tourist visa. Essentially duty-free shopping extended out of the airport. The USA does not have a national VAT so no American store needs a passport to refund taxes. Japanese businesses do sometimes exclude foreigners, mainly because they don’t have multilingual staff, but also because they want to reserve some places for Japanese and not have tourists overrun every locals restaurant and bar. Customs and immigration officials everywhere ask probing questions to catch smugglers and criminals. Annoying perhaps but hardly a Japanese thing. Part of the job description. You have no right to enter a foreign country, the immigration officers get to determine that.

bitwize 1y ago
> Don Quijote has no such signs and does not demand your passport to enter or shop. The one I visited had just such a sign posted at the entrance. > Customs and immigration officials everywhere ask probing questions to catch smugglers and criminals. I've never been asked such questions by customs in Australia, Canada, France, or the UK. The only ones who gave me a harder time were the American customs officials, as I was re-entering my own fucking country from Canada. They couldn't even be bothered to smile or act polite. For good or ill, Japanese trust of foreigners is much lower than in the Western world. Maybe they loosened up a bit since 2011 but they're tightening back up now what with idiot streamers gaijin-smashing into construction sites and the like. Racism and open discrimination against people who even look foreign is higher than what a Canadian or Brit would be used to. Given that the Japanese are more interested in preserving their culture against foreign influence than the Brits or Canadians, it makes sense, yes. But it still felt dystopian at the point of entry. Once I'd cleared that hurdle, though, I had a great time in Japan and most of the people I met were pretty laid back.

unstablediffusi 1y ago

do you give uninvited strangers in your home the same level of trust you give your family and friends?

jemmyw 1y ago

> Entering Japan there's a nice friendly line marked "Japanese" where everyone just passes in smoothly, and a grim dystopian line marked "Foreigner" So exactly like the US then? They take your fingerprints and photo and ask probing questions about your visit which the officer doesn't actually care about but are designed to rattle you and trip you up.

ranger_danger 1y ago

> they can demand you cough up your passport at any time No, they cannot. They are required to ask for it for duty-free purchases, though.