3 ms·

You gave some exaggerations and misinterpretations. Every country has separate immigration lines for citizens and foreigners. Immigration officials have access

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.
- gregjor 1y ago
  Been to multiple Don Quijote stores many times, never seen such a sign or had anyone ask for my passport unless I applied for the VAT refund. Possibly a bad translation. Photo or I won’t believe it. Edit: Japan (like many other countries) requires everyone to carry official ID at all times. Japanese have government ID cards. For foreigners that means your passport. Americans find that requirement off-putting because we don’t (yet) have to “show our papers” to police on demand. I travel a lot. Only had immigration or customs ask anything in the USA (my native country), Canada (had my young son with me so understandable), UK multiple times. Never anywhere in Asia, and I live in SE Asia. It mainly comes down to appearance and attitude and the mood of the officer at the moment, hard to extrapolate to a national or ethnic tendency from a few anecdotes. I’ve never had Thai immigration hassle me but I’ve seen them take young people who look rough aside, maybe to check for drugs, probably to make sure they had sufficient funds and an onward/return ticket. Asian cultures tend to more formality and higher expectations of appearance in public, so foreigners may call negative attention to themselves with their clothes or tattoos, and their entitled attitude. Japan may feel closed off and xenophobic. On the other hand they don’t have foreigners marginalized into ghettos or rounded up by ICE. The USA and Canada have no ethnic identity, whereas Japan and other Asian countries do. Unfamiliar perhaps but I don’t interpret that as racist or hostile.
  - yencabulator 1y ago
    > Americans find that requirement off-putting because we don’t (yet) have to “show our papers” to police on demand. In many places you do. https://lawshun.com/article/can-law-enforcement-require-you-to-produce-id https://lawshun.com/article/can-law-enforcement-require-you-... On top of that, with the current ICE activity, what happens if they don't like your face and you don't show ID?
gregjor 1y ago
Back in the early ‘80s I lived in San Francisco, a city then overrun with tourists. The tourists got fleeced to ride the cable cars, locals paid less (if we used those at all). On Geary Street near Union Square we had the baseball-themed bar/restaurant Lefty O’Doul’s that had a big “No Tourists” sign out front, to keep the locals flavor of the place. Quite a few bars and restaurants would make tourists wait indefinitely. The famous Tadich Grill for years advertised no reservations, no credit cards to deter tourists, and made tourists wait outside on the street while seating regulars first, and they did actually take credit cards. Japan faces the same problems with too many tourists, and too many of those who don’t respect the culture and people. I see that every day in Bangkok too. The difference is the Japanese and the Thais can identify foreigners on sight, whereas in San Francisco locals places had to use other techniques to discriminate.

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.

gregjor 1y ago
Been to multiple Don Quijote stores many times, never seen such a sign or had anyone ask for my passport unless I applied for the VAT refund. Possibly a bad translation. Photo or I won’t believe it. Edit: Japan (like many other countries) requires everyone to carry official ID at all times. Japanese have government ID cards. For foreigners that means your passport. Americans find that requirement off-putting because we don’t (yet) have to “show our papers” to police on demand. I travel a lot. Only had immigration or customs ask anything in the USA (my native country), Canada (had my young son with me so understandable), UK multiple times. Never anywhere in Asia, and I live in SE Asia. It mainly comes down to appearance and attitude and the mood of the officer at the moment, hard to extrapolate to a national or ethnic tendency from a few anecdotes. I’ve never had Thai immigration hassle me but I’ve seen them take young people who look rough aside, maybe to check for drugs, probably to make sure they had sufficient funds and an onward/return ticket. Asian cultures tend to more formality and higher expectations of appearance in public, so foreigners may call negative attention to themselves with their clothes or tattoos, and their entitled attitude. Japan may feel closed off and xenophobic. On the other hand they don’t have foreigners marginalized into ghettos or rounded up by ICE. The USA and Canada have no ethnic identity, whereas Japan and other Asian countries do. Unfamiliar perhaps but I don’t interpret that as racist or hostile.
- yencabulator 1y ago
  > Americans find that requirement off-putting because we don’t (yet) have to “show our papers” to police on demand. In many places you do. https://lawshun.com/article/can-law-enforcement-require-you-to-produce-id https://lawshun.com/article/can-law-enforcement-require-you-... On top of that, with the current ICE activity, what happens if they don't like your face and you don't show ID?

gregjor 1y ago

Back in the early ‘80s I lived in San Francisco, a city then overrun with tourists. The tourists got fleeced to ride the cable cars, locals paid less (if we used those at all). On Geary Street near Union Square we had the baseball-themed bar/restaurant Lefty O’Doul’s that had a big “No Tourists” sign out front, to keep the locals flavor of the place. Quite a few bars and restaurants would make tourists wait indefinitely. The famous Tadich Grill for years advertised no reservations, no credit cards to deter tourists, and made tourists wait outside on the street while seating regulars first, and they did actually take credit cards. Japan faces the same problems with too many tourists, and too many of those who don’t respect the culture and people. I see that every day in Bangkok too. The difference is the Japanese and the Thais can identify foreigners on sight, whereas in San Francisco locals places had to use other techniques to discriminate.