Japan Fingerprint
(
42)
Wed 2007/10/10 09:21
Fingerprinting and mugshots have been put in place as a measure to deter/prevent terrorist attacks.
Am used to the fingerprinting/photo process when I enter the US but still not used to the attitude of the officers who treat you like a criminal by default. Never had any problems with the officers in Japan though.
I'm not exactly sure how fingerprinting somebody is going to stop evil intentions. If a person wants to blow him/herself up then a fingerprint is not exactly going to stop them from doing so.
I can see how it can play a part in preventing overstay - photos of overstayers can be published as soon as their permitted stay has exceeded for example.
How do you feel about having your fingerprint and photo taken when you enter a country? Had any problems so far entering the US?
I personally don't care as long as it doesn't add too much extra time when getting back in Japan after a trip.
I hold an alien registration card which means I line up with the Japanese nationals when I get in - wondering if that will change.
I like the way the word "Alien" is still used for foreigners. When I think of "Alien" I only think of one thing.
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1984 is now! I personally don't care as I have never had a run-in with law enforcement for anything except parking tickets. I also don't feel my personal liberty has been infringed upon, however, I guess I am the type that doesn't see the cage door of the invisible box being closed.
(ID #59019) Posted on 2007/10/10 09:20
i don't have any problem, in the end it's a normal control in this times.
(ID #59020) Posted on 2007/10/10 09:39
anime/cosplay events organizer
do what the romans do what i say ^^ i don't mind having my picture and fingerprint taken since they're only protecting their country
(ID #59022) Posted on 2007/10/10 09:57
griever in Japan
I don't mind. I'm from the US and we have a similar program in place.
(ID #59023) Posted on 2007/10/10 10:04
CG artist, Sunrise Emotion
Its going to depend on how they are planning to do it - if its fast and non-intrusive it shouldn't be that bad. I guess I'll have a chance to find out when I go back to Singapore for a holiday.
(ID #59024) Posted on 2007/10/10 10:05
mahou kishi
american country do the same even if you are just a tourist, too bad japan is doing the same
(ID #59025) Posted on 2007/10/10 11:09
i'd feel like i lost some privacy and that i can be tracked/monitored. i dont like that feeling. i guess they have valid reasons.
(ID #59027) Posted on 2007/10/10 11:29
ahhh !! haha i will be going on the 23 of nov mean i get to leave my fingerprint there !!! YEA !! i get to leave my mark in japan
(ID #59028) Posted on 2007/10/10 11:38
Mandalorian in training + Otaku...
Having been through this kind of stuff before, I wouldn't be bothered much by it ^^.
(ID #59030) Posted on 2007/10/10 11:57
VF-25 Pilot. Universariate Scholar.
damn!! i missed the dateline ill be going on the 16th
(ID #59032) Posted on 2007/10/10 12:30
Procurement officer / Teacher
Unofficially the fingerprinting was to solve another 'issue' i thought. Saw that on the news in June... Dam foreigners hehe. I didnt know the alien registration card allows you to line up with every other person Danny? Is that true? If so dam I always feel like a outcast but never knew!!
(ID #59034) Posted on 2007/10/10 12:42
CEO MIrai Inc
Uradox, I didnt know about it until my wife told me - been lining up with Japanese nationals for years now.
(ID #59035) Posted on 2007/10/10 12:45
If the process is quick why would any one care if they do it? It is not like they are asking you to ware an ankle collar to track your every movement.
(ID #59036) Posted on 2007/10/10 12:50
Procurement officer / Teacher
Fantastic!. I will give that a try next month! :) Thanks
(ID #59037) Posted on 2007/10/10 13:58
Polytechnic Senior, Bronze Lifesaving Trainee, Mech Designer, Pokemon Indexer.
lolz, ... aliens.
(ID #59040) Posted on 2007/10/10 14:11
Plast Processing Engineer
I think it's the politicians desperaste way of saying "look, we are doing something". Eventhough everybody knows it's just a look/see measure. But if they want to use billions on this sort of 'prevention', then let them. Doesn't bother me.
(ID #59041) Posted on 2007/10/10 14:47
Visual Communications and Web 2.0
well, i think its good. my opinion everyone should be finger printed and DNA printed as well. lol
(ID #59043) Posted on 2007/10/10 15:06
Dont know how effecitve it will be but oh well its one way to keep track of outsiders i guess.
(ID #59044) Posted on 2007/10/10 15:08
.NET/Web Developer
I don't mind all that just as long as they treat us nicely. And as long as it doesn't take too much time.
(ID #59047) Posted on 2007/10/10 15:39
Student
Same as BeLe, I don't mind if we are being treated with respect, and whole procedure won't waste too much time. I remembered once when my fingerprints were needed for some document at a government department, the officer was so rough it almost felt as if he was trying to snap off my finger >_< Luckily now they have the electronic thumb print device, but for black-and-white purposes, I really hope the attitude of the officers in my place will improve.
(ID #59048) Posted on 2007/10/10 16:01
University Student.
I'll surely be affected when I visit Japan in December (24 Days yeah!). Hopefully they'll be friendly and that the process do not take up alot of time.
(ID #59050) Posted on 2007/10/10 16:18
College student and soldier
If they think being fingerprinted is going to stop me, then they don't realize tha-- Er, I mean...
(ID #59052) Posted on 2007/10/10 16:24
I thought about the same thing too when you mention the alien registration card. I guess that rules out having your blood sample taken since it's probably too acidic.
(ID #59054) Posted on 2007/10/10 16:26
Dropping computers, starting all over again at Journalism
I don't like it how every country now is assuming everyone is a suspect until proven not-guilty, and not the opposite. And for several reasons (read paranoia), I don't like the idea of having a database filled with personal info about myself, even when it's justifyable. I tend not to share any personal info (like ID number, and stuff like that) on the Internet, for instance. So, I don't really like that... but I would go through those procedures to enter Japan... :P Maybe I just read too many dystopic books... maybe not. But to give an example: Today here in Brazil, you can find people selling on the streets, CDs filled with personal information of thousands of brazilians. And you can use those for hundreds of different crimes/scams. It's been known to help abducters and robbers. Sooner this year, police found out the data was leaked from a government database. Now, brazilian government are corrupt, incompetent, lazy, bastards $&@$%@@#$@#$. And I know both japanese police and government are nowhere near as bad as brazilian ones. But there's always the chance of data leakage... and that's why I feel kinda uneasy.
(ID #59057) Posted on 2007/10/10 17:27
I'm not sure if I'm happy with this or not, but we'll see as I plan to go to Japan again maybe next year.
(ID #59058) Posted on 2007/10/10 17:33
It's not as bad as entering the US. The US have even stricter control such as requiring 5 fingerprints and through investigation that would make you think you are in hell.
(ID #59059) Posted on 2007/10/10 19:06
Web Design & Development
Just claim diplomatic immunity and flash them a homemade ambassador card for The Floating Isle Of Mandango. ;)
(ID #59060) Posted on 2007/10/10 19:18
Student
Been to the US two times and only was photographed once (2005), I doesn't bother me but it sure takes time if you end up in a big line so once you get out of the plane rush to the border control to get your picture taken unless you want to wait a few hours to get ready :P
(ID #59061) Posted on 2007/10/10 19:33
with or without the picture thingy & the fingerprint cops still treat u as terrorists
(ID #59062) Posted on 2007/10/10 19:49
Right....just because you're not form that country...they think youre some kind of threat
(ID #59068) Posted on 2007/10/10 22:21
this is alright.. they can't be too careful now.. as long as it isn't strip searching i'd ask if i may smile!
(ID #59100) Posted on 2007/10/11 04:01
When I think of 'Alien', the Integrated Data Entity comes to mind first. Followed by the Predator. :P
(ID #59127) Posted on 2007/10/11 10:14
Cool, I tied up the poll. But more importantly I have to agree that fingerprinting wouldn't do much against a terrorist attack...
(ID #59236) Posted on 2007/10/12 07:11
i wouldn't mind this type of process.. and i do think it might help a little to deter the offenders to some extent..
(ID #59278) Posted on 2007/10/12 14:00
The US have turned a bit paranoid (euphemism of course!) lately. I agree with BeLe, as long as they don't treat us like cattle that are going to be slaughtered or potential ciminals, I don't mind at all. I also find it funny (yeah), even if I don't think it will be super-effective. At least it will not be the panacea against terrorism.
(ID #59301) Posted on 2007/10/12 15:57
*criminals And of course if you blow yourself, there should be no traces left... except if they can find your fingers somewhere and take fingerprints from them... but the effect will surely be different then. Sorry if you are eating while reading my comment.
(ID #59302) Posted on 2007/10/12 15:59
gundamfans
I'm from Hong Kong but study in US, and so have to go through the US immigration mugshot/finger print thing. Overall, I just think it's an additional information gaining/legal process for government officials. I'm fine with it. But as you've said, it's the attitude of the officers that make the difference. I've been harshly treated multiple times, yet been treated nice once or twice. In terms of Japan doing it, I don't mind at all, since most of the time, they treat you with respect. I remember I flew from US to Japan to meet up with my family for vacation in Tokyo and the immigration lady handed back my passport with both hands and said "Welcome" totally shocked me. (In a positive way). Just less than 24 hrs ago, I was treated like dirt at Chicago airport and suddenly at Narita, I seriously do feel welcomed....
(ID #59329) Posted on 2007/10/12 23:36
I don't mind at all as I think of it as added security.
(ID #59411) Posted on 2007/10/13 16:27
I don't mind getting my fingerprints and mugshot taken while being questioned by the immigration officer when entering the US. Well, as long as it doesn't take 10 hours, that's it. Most of them are quite used to this process and seems to be able to do multi-tasking, questioning you, scanning your fingerprints, asking you to pose for the camera, checking your passport and visa and stuff within a few minutes. Some others are damn annoying, they pick up your passport as if it were covered in poo, take minutes to flip and read each page; put it down on the desk, take a good look at your mug for another hour as if trying to discern if you're a human, or poo was coming out of your nose or you're an alien. Meanwhile a queue with over 50 people behind you are still waiting, whereas other immigration officers already processed all the people in their queues. He scans your passport looks at the screen for hours as if everything on his screen was written in japanese and he couldn't read anything. He proceeds to take your fingerprints and grabs your hand as if it were just a lump of meat laying there, followed by your mugshot but the officer seems to take his time twisting and trying to focus the camera. You might think he's trying to get your best profile, but he might be trying so hard to make your mugshot show your terrorist side. Finally he decides to stamp immigration form and passport so hard he'd make a whole on his desk. And don't get me started if you're picked up for a random sanitary or customs inspection, I think you could picture a big guy in a lab coat just putting some latex gloves on and telling you to get in that dark room over there. Also besides the fingerprint and mugshot when entering the US. The increasing security procedures in the airports have made any international tourist avoiding any connecting flight in the US like the plague. Before 9/11, 2 hrs between connecting flights was more than enough, your baggage would be handled by the airline and transported to the connecting flight, you didn't need to go through all security again. Now depending on the airport 3hrs is barely enough, you have to reclaim you baggage and register it again as if you were going on a new flight and go through all the security procedures. At least some airlines are adding more flights to avoid using the US as a hub for international travelers or at least assigning staff to help people get through the security checks faster so they don't lose their connecting flight. Increased security might help stop terrorist, but it's really hell when they treat each single person like one.
(ID #61035) Posted on 2007/10/26 04:19
smiley in Philadelphia
I think the whole thing is a load of rubbish. The only terrorist incidents that have ever been perpetrated in Japan were carried out by Japanese nationals, yet all of us gaijin are now to be treated as suspects - although I don't see how a fingerprint will help in the search for such people. I'd imagine the most dangerous people, and ones most likely to be sent to do something like that would be the ones who've never been identified to date and would therefore not have any flags on their prints anyway. Also, as a permanent resident holder, I feel offended by the way that the new rules mean I have to go and line up in the same place as people visiting on vacation instead of going in the faster-moving Japanese lanes. I've been living there, contributing to the economy, being a good resident and paying plenty of taxes for more than ten years. I think that should count for something. Now I'll get to wait in line for an hour or so, and have my mugshot taken on each trip before walking down to baggage claim past the "Yokoso Japan!" sign. Perhaps they should rewrite that sign in Japanese characters now as it doesn't apply to foreigners anymore. And did anyone hear about the Japanese Justice Minister, Kunio Hatoyama, who justified this whole thing by saying he has a friend who has a friend in Al Qaeda who visits often! What a loony. If he really does have any links, then police should be taking a look at his social circle instead of innocent working people. Of course he's talking crap, though - I guess he was having difficulty coming up with a logical reason for this nonsense...
(ID #64851) Posted on 2007/11/24 18:19
lecherous wretch
i'm not a criminal so i dont really care about having my fingerprints/mugshot taken to enter another country. when the computer chips start getting put into ppl then i'll have a problem.
(ID #195159) Posted on 2008/05/24 03:17
Damn I was planning to go to Japan next Year.
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