Fingerprinting at Narita, Terminal 2

A friend of mine (TokyoExpat) recently came back through Narita Terminal 2. Here is his experience:

So, I made it through the new immigration checks at Narita T2. I was lucky to get through quickly...

On approach to the immigration section, I could see the hoards of people lining up. I had been expecting the worst and there it was. There were at least 500 people lining up waiting to go through gates. Next to this were the completely empty lines for Japanese passport holders. What a joke.Then I noticed the section in between! A new sectioned signposted with orange signs "re-entry permit holders". There were two gates with only two gaijins waiting. I moved over to that line away from the hundreds and hundreds of people waiting. I felt guilty but glad not be in the queue for another hour or more at least. There were a group of people off to the side as they obviously had some kind of problem. I won't know what the immigration officer was telling them. Were they the terrorists that Japan is looking for? I doubt it as they were school kids - from what I could see. Anyway, now I was almost at the point of submitting my face and fingers to the vast data bank open to Japanese government agencies. Sure enough the kind Japanese immigration office let out a "hai" calling me up before dryly took my passport and entry documentation. No other words passed form his lips as the remaining prompts for me to re-enter Japan came form the cute NEC screen. I was requested by the machine to press my two index fingers on the pads as well as looking into the camera shortly thereafter. Once my passport pages had wastefully been filled with more useless over sized stamps, it was handed back to me. I am now just another biometric piece of data. You could tell the relief of all the Japanese people in the airport as they were safe in the knowledge that thousands of sets of data are now on file.

My experience was over within minutes. My fellow passengers were destined to stay at Narita for a while longer. And what for? Now I am sure that we are one step further on the way to state control as another government has more information on me than they actually need.

Spanish version now online

Porque amamos Japón, estamos en contra de las nuevas medidas de
seguridad dirigidas a los extranjeros que entran a Japón:

- Contra la disposición de tomar las huellas digitales de los
extranjeros al entrar a Japón.
- Un tratamiento que debe ser reservado a criminales, degradante para
todos los extranjeros inocentes.
- Las familias mixtas, compuestas por un japonés y un extranjero, no
desean ser separadas al momento de pasar los controles, y no aceptan
un trato degradante para uno de sus miembros.
- Los extranjeros que viven Japón no son visitantes. Viven acá,
trabajan acá, pagan impuestos acá. Tienen derecho a recibir el mismo
trato que los japoneses al entrar al territorio, pues reingresan a su
casa.
- Ningún extranjero ha cometido jamás un acto terrorista en suelo
japonés.
- Medidas así son nefastas para la imagen de Japón, serán
perjudiciales para la afluencia de turistas al país.

Protest sheet version 1.1.1 + arabic version

Thanks to reader's help, a new version is done with an arabic part.
And two spelling mistakes have been corrected.

Links to download are located on the upper right corner of this screen.

Protest sheet update v1.1

Thanks to readers' feedback, the update is available, with a grain of love inside and even a mobile access ! Scan the QR code with your cell phone and spread the word to your friends via mobile email.

Caution: the usage of the tract is yours but please to be responsible. No littering, no public distribution - prior authorization is required. We suggest to behave in clean and matured manners and avoid confrontation. A key purpose of this tract is to raise awareness to Japanese people.

Links to download latest versions are located on the upper right column of this screen.

Wanna new fingerprints ?

Tsutomu Matsumoto is a Japanese mathematician, a cryptographer who works on security, and he decided to see if he could fool the machines which identify you by your fingerprint. This home science project costs about £20. Take a finger and make a cast with the moulding plastic sold in hobby shops. Then pour some liquid gelatin (ordinary food gelatin) into that mould and let it harden. Stick this over your finger pad: it fools fingerprint detectors about 80% of the time. The joy is, once you’ve fooled the machine, your fake fingerprint is made of the same stuff as fruit pastilles, so you can simply eat the evidence.

Read more here:
Make your own ID
Ben Goldacre
The Guardian
Saturday November 24 2007

Protester dans le plâtre

via

Mainichi.jp: Editorial: Gov't must think hard about fingerprinting foreigners

Editorial: Gov't must think hard about fingerprinting foreigners

Japan has started a new system obligating foreigners entering the country to provide their fingerprints and face photos. The United States started a similar process following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the government has gone along with this, revising the immigration law to make it obligatory for foreigners to take these steps.

Data collected from foreigners entering the country will be matched with that assembled on about 18,000 fugitives on Interpol and Japanese law enforcers' lists, as well another roughly 800,000 who have previously been deported from Japan with the aim of preventing entry into the country for those who match the data.

The Justice Ministry insists that the measures are an anti-terrorism step and Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama created controversy with his statements about an associate in Al-Qaeda, and there are doubts about how effective this process will be. The system still makes it very difficult to capture terrorists who have no prior convictions and it is not possible to say that the government can adequately cover every port of entry, especially when it comes to those entering by sea and particularly those smuggled in.

Where the system will show its teeth is combating those entering illegally using false passports. Of the roughly 56,000 people deported from Japan last year, about 7,300 had been expelled from the country at least once before, including some foreigners who should never have been allowed into the country in the first place, and immigration authorities were widely criticized for their lax control. Immigration and law enforcers also had to suffer a backlash after it was learned that fugitive members of the Japanese Red Army had been sneaking in and out of Japan using false passports. But the new system should make it impossible for repeated re-entry into the country using false passports. The new system should also prove effective in countering the crime gangs who leave the country following raids, come back in again once things have calmed down and then flee once more.

Surrounded by water on all sides, immigration authorities obviously saw implementation of the current system as a task of great importance, but there are many things that need to be taken into account when considering this first attempt at halting crime by foreigners coming to Japan. To ease the problems associated with taking people's fingerprints and keep the system in process, naturally clear explanations of the system are necessary and it goes without saying that steps must be taken to make sure the data collection process is spread up so that it does not become a burden on those foreigners entering the country.

The ministry must also clearly state the standards by which collected data will be preserved and handled. Going by what the ministry has said so far, the data collected will not be necessary if the person who presented it is not on any of the lists used for comparing it with. Even considering keeping the fingerprints and photos on file in case of trouble while the presenter is in the country, this data should be destroyed when the person leaves the country, or at least after a set period of time. There should be a set limit for how long this data can be kept. Considering that there have been many criticisms of faults in the U.S. system, the government must, on the basis of controlling individuals' private information, set clear steps of the processes involved in dealing with what happens when somebody's details match those on the lists and what happens when somebody is mistakenly added to those lists. It is also essential that punishments be put in place for any misuse of the information obtained.

The ministry must also outline its long-term vision of how it plans to improve the working conditions of foreign laborers in Japan and unskilled foreign workers in the country. Japan has been widely criticized for the abuse and poor payment that foreign trainees coming to this country have received here and it is a fact that many of the foreign laborers here without visas are widely appreciated. When tightening immigration controls, the government must also make sure that this does not lead to unfair discrimination and also protects the rights of foreign laborers coming to work here.

If the government is not going to place importance on the situation of foreigners coming to Japan or international opinion in favor of coming up with measures to fight crime, it is not going to receive widespread support for its new system.

（Mainichi Japan） November 24, 2007

Mainichi special: Fingerprinting fury

毎日新聞： 社説：新しい入国審査 安心できる仕組みが欲しい

毎日新聞：　社説：新しい入国審査　安心できる仕組みが欲しい

全国の空港と港で、来日する外国人から指紋と顔写真の提供を義務付ける新しい入国審査が始まった。０１年の同時多発テロを受け、米国が同様の対策を講じたことに呼応し、出入国管理・難民認定法を改正して来日外国人に手続きを義務づけたものだ。

　採録したデータを、国際刑事警察機構と日本の警察が指名手配した約１万８０００人、過去に日本から強制退去させた約８０万人のリストと照合し、該当者の入国を防ぐことを主な狙いとしている。法務省はテロ対策を強調しており、鳩山邦夫法相が不用意な「アルカイダ発言」で物議を醸した経緯もあるが、実効性には疑問もある。前科前歴がないテロリストを発見するのは難しく、港での船員らのチェックや密出入国の水際での警備も万全とは言えないためだ。

　しかし、偽変造パスポートを使う不法入国に、威力を発揮することは間違いない。昨年中に強制送還した約５万６０００人のうち約７３００人は以前にも送還され、本来は入国が認められない外国人だったとの事実もあり、出入国管理は尻抜けとの批判が絶えなかった。指名手配中の赤軍派メンバーが堂々と密出入国を繰り返していたことが判明して捜査当局をあわてさせたこともあったが、今後は偽名での入国を見逃さずに済む。犯行後、出国し、ほとぼりが冷めると再来日して犯行に及ぶ窃盗団などの対策としても効果的だ。

　四方を海に囲まれ、出入国管理の強化が急務とされながら、今回が初めての来日外国人の犯罪対策であることにも注意したい。指紋採取などへの抵抗感を和らげ、制度を定着させるには、達意の説明が必要であることはもちろん、手続きのスピードアップなどによって来日外国人の負担を軽減させるべきも言うまでもない。

　採録したデータの保存や取り扱い方法についての基準を示す必要もある。従来の説明に従えば、データは一義的には照合が終われば不要になるはずだ。滞日中のトラブル発生時の身元識別の必要を考慮しても、帰国から一定期間後には廃棄すべきであり、保存期間の設定は必要不可欠ではないか。米国でも登録されたリストの不備が指摘されていることに照らせば、本人の個人情報コントロール権に基づき、リストへの登載の有無の照会や誤登載の際の削除要請などに応じる手続きを定めておくべきでもある。情報が悪用された場合の罰則規定も欠かせない。

　来日外国人労働者の労働条件を改善し、単純労働者の受け入れ問題についても長期的な視野からビジョンを示す必要もある。研修生制度によって来日した外国人を低賃金で酷使して国内外から批判を浴びたり、不法滞在の外国人の労働を黙認して重宝がっているのが実情だ。入国審査を厳正にする以上、不当な就労差別などが生じないように、来日外国人労働者の権利の確立を目指さねばならない。

　来日外国人の立場や国際的な信用を重視することなく、犯罪者対策に偏重していたのでは、新制度は幅広い支持を得られない。

毎日新聞　2007年11月24日　0時14分

Mobilization of the people

This is my first post on this blog, so I'd like to say a quick thank you to Thomas for the invitation.

As an Australian living in Japan with my Japanese family, I was upset at the idea of having to be separated from my family when we return from an overseas trip. I can't understand why I am going to be singled out and treated like a suspect.

The government has been touting this system to prevent terrorism but I think it will only end up discouraging tourism.

After being introduced to this group by another teacher at the same university, I have become much more active in creating awareness about this issue and asking people to get involved and promote the petition.

If you have you have Japanese Family, Friends, Coworkers or Associates, please let the know about this issue. There has been precious little about this issue on the Japanese news and the average citizen probably doesn't realize what a bad situation this is for their foreign friends.

So I ask you to write about this on your blogs, e-mail friends and family, sign the petition or even attend demonstrations. And for those who have already been doing this, thank you.

Japan Times: Starting today, 'gaijin' formally known as prints

Starting today, 'gaijin' formally known as prints
Japan Times, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2007 By GRAEME JARVIE

Today sees the introduction of a law requiring the majority of foreigners entering Japan to be fingerprinted and photographed. This change has been met with howls of protest from foreign residents and the foreign media, who have pointed to the fact that the only terrorist attacks on Japanese soil have been carried out by Japanese.

Matters were not helped by recent comments from Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama, who attempted to justify the law by saying a "friend of a friend" of his was an al-Qaida operative who had entered Japan a number of times, using a different fake passport on each occasion.

In an effort to get an inside perspective on the new law, I wrote to a high-ranking Ministry of Injustice official closely involved in the planning and implementation of the measure. My source, who wishes to remain anonymous, sent the following statement by e-mail:

"Firstly, let me explain exactly what Mr. Hatoyama meant by his comments at the Foreign Correspondents' Club. What he was trying to emphasize was the relative ease with which foreigners bent on causing harm can enter Japan. Rather than giving dry statistics or resorting to vague and empty scare tactics, Mr. Hatoyama thought it would be better to give a concrete example of why this law is necessary. He also hoped to show that, despite his position as justice minister and scion of one of Japan's most famous political families, he is comfortable moving in any social circle. In hindsight, his choice of words was perhaps inappropriate, but the truth in what he said is undeniable. The simple fact is that this law will make Japan a safer country by tightening its borders and preventing would-be terrorists from entering.

"The main beneficiaries of this law will not be the Japanese or even foreigners living here, but foreigners who haven't even been here, and the international community as a whole.

"Take the bankruptcy of Nova Corp. Thousands of foreign teachers have been left jobless and facing eviction in a country where many of them cannot speak the language. Had this new law been enacted years ago this unfortunate situation could have been avoided.

"Consider why these people came to Japan — to teach foreign languages, mainly English, to Japanese people. Why do Japanese people want to learn? Partly to help foreign visitors who come to Japan for pleasure or business. The unique history and culture of Japan attract millions of visitors to these islands each year. However, the new law will significantly reduce this number so the need for foreign language teachers will decline sharply, and it is highly unlikely there will be a repeat of the Nova fiasco.

"In addition to protecting people from taking risky teaching jobs in Japan, this law will also help reduce the effect of brain drain on a number of countries. Huge numbers of Asians currently take advantage of Japan's generous immigration laws to come here and work. Although they often send money home, the fact that they have had to move overseas has a serious effect on the quality of the workforce in their home country. Again, the new law will reduce the number of foreigners in Japan, and the benefits of this will be felt throughout Asia as countries' brightest brains choose to stay and work in the land of their birth.

"The new immigration controls will also impact on globalization and its benefits for developing countries. The new law will probably cause some companies to close their offices in Japan and relocate to countries with less stringent border controls: developing nations in Asia, for example. As it has done in the past, the generosity of the Japanese government will allow other countries to develop economically and socially. Japan is a rich nation, but not a greedy one, and is glad to spread the benefits of globalization and free markets as widely as possible. This new law will indirectly allow us to do so.

"Of course, there will be benefits for the Japanese: Fewer foreign workers will mean more jobs for Japanese and this may go some way toward combating the growing income gap in Japan. Also, the pressure to learn English will be reduced, and this will allow Japanese people to spend more time studying their own country's history, traditions and culture. English will become an optional language for those who really want to study it, and there will still be enough foreigners here to meet the reduced demand. But, as I outlined above, the main benefits will be felt internationally, as Japan steps back slightly on the world stage and graciously allows some other countries the chance to shine."

Note: This is a fictitious e-mail from a fictitious government official.

This is the translation of Graeme Jarvie's article "Starting today, 'gaijin' formally known as prints" published in the 11/20 edition of the Japan Times.
１１月２０日のジャパンタイムスに掲載されたGraeme Jarvie氏の記事「本日から、以前「プリント」として知られていた「外人」が登場！」

まず、鳩山法務大臣の外国人記者クラブでのコメントがどのような意味を持つのかについて説明しよう。彼は、危害を及ぼす可能性のある外国人が如何にたやすく日本に入国できるかについて、強調しようとしていた。そして、この法の必要性について、味気ない統計やリアリティーのない恐怖によって訴えるよりも、身近な例で示す方が効果的であると考えたらしい。また彼は、自らが法務大臣であり、日本最大政党の御曹司であることを忘れ、誰にでもいい顔をすることを望んだようだ。結果として彼の発言は不適切であった。しかし、発言の事実はもはや消すことはできない。ただ、この法律によって国境をさらに厳しくコントロールし、一部の身勝手なテロリストの入国を防ぐことによって日本をより安全な国にしようとしているようだ、ということだけは言えよう。

この法によって恩恵を受けるのは、日本人でもすでに日本にいる外国人でもなく、結果的に、まだ日本を知らない外国人と国際社会である。

ＮＯＶＡの倒産を例に挙げよう。数千人もの外国人講師は失業のまま放置され、彼らのうちほとんどが言葉も解らないうちにアパートから追いやられようとしている。もし新法が数年前に制定されたなら、この哀れな事態は避けられたかもしれない。

彼らがなぜ外国語、中でもとりわけ英語を教えに日本に来たかについて考えてもらいたい。そして日本人たちはなぜそれを学びたいのか。その理由のひとつは、遊びや金儲けのために日本にやって来る外国人らを助けるためだ。日本独自の歴史と文化は、毎年何百万人もの外国人訪問者を引き寄せている。しかしながら、新法によってそれはかなり減少することになり、外国人講師の必要性は激減するに違いない。ＮＯＶＡの過ちも二度と起こらなくなるに違いない。

さらにこの法律は、リスクの高い講師という職業を選ぶことを人々から避けさせ、よその国々へのブレーン流出を抑制することになるだろう。現在、日本で膨大な数のアジア人たちが働くため、この国の寛大な入国管理法を利用している。彼らのほとんどが祖国に送金しているわけだが、彼らが日本を離れざるを得ないという事実は、彼らの母国の労働力の品質に重大な影響を与えることになるだろう。一方、新法は日本の外国人数を減少させ、アジア中の優秀なブレーンたちを彼らの祖国にとどまらせ、そこで働かせることになるだろう。

また、この新しい出入国管理は、発展途上国に対してグローバル化とその恩恵を与えることになるだろう。そして新法は、いくつかの企業が日本のオフィスを撤退させ、国境管理がそれほど厳しくない国への移動を引き起こすことになるだろう。例えば、アジアの発展途上国へと。歴史が証明しているように、日本政府の寛大さによってこれらの国は経済的にも社会的にも発展するだろう。日本という国は豊かであり、かつ貪欲でもなく、グローバル化と自由市場の恩恵の大風呂敷をこんなにも広げてくれるなんてまったくもって素晴らしい国だ。直接的でないにせよ、この新法によって、いずれそうなるに違いない。

もちろん、日本人にとってもメリットはあるだろう。外国人労働者の減少は、日本人により多くの仕事をもたらし、日本で急増している所得格差に対する救世主となりうるだろう。また、英語を勉強しなくてはというプレッシャーも減少し、日本人はより多くの時間を自国の歴史、伝統及び文化を学ぶのに費やすことになるだろう。英語は本気でそれを学びたいという人のための言語になるだろうし、減った分を補って余りある人々がまだまだいるに違いない。しかし、私が上に述べてきたようなことは、世界的に実感することになるだろう。日本が世界の檜舞台から徐々に後退し、他国が光り輝くチャンスを気前よく許容するときに。


ジャパンタイムス２０日掲載指紋採取関連記事の和訳

Petição para acabar com o restabelecimento das impressões digitais de todos os estrangeiros entrando no Japão

Petição para acabar com o restabelecimento das impressões digitais de todos os estrangeiros entrando no Japão - incluindo moradores - como introduzidas pelo "Immigration Control Act" e Reconhecimento de Refugiados a partir de 20 de Novembro de 2007 no Japão:
Abolition of Non Japanese fingerprinting program

Japanese TV: Japan passes measure to fingerprint foreigners

Nouvelles mesures d'entrée au Japon
envoyé par TBKy

The "Yokoso Japan 11/20" Commemorative T-shirt

-Une façon de dire non, avec un t-shirt...

-To "voice" your displeasure with the policy please wear your t-shirt proudly as you pass through the immigration procedures at Japan customs and immigration control.

Official site.

D-Day: GOJ voice, how to...

Souriez, on prend vos empreintes

Information or GOJ voice ?

Information: Japan to fingerprint visitors and foreign residents, workpermit.com

New rules requiring fingerprints for visitors and foreigners living in Japan will go into effect on 20 November 2007. The Japanese government says the procedure is a necessary security measure to prevent terrorist attacks inside the country.

The system is modelled after a similar United States program instituted in 2003 that requires travellers entering the country to provide fingerprints and facial photos when they apply for visas.
Latest news

However, the Japanese system goes further by requiring Japan's 2.1 million foreign residents, as well as visitors, to be fingerprinted and photographed when entering the country.

GOJ voice: Use fingerprints, photos to boost security, The Yomiuri Shimbun

The revised Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law will go into effect Tuesday, introducing new immigration checks that require foreign visitors to be fingerprinted and photographed when they enter the country.

The main objective of the revised law is to block terrorists and foreign criminals from entering the country. If it is proven to be effective, Japan's reputation as a safe country will be bolstered.

(...)
In the past, a man linked to Al-Qaida passed through Japan's immigration despite the fact there was an international warrant for his arrest, complete with his fingerprints. Such a blunder must not be repeated. Fingerprint data collected at immigration can be used in criminal investigations in cases in which police find fingerprints at the scene of a crime believed to have been committed by non-Japanese.

(...)
Together with strengthening immigration checks, we hope the government will take all possible means to ensure coastal security and prevent terrorism in this country.

Some anonymous comments from the petition

Anonymous 1:

I moved to Japan after my marriage 7 years ago and request that the fingerprinting be abolished for non-tourists. It is humiliating, insulting, discriminatory and driving away tourism and their hard currency, forcing businessmen who travel frequently in and out of Japan to relocate their main offices to other Asian countries , and will further decrease population (their families will also be relocated with them) and tax payers who provide the base for Japan's ever increasing pension and medical care needs for an aging population.

What Japan is doing with this fingerprinting is losing the esteem and good will of the world, driving away tourists from knowledge of millenia of Japanese culture, people and Japanese traditional courtesy and way of life in the short term and is self-destructive for Japan in the long term. Japan has one of the highest literacy rates in the world--higher than the US and many European countries; how can a country with such intelligence do something so self-destructive? (How can a Minister have a friend of a friend who is Al-Qaeda?)

I am afraid for the future of Japan. Japanese refuse to accept fingerprinting as it is associated with criminals. How can Japan Ministry of Education justify hiring esteemed professors to teach young Japanese and supply skills while at the same time treating these foreign residents when they arrive in Japan by air as potential terrorists, splitting up families in Immigration and sending small children through the Japanese line alone while the foreign parent goes through the "suspected terrorist" line for all foreigners?
The children then are left unattended in the baggage area for the foreign parent to be processed which may take hours. (Has Japan so quickly forgotten the little 7-year-old girl who was killed several weeks ago during the few minutes she went to put her bike on the sie of the house after coming home and talking to her sisters at the front door?)

How can Japan treat a first time unknown tourist from a possibly hostile country the same as a permanent resident who has been working in Japan for the benefit of Japan and the Japanese, made Japan home for family, children and grandchildren? Why? All the reasons given are neither true nor logical, but are definitely discriminatory and ineffective and insulting and will cause a brain-drain, a business drain and a tourist halt which means more economic and financial woes for Japan.
This will end up being most unfair to the senior citizens of Japan and will further discourage young Japanese people from having families. I fear that Japan will disappear if Japan continues on this path. That would be a great loss for the world and world culture and history.


Anonymous 2:

Ya es bastante que nos traten como ciudadanos de segunda clase al llegar al aeropuerto haciendonos esperar largas colas (mientras los japoneses pasan rapidamente y les atiende mas personal). Mejor que desnuden a los japoneses a ver cuantos llevan tatuajes. Si no quieren extranjeros simplemente que prohiban el acceso a Japon.

Anonymous 3:

It's a shame. I know that many prefectures are trying to increase the number of inbound foreign visitors...at the same time this will be yet another reason for people not to bother coming to Japan. The fingerprinting laws are the main reason i haven't traveled around the USA...I'm sad that many people will be put off coming out to Japan. Do the government really think we're all terrorists?


Anonymous 4:

私の妻は外国籍です。改正入国管理法に反対します。 私の妻が犯罪者のように取り扱われるのは屈辱です。 アメリカの真似をしたようですがアメリカでもグリーンカードを所持している市民は別待遇です。

Don’t do nothing: send protest email to...

Japan Visit Campaign

Japanese External Trade Organization

Kansai Airport customers service

Narita Airport

Important information from immigration bureau

Via Debito, Protest pays off: Now separate lines for residents when fingerprinting NJ at Narita

Japan-Guide survey about the new immigration procedures for non Japanese

From November 20, foreigners will be fingerprinted and photographed upon entry into Japan. What do you think?

Fr: La pétition

La pétition contre les nouvelles mesures d'entrée au Japon pour les étrangers est en ligne. Plus de 1000 signatures reccueillies en 10 jours.
Abolition of Non Japanese fingerprinting program