Worn out fingers to void fingerprints

Don't take it personal but I don't like what Mark Schreiber wrote over the Japan Times about his initiation at getting fingerprinted and photographed at Narita. I don't like the style, the aloofness. He is on the business class side of that issue which is OK as far as opinions are but opinions - gaijin talento are on first class but with the same practical concern: getting the hell out of that airport as fast as possible. And what the heck with "this supposed indignity" as he writes, that human rights thing so passé - and the hopeless boast at delivering his essay as "the most exhibitionistic manner possible: the article you are now reading" in the Japan Times. And a media where thanks god, you cannot as easily hear feedback from your dear readers. Another reason for me not to support that newspaper (but then what are we left with? The Yomiuri?).

Anyway, there are a few concerns with what is exposed in that article. One is that the authorities would try and fingerprint whatever finger can be scanned, maybe, as that author's worn out index prints made the scanners call it quit. Mr. Schreiber asks "Why wasn’t I dragged off into a separate room and interrogated? Why, after all the fuss, was I simply admitted on the strength of my passport, status of residence and re-entry permit?" It would be more interesting to know what happens with those reported elderly people entering as non-residents - suspicious old men and women with aged out fingerprints that beat the machine.

Mr. Schreiber also reports that "On a separate note, there’s been much talk about a system that permits residents to pre-register their biometric data prior to departure, either at the main Immigration office in Shinagawa or in the departure areas at Narita.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I can’t see any point to this, either in terms of time savings or exemption from the big, bad biometric bogeyman. Pre-registration or not, unless you’re a Japanese national or a “special permanent resident” (and if you have to ask what that is, you’re almost certainly not one), you will still be obliged to give your fingerprints every time you enter the country."

Clarification here again is needed as the story has been so far that pre-registered Japanese as well as residents would be allowed when coming back to zoom through the automated gates.

The rest of the article falls down into terminal college pun deliquescence that pulls the plug out of good journalism.

We need testimonies from entrants and re-entrants not on the Japan Times payroll. We need food for thought, not for cocktails fun anecdotes. Bring your wares and experiences here at Re-Entry Japan.