Where did I imply any of that? I was only challenging his statement about how Japanese people think that every foreigner is a “foreign devil”.

I know what you were saying, but even if this is just for illegal foreigners, it’s still an example of an irrational fear, and the sign is appealing to or trying to generate that fear amongst citizens. (At least the 県民 of Ibaraki)

Any single illegal alien may not pose immediate danger, but combined they do have negative effects. Take a look at any community and you will typically find a social fabric where locals actively interact with each other on all levels, giving them the ability to quickly sense when “something is unusual”; they in turn are capable of informing the police or (together) handling it themselves. Illegal aliens, out of fear of being deported, tend not to participate in that fabric, and it is through those “holes in the fabric” that crime etc is able to more easily enter the community.

The poster certainly has a lot of overtones of fear mongering, but how else can one patch up the fabric besides communicating directly to the community?

It doesn’t mean that the police need to go so far as to cary SMGs in order to “subdue” a single illegal alien, but overall additional force is required to some extent, even if it’s psychological through the use of imagery and direct words.

I’m guessing Alex has never visited England, USA, or France. The views in those countries on illegal immigration are just as extreme, if not more so.

Rubbish. This sort of poster would never be tolerated in the UK.

Eddie: I was born and raised in San Diego, California. I could see Tiajuana from my house on clear days. (There’s a Sarah Palin joke somewhere in there) I’ve never seen anything remotely close to this sort of propaganda in an effort to nurture fear amongst citizens regarding “an invasion of illegal immigrants”.

In response to DC, in England there are far worse posters posted daily by the BNP and also there was the campaign of only a few years ago by the respected Conservative Party which was along the same lines.

As someone of an immigrant background (Jamaican heritage, UK born), I know first hand what kind of effect these posters can have on the mentality of the average member of the public.
Naturally, I am disgusted by these posters, but then I do take into consideration that Japan is relatively new to immigration on the level that they are having currently, and that when substantial immigration took place in the UK and the US there were far worse posters and leaflets floating around.

Look at the way our government demonises people of the Muslim faith? Is it not just as bad?

The British National Party are NOT the UK Police force however. There is a slight difference between them in relation to posters. Just a slight one. Can you tell what it might be?

“Look at the way our government demonises people of the Muslim faith? Is it not just as bad?”

Not if you allow that people of the Muslim faith have committed terrorist acts in the UK. And are poster boys for non-assimilation with their demands for Sharia in courts and the like.

There is a slight difference between them in relation to posters. Just a slight one. Can you tell what it might be?

The BNP, members of which are from a councillor to a layman who denies the memberships in public, is explicitely “committed to stemming and reversing the tide of non-white immigration” and “advocates”, without using stupid posters, ” the repeal of all anti-discrimination legislation, and restricts party membership to indigenous British ethnic groups deriving from the class of ‘Indigenous Caucasian’” while Ibaragi local police is not committed to it and does not advocate such a thing, though it is wasting tax money on the poster like that, bragging, “Hey we are doing our business of preventing illegal immigrants” , sending a message that we are so afraid of illegal immigrant that we can’t control one illegal immigrant without a gun, without several officers present.
Is that a difference?

Maybe it is fearmongering – to instill fear in the illegal immigrants….

Indeed, Mike. The only fearmongering I saw there was a group (there is a word for them, but James doesn’t like people to use it on his site, so I shan’t) trading “horror stories” about the “big bad Japanese police”.

“The police will use force even when detaining a bicycle rider who doesn’t feel like stopping for one of their impromptu registration checkups.”

No shit! The cops try to stop someone, and he tries to run – I would hope that they would use force to stop such a suspicious character! But I suppose this particular poster would know that, as he claims to have been stopped something like 170 times and apparently keeps a diary entry each time so he can tell you what exactly happened on Stop Number 119…

Or, “The Austrian” with “They recognized that I don`t speak Japanese. I mean I know a few words and sentences and I can also read Hiragana and Katakana but that`s just beginners stuff….He asked me something in Japanese which somehow sounded like: “You understand Nihongo very well and you`re just a criminal making fun of us”. Well, I had the feeling that he was saying something like that.” Communication by osmosis, apparently. And why was he hauled in? For not carrying his passport (and since he was a tourist, he didn’t have a Gaijin card) while walking around at night! Duh! At least he recognizes that: “Now I know that a passport would`ve solved all problems (maybe).” No, not “maybe”, it would have.

Or this classic commentary on the police: “They are very poorly educated – on purpose I guess: this makes them easier to be brainwashed with common places such as NJ coming and invading them, stealing, wasting resources and so on.”

Pot, kettle… what is the excuse of posters (or the owner) on that sad excuse of a blog?

I find a few of those tales a little far-fetched, myself. I wonder what side of them we are not hearing?

“I find a few of those tales a little far-fetched, myself. I wonder what side of them we are not hearing?”

I suspect we will never hear “the other side” of any of those tales, as there probably is none. I have noticed something about a lot of the stories on that blog (and one or two from “The Community” I have seen):

Whatever happens to the teller or whatever the teller sees happens in the complete absence of corroborating witnesses.

Whatever happens to the teller or whatever the teller sees happens with amazing frequency. Getting stopped while riding a bike home virtually every other night, going out to a major international store in a major city with a long history of dealing with foreigners (one where a foreigner can walk down the street and not even be noticed, and no-one even blinks if a foreigner starts talking to them) and encountering Japanese “making fun of foreigners” or assuming a foreign cashier in the store can’t speak Japanese etc. all in the same few hours, what-have-you.

Even if offered assistance in “dealing with the problem”, the person will refuse as “they don’t want to make waves” (then why tell all and sundry about your “adventure”?), or claim to be afraid they will face even more discrimination, or claim they can’t recall exactly where they were/who they talked to (that is, if the incident didn’t involve “some anonymous Japanese”).

And most tellingly for me personally, these tales are so divorced from the reality I and everyone around me inhabits as to beggar belief. But of course, I wasn’t there, and just because it has never happened to me or anyone I know doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, never say never and all that… But in what alternate universe Japan do these people live?

In short, these tales share all the hallmarks of the lies little children tell in an attempt to impress other little children and be seen as a “hero”. And they should probably be taken about as seriously.

“And most tellingly for me personally, these tales are so divorced from the reality I and everyone around me inhabits as to beggar belief.”

I concur – after nearly 20 years here, I have yet to experience anything on the scale of some of the tales I read, so am I just really lucky? Do the cops just like my face?

Last time I got stopped by a police officer on my bicycle was when I ran a red light at a deserted intersection at 1 AM. (I thought it was safe enough but still my fault)
Having Japanese parents, I (at least like to think I) completely blend in with the local demographic, so I can’t say anything about racial profiling, but maybe these people who keep on getting stopped by the police are indeed committing some minor infraction some of the time. Maybe the officers are even trying to tell them what they did wrong but language problems are getting in the way, making it seem like the foreigner was stopped for no good reason.

Also, the police do seem to look out for potential troublemakers, singling them out based on outward appearance impression and stop them for an innocent inquiry as to what they’re doing, Japanese or not.
Only anecdotal evidence from 2ch, but some people claim to be stopped by the police in this manner quite often (and then most often jeered at by other posters to take a shower, shave, buy decent clothes … and stay away from my kid, you dirty bum!).
So maybe these people who keep on getting stopped are going about in a shabby fashion or have something “suspicous” about their mannerisms that somehow raise a flag with the police as to warrant their attention.

I’ll probably get labeled by some people as an apologist trying to shift the blame away from the evil racist Japanese police, but just my two cents.