Crackdown on illegal foreigners in Roppongi

Last night, a task force of some 220 police and immigration officers descended upon the Roppongi area of Tokyo, tightening their crackdown on illegal activities by foreigners in that neighborhood [the area, known for its overly-aggressive street touts and shady bars, was recently mentioning in a safety warning from the US embassy]:

The massive force managed to make a grand total of 6 arrests: 5 foreign hostesses and 1 Indian suspected of visa violations.

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36 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - June 26, 2009 at 1:31 pm

Categories: Foreigners in Japan Tags: police, stupid

yoga boy

What about all those shady African types that are always standing on the sidewalks trying to coerce you into the sh*thole bars? I’m sure these guys are not here legally.

For that matter, what about those eastern European types that hang out in Shibuya alleys and used to push phone cards? They are definitely not here legally and doing illegal stuff out the ying-yang.

Arrested 5 hostesses? Golf clap…Japanese police truly are a joke in the world of law enforcement.
- http://www.squidoo.com/Best-Books-on-Japan Eric
  
  Actually, Japan has a very low crime rate. Of course the police can’t take all the credit for that–there are a lot of other factors involved–but the police are obviously one of the factors. You can’t call them a “joke” when they are demonstrably meeting with a lot of success in keeping Japanese streets safe.
  - Gaijinocchio
    
    Eric, was that supposed to be funny? Japan has a high unreported crime rate. Reporting crimes results in paperwork, and also tarnishes the image of “Safe Japan” that you seemingly swallowed like candy.
    
    Granted I do feel safer here, but not because of the J-police. Ironically, I feel more threatened by the J-police than J-criminals.
    
    Do you call a force of 220 policemen making 6 arrests in ROPPONGI a success? It’s ROPPONGI! Triple digit cops can’t even make double digit arrests in Tokyo. Sounds like a “joke” to me, Eric. This is our tax money at work.
    - ponta
      
      Japan has a high unreported crime rate.
      
      Where is the high unreported crime rate reported?
      
      Do you call a force of 220 policemen making 6 arrests in ROPPONGI a success?
      
      They will be damned if they arrest many, they will be damned if they don’t.
    - Montsan
      
      I think the issue is more the rather extreme police-officer-to-arrest ratio and that such a large force was probably not necessary for this type of operation. The police department should have made better use of their resources.
  - Rick
    
    Anyone who lives a while in Japan knows that it just off the mark.
    Charges are laid only when a conviction is all but certain and in many cases the victim gets compensation and it doesn`t go into the system.
    Busting visa violators is hardly keeping the streets safe.And what about the bar owners who bring all these hostesses over?They don`t even get a slap on the wrist and are free to break the law again.
Roger

I really don’t like this kind of news all that much nor do I like it when the government and media is trying to blame crimes to gaijins.

Japan has 400,0000 people who stay in Japan illegaly. The government wants to decrease this to half the amount within a couple of years. Therefore in the future expect the police to go gaijin hunting. Which means that each time you see a police officer they can come up to you and demnad you to show your gaijin card. When getting a gaijin card from now on you will have to go to the immigration office and not your local kuyakusho. The new gaijin card will have an IC chip so that the government can monitor you.

Because the government wants to crack down on over stayers expect a more hostile climate over all towards gaijins. I will not be happy to flash out my gaijin card when asked by police. I would find that to be insulting. I think the police and government should have other priorities.
- Yom
  
  Dont live here then?
  - Raymundo
    
    “Don’t live here then”
    And what if the person you are engaged to happens to live in Japan? Does that mean you should leave her because the country she lives in has racist laws?
    
    I will be honest living in Japan scares the crap out of me. The thought that a cop can slap me with some BS charge and throw me in the brig for 23 days and then probably have me deported before I can get a chance to tell my side of the story, frankly scares the bejsus out of me and were it not for my signifcant other my ass would be out of here.
    
    I can only assume then that you are either a japanese person or carry a red passport and so fear no prosecution just or otherwise.
- parcivale
  
  Who cares about going to the Immigration office instead of the ward office once every five years for a new fangled gaijin card? Big deal.
  What bothers me the most about the Immigration reforms is that we’ll be treated more like the locals. We’ll now be required to participate in the shakai hoken system. I’ll have to give up my private health insurance and contribute to a national pension scheme that I’ll never get anything from. That means going from 13,000 a month for my private insurance to almost 70,000 for the shakai hoken.
  Not looking forward to that at all.
- Eddie
  
  A policeman asking for your Alien Card isn’t all that bad. If you find that insulting, then I’m not sure how much longer you can live in this world.
  
  It’s not like they’re giving you a beatdown or anything like that. No Rodney King situations in Japan.
  - anti terror
    
    Hopefully Japan will never become as messed up as US thats why Japan needs to scrap their gaijin card system. Hence, Japan should aim higher and look towards other civilised countries and not USA.
- kimsei
  
  @ anti terro
  
  Hahaha, you made me laugh. They should probably be looking at China for guidance then.
lovely

what a strong showing and what a wonderful “haul” for the effort. so sad. now, if they fought japanese organized crime gangs the same way……
Roger

I’d assume Roppongi much like Kabuki Cho is pretty much owned by the yakuza. The yakuza then have contact with police and have various agreements. The police and government in Japan have a leniant attitude towards the yakuza stating that they too have a role to play in Japanese society. One of the reasons to this is when Japan was occupied by US right after WW2, the only form of protection Japanese had from Americans were from the yakuza.

Now days though, I no longer believe that yakuza has a role to play in Japanese society. Their right winged, thuggish behavious is a problem and I wish the police would focus more on organized crime rather than go after foreign hostesses who I do not think is a threat to Japan what so ever.
http://burogu.inocima.com Igor Inocima

what a joke, use 220 men, calling the media and ending the night with only 6 arrests? wow! now either they proclaim that Roppongi is free from illegal status foreigners, or they call themselves total incompetents.
http://www.mutantfrog.com/ Adamu

Roppongi needs to be policed like Times Square. Why not have police officers walking a beat at all times? Instead of cooping them up in a Koban they should walk around and arrest ALL the African touts until they learn they can’t operate on the sidewalk of a major highway.

To the commenter who wondered why they didnt mention African touts – they DID, it just didnt result in arrests (maybe they chased some away for a few hours). It is kind of sad that they arrested hostesses since they are so harmless and are probably more victim than criminal.

The paranoia over an illegal foreigner crackdown is overblown. There are LOTS of shady characters in Roppongi that are completely escaping law enforcement. A regular strengthening of police activity would be welcome, and foreigners shouldn’t be treated with kid gloves.
Level3

How can 220 cops ONLY find 6 illegals in Roppongi?
Probably by not actually working in conjunction with Immigration authorities to see if every gaijin card and visa is actually real and used for its intended purpose.

Either they need to totally rethink their strategy, or they really are still in league with the criminal employers, who tend not to get arrested. Ain’t that funny?
They arrest the hostesses but usually not the mama-san for employing them. I suppose she will just claim she was “tricked” by the wily gaijin (whose airline tickets she paid for) who “lied about their visas” (the original of which were arranged by the mama-san’s associates).

Looks more like a reminder to all the shady places to keep coughing up bribe money to the cops.
- ponta
  
  I agree, the cops should focus more on the employers who hire illegals immigrants　just as the U.S. has just started new strategy.
  
  Illegal-labor culture is new target, ICE chief says
  By Brady McCombs
  
  Tucson, Arizona | Published: 06.07.2009
  Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s new strategy of focusing on those who hire illegal immigrants rather than on the workers themselves is designed to change the culture of illegal labor in the United States, the agency’s new chief said last week in Tucson.
  http://www.alipac.us/article4278.html
RMilner

I’m not saying there is collusion between an illegal alien and their employer at a Roppongi mizu shobai business, but can you imagine a company like Sony or Toyota not checking the visa credentials of foreign staff?
nanya

In reference to the comments made a bit further above mine about having to show ID…

In my opinion… I have an issue with being asked for my ARC by police. Not because I dont think they have the right to, but because what they are doing is racial profiling, plain and simple. Foreign-looking, foreigner, approach, check card. What about the immigrants from Asia? AKA…the foreign nationals who, according to annual statistics, have the highest rate of visa violations… It can be very difficult to tell whether or not some people here are not Japanese. A person could also be Nikkei Japanese and violating their visa. How is a Japanese police officer to know that that person should be checked? They don’t… they’ll be checking everyone with much lighter/darker skin tones, present company included.

I feel they are wasting time and effort, all the while perpetuating what many people may view as ‘innocent’ or ‘unintentional’ racism but what I would call deplorable and ineffective racial profiling police tactics.

So, yeah… Fukkem
- Mark in Yayoi
  
  I agree with you, Nanya. I don’t mind the existence of the ARC, and am happy to use it (or my passport) to prove my legal status when signing a contract, taking on employment, and (most importantly) entering the country.
  
  But the NPA’s racial profiling is just ridiculous, and the requirement to carry such priceless personal information on one’s person is an unfair burden. If we could keep that card in a locked safe at home, where it belongs, and not have police interrogating us in public, the alien registration system would look a lot less totalitarian.
- ponta
  
  The best way to protest against racial profiling is to base the claim on the facts, not on the exaggerations, lies, and fear.
  And the best way to protest against the unfair stop by a cop is to file a formal complaint.
  - http://www.samuraikurisu.blogspot.com Kirbz
    
    I never dealt with being asked for my foreigner card when I was over there, but a friend of mine that is currently over there was stopped and asked for one during the first week or so he was in Japan. He was still waiting for the paperwork to go through, so he showed him his passport (which, according to Japanese law I think, can still be used in this situation). From what my friend said, one of the guys dragged him to a koban and questioned him a bit, “threatening” to do something about it, but then another officer realized no harm had been done and told him to get on a train and leave the area. I think it was a little bit blown out of proportion, but scary to think that sometimes even a passport might not be enough in some places (much like in the US where you have officers sometimes that have to meet certain quotas per month). I bet though if he had is receipt for filing the paperwork, probably nothing would have come of it.
    - ponta
      
      Thank you for sharing the story.
      I think a passport is enough in any place in the case you mentioned. That is probably why the other cop let him go.
      
      For now I can think of two possible cases.
      1)One cop was suspicious of something around him for other reason than not carrying ID. Another cop was not.
      2)The cop was abusing his power, in which case the friend of yours should file a complaint. And he can keep record of it, which will lay the foundation for larger activism against the racial profiling.
      
      We need more details to determine which is the case.
      
      I sympathise with the fear the immigrants have towards the police in any countries. And we need to be warned against the abuse of the power by the police. But some people seem to have no intention to settle the issue. Some people are offered by natives to file a complaint with evidences , they reject to do that. Some people are told how to file a formal complaint by themselves, they reject. Instead, they tell horror stories which are either blown out of proportion or without basis.
      I want to tell them: Participate in Japanese society. Work with the natives. Know and use the institution available to protect your right　instead of ranting, for instance, that the Gestapo is alive and well and operating in Japan!
http://amusedspectator.blogspot.com Bradley

Um. I don’t think they’re doing it right. If there’s a problem with crime, why are the police chasing after people that are just there trying to work? Why not go after the ones who are causing the crimes?
- Gaijinocchio
  
  Because it is very clear Japanese police have not clue how to oust real crime from their streets until it’s too late.
  It’s not uncommon for J-police to wait for someone to confess to crimes, while investigating little.
  
  I woldn’t be surprised if the 220 cops called places in advance before this “crackdown”.
  
  If anyone has been to Roppongi at night, they should know more than 6 people should have been arrested.
http://tune-in-tokyo.com Billy

220 cops arrested 6 people? I also give the boys in blue a golf clap. That’s pretty weak.

Get rid of the Africans on the streets and I might think about going back there. What a zoo that place is. Kabuki cho is almost as bad.
Dchama

F*$K THIS! THE KING OF POP IS DEAD!!!!
Kerfuffle machine

Muhtar Kent? THE PRESIDENT AND C.E.O. of the COCA-COLA COMPANY is DEAD??? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

No WONDER Pepsi has impudently introduced their new mouthwash flavor!! The King of Pop ® has DIED and Pepsi can do whatever it wants with impunity now.
http://www.usguyintokyo.com/new_friends_international_party_en.php Dave Faulkmore

Tourists do not have to get gaijin cards. However they are required to carry around their passports. It’s not in the government’s best interest to harass tourists. So if a tourist doesn’t have their passport on them then the cop is not serving the countries interests by giving him a hard time.

Deporting the tourist is down right stupid.

Tourists can get gaijin cards if they don’t want to carry around their passports. Or buy a tourist guide book and walk around with glazed over eyes and make really stupid comments like:
* Are you a samurai?
* Did your family used to be ninjas or farmers or aristrocrats?
* Do you still bind your daughters feet?
* What part of Japan are your from?
* Why don’t you wear your hair like a sumo?
* When is hanami this year?
* Do police participate in omotsuri festivals?
* Are you a shinto priest?

I really need to practice what i preach and get me one of those guide books.

Cops are quite susceptible to mental torture. Have fun with it.

Enjoy your time playing your expected role as a foreigner in Japan; as clown and entertainer…

** Just never sign anything. Ever… **

If you act like a mindless sheep then u get what u deserve.
fesh

so why this african bashing going on here?
y’all make it seem like africans are the ones messing up japan, i’m sorry those africans are just trying to make some money doing whatever it is they know best which isn’t criminal a lot of the times but it seems as some gaijin here complain about “racial profiling” or racial this or that, they are quick to engage in some racism of their own a la “it must be the africans, get rid of them, non-african gaijins are not criminals”; i’m sorry but practise what you preace THEN you’d have the moral authority to denounce racial profiling by the japanese police or japanese society at large!
- Marcello
  
  Exactly, what’s with the African bashing? Just ignorance I guess.
  
  Well, at least we now know the punchline to that joke “How many police officers does it take to catch 6 illegal immigrants in Roppongi?”
  
  Maybe they had a synchronised raid on every hostess bar in Roppongi, and that’s why it required 220 officers. Maybe none of them had any idea what they were doing, or maybe they let all the cute illegals go.
  
  Anyway, never believe anything you see on TV.
http://tune-in-tokyo.com Billy

Fesh, Marcello,

When I’m walking down the street and my shirt or arm is grabbed over and over again by Africans then I have the right to racially profile them. It’s not Japanese and it’s not Middle Easterners doing it… or I’d profile them as well. They do it in Harajuku & Shinjuku too. Stop being so politically correct. You two chumps are probably the ones getting pulled into the club or hip hop store leading them to believe touching and grabbing strangers is an acceptable form of marketing. It’s not acceptable and it should be stopped. So get the Africans off the streets – or enforce the law – and it won’t happen.

That makes me a racist? Oh well.
Matt-o

hey guys, just got back from japan earlier this week. a dream come true and i will be returning for sure. a few comments.

as for racial profiling there seems to be little arguing with the fact that only africans followed me down the street to try and get me into whatever bar or strip club they are touting for. (i am also sexually profiling because they were all, as a matter of fact, men).i once had a japanese ask me at the entrance of kabukicho but he left when i said no thanks.

though i did have a few good laughs with the africans in kabukicho, the sheer volume of annoyance was too much for me in roppongi. i will be avoiding it as best as i can next time, though i did have a good time in gas panic; and roppongi hills is beautiful.

as for the gaijin bust, i would assume that deporting the foreign women involved in the sex trade is much easier than going directly for the pimps. whether they are victims or not is besides the point.
http://www.zdwonline.de Haf

I’ve never ever seen and africans trying to get people into bars in Roppongi. Maybe I’ve been in the wrong part of that place. Also I only went there a couple of times.

Oh, and I’ve never been stopped by a policeman asking me for my gaijin card.
Once I was waiting outside of Ikebukuro station near the koban while it was raining, in the middle of the night, waiting for the morning trains. There was a policeman coming out of the koban and we had a little chat. He was quite nice actually.

Crackdown on illegal foreigners in Roppongi

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