Back in the late 70’s video rental stores started popping up in Japan and they were promoting a new service where they would copy a full length commercial movie onto a video cassette for the measly price of about 500yen per movie if you provided the cassette or 1,000yen if they provided it. (Record stores started this trend in the early 70’s with the copying of albums onto cassette tapes for a similar price.) It didn’t matter if it was a US movie or a Japanese movie; the price was still the same and they were copied from laser discs, so the quality was high. This was better than sliced bread at the time as one could now own movies or albums for a fraction of their original cost (which were quite high in Japan) and view them in the comfort of ones home. I think a music album was selling for about 5,000yen and a movie would sell for about 15,000yen back then; very high prices at the time. This was all legal and the record and movie companies didn’t start complaining until some years later.
One must remember here that the advent of the home video recorder was only about 3 or 4 years old at the time so this was something special and exciting to those that could afford a VCR back then. To be able to watch commercial movies in your own home was just unbelievable at the time.
Anyway, I had become a member of one of these video stores when I purchased my first VCR back in about 1980 (cost me about $1,000 at the time (about 250,000yen!) It was worth every yen back then for this new technology and I started having movies recorded like crazy! The first movie I had recorded was Casablanca. I was ordering like 5 movies a week and would always ride my bicycle to order and pick them up. (I still have something like over 100 Videos packed away in my basement!).
One night I was returning from the video store at about 11pm on my bicycle when I noticed the flashing of the familiar red lights of a Japanese police car that had passed me in the opposite lane and made a u-turn to come up behind me. Okay, I thought. They’re probably just going to ask me for my gaijin card (alien registration card). No problem. My bicycle light was on so this was just going to be a routine stop. I’ve been through this a few times in the past 10 or so years so I figured no sweat.
I stopped my bicycle and waited for them to come up to me. Two policemen approached from the rear, one on either side of me. Seeing that I was a foreigner one started speaking in really, I mean really bad broken English.
“Goodu ebiningu sir. Ah you fromu Zama campu?” I answered in English that I was not from the base and that I was a student. Seeing that he was having a little difficulty with the word student I answered in fluent Japanese as I wanted to get back home and watch my new movie. He replied in Japanese that he was surprised that I could speak Japanese and asked what I was doing and where I was going. I told him. He then asked for my gaijin card. “Sure”, I replied, and reached around to my back pocket to retrieve it. To my utter astonishment it wasn’t there! I realized that I had left it home on my kotatsu! (small Japanese table with an electric heater underneath) What an idiot! This was like the first time I ever left my home without my gaijin card and I get stopped by the police! I think the last time I was asked for my gaijin card was maybe three years previous.
With my heart beating real fast, I told the officer, in the politest Japanese I could muster up, that I left it home and that if they would come to my apartment, I would show it to him. He didn’t know what to do and asked his partner. His partner said that they could just take me home and see if it was there and check it. The questioning officer sucked air, scratched the back of his head, and said he was unsure and would have to check with his superiors. As he walked back to his car to get on the radio with his superiors I thought to myself what a bunch of “Keystone Cops (idiots) these two were! Couldn’t they make a decision by themselves? This seemed so simple, I thought. Well, what may seem like a simple solution to foreigners was not as simple to the Japanese as I was about to find out.
After a couple of minutes, the questioning officer returned and said that they would take me home and have a look at my gaijin card. Whew, was I relieved. They loaded my bicycle into the trunk and I got into the back seat for the five minute ride to my apartment.
During the ride the other officer turned to me and said, “What kind of movies did you have recorded? Porno movies?” and he laughed. I told him that they were just US movies, but I had a feeling he didn’t believe me. What an a s s h o l e, I thought.
When we got to my apartment, they unloaded my bicycle and escorted me into my apartment. They didn’t even wait in the genkan (entranceway). They entered my apartment like they belonged there! I showed them that my gaijin card was on my kotatsu and gave it to the questioning officer. He looked it over while the other officer walked around my apartment opening a drawer, my clothes closet and the closet where I kept my futon. I found this rather repulsive and an invasion of my privacy as I didn’t think he had a right to do that. But I didn’t say anything as it was I who broke the law and could’ve been arrested or taken in. I felt I was lucky for not being taken in.
The questioning officer said that everything was ok and said he was just going out to the car to let his superiors know. Before leaving he mentioned that he was surprised that I had a typical Japanese apartment with no furniture other than a kotatsu, a TV, a desk, a clothes closet, and a few small cabinets that held my phone and other personal effects (Also known as “Color Boxes” in Japan.) I told him that I was very comfortable living this way and rather enjoyed it. He asked wher I received my money from and I told him I worked teaching English. He was surprised that my parents didn’t fund my education or send me money. He also said that he expected to find a typical American style living arrangement with a sofa, coffee table, kitchen table, etc.
Anyway, he went out to the patrol car and the other officer just made small talk about the university I was attending, if I liked Japanese food, etc. etc. All the things I have been asked a countless number of times before by Japanese people.
After a few minutes the questioning officer came back in, bowed and apologized to me because he would have to take me in to the police station! WHAT? It seems his superiors had checked the regulations and the regulations said that any foreigner that did not have his gaijin card with him at the time of being asked for it had to be taken to the police station. This was really turning into a nightmare now. I had showed them my gaijin card. It was legal. It proved I was a student. Why in God’s name did they have to take me to the station? Just because I didn’t have my gaijin card on my person a mere 5 minutes distance from my apartment? Can’t anyone in this country make a decision by themselves? Must they always go word for word by the book?
In Japan, the sad answer is yes as everyone is afraid to make a decision for themselves. I had seen this before in any number of situations where no one is willing to make a decision without first checking the rules, or with their superiors, or with the group. When in doubt (which they always seem to be) go by the book. Well, it seems even this officer’s superiors couldn’t make a decision on this one either and even THEY had to check with the regulations and were going by the book. How simple, I thought, it would be for someone to say, “Ok, no problem. Your gaijin card is in order, just don’t forget it again.” Case closed. But nooooo. Not in Japan.
So, the questioning officer apologized again and offered to give me a ride back home after questioning. Big deal! I thought. Thanks a lot! I was then driven to the police station in Zama city where I was questioned for almost two hours! This may surprise some as it sure as hell surprised the hell out of me. They not only asked for information about me, but also about my family, my mother and father, my brothers and sisters, their names, addresses, ages, names and ages of their husbands/wives, children, if any, and just about anything you could think of. The information was extremely personal and quite unnecessary and a severe invasion of privacy. But this was their country and I had broken their law. I was probably questioned as they would question any Japanese, as they were reading from a book on this interrogation!
Although I gave the correct names of my family I gave them false addresses as I figured this was none of their business and if they did check, and it was found to be false, I would just tell them that they must’ve moved. They never checked. It was just routine questioning they probably ask of anyone and everyone, Japanese or not.
After this questioning was over, I was informed that I would receive a summons to appear in court in Yokohama and that it would be in my best interest to have a formal letter of apology ready to hand to the judge so that he may go light on me. Go light on me? I thought. What for? For not having my gaijin card on me? Jeeze, what a strict country! And how senseless, I thought, for something so simple as not have one’s gaijin card on their person. I was also told that I could receive a financial penalty, be deported from the country, or maybe even receive some jail time! Oh great. Now I may be even kicked out of the country for just forgetting my gaijin card. (I really didn’t think I would receive any jail time for such a small infraction.) And with only a year or so left until graduation to boot!
I was then taken home by the same two officers who apologized to me again and it was well after 2am. I was then summoned back to the police station a week or so later for further questioning by two detectives who asked me the same questions I answered previously. How redundant. But hey, this is Japan. Live in Japan and you live by their rules and laws.
Well, in Japan, as the old saying goes, their bark is worse than their bite. I received my notice to appear in court in Yokohama about two months later. I dressed in a suit and had my letter of apology in hand, written in Japanese by a friend of mine to ensure there were no mistakes and who also went with me to court. I appeared before the judge, bowed real low, apologized, and handed my formal letter of apology to him. After he read it he said that I had broken a law and that since I was remorseful, no action would be taken against me. However, he said that if I was caught without my gaijin card again I could receive jail time, be fined, be deported from the country or all three! I was then dismissed with no fine or other action against me. I bowed real low and left.
As we rode the train home I reflected on the hassle and worry I went through these past couple of months for something so simple (to me) as not having my gaijin card on my person when asked for it. But it did not diminish my view on Japan or my love for the country as this was the law where I was residing and, like any Japanese person, I was expected to obey the law no matter how inane and senseless it seemed to me.
Needless to say, I never forgot my gaijin card again and I recommend that if you live in, or are visiting Japan do not get caught without your gaijin card or passport as you will be in for the hassle of your life.
In Japan rules are rules and the law is the law, and everyone is expected, and required to, follow the law, but the courts are really quite lenient when one shows true remorse as I was to find out later on when I got busted for possession of an illegal substance! For some reason, this court appearance, for not having my gaijin card, never came into play or was brought up when I was busted. I wonder why?
down their own fire station.
