"Foreigners Give Japan the Finger"
Yup, that's right. I was just on the wikitravel site and saw this headline. My initial reaction: "Um, I know this place can seem less than foreigner friendly at times... but what?" And then I realized that today is the day that things change... just in time for our trip, too.
It's November 21st in Japan right now (not so in America just yet) and starting today, foreigners traveling to Japan - even those holding residence permits - will be photographed and electronically fingerprinted. I will refer you to my earlier post on the subject for more details about what led to the change, but it's basically all part of the new immigration procedures ("intended to combat terrorism") in Japan.
The reactions to these changes have varied among us in the expat community. I know one New Zealander who cancelled his winter travel plans in protest (I thought it was a joke at first, but this guy really did cancel a trip to SE Asia because he was so mad about the changes). I had a less-strong reaction. I do agree that America's policies can be hard on other nationals traveling to my country and understand that it can be fair to expect the same (even in places like Brazil that instated similar immigration policies that apply only to Americans)... but I also think there should be a difference between people living here and people just traveling through. You cannot hold dual-citizenship with Japan, for example, and prior to these changes, permanent residents (like people who have called Japan home for 30 years and have a life here) were permitted to enter the country in the Japanese citizenship line with their residency status... not so anymore...starting today. Foreigners still stand out in Japan, and I see this as a possible deterrant to effective internationalization, but I guess we'll wait and see what effect the changes have before I deem it good/bad/etc.
Anyways, I'll let you know how it goes when I go through "it" myself on the way back from our trip in a few weeks. I had some border trouble when trying to enter Syria through Lebanon once, but other than that, I do believe this will be my first time being fingerprinted for this purpose! Maybe just one to throw into the "perspective" pile...
It's November 21st in Japan right now (not so in America just yet) and starting today, foreigners traveling to Japan - even those holding residence permits - will be photographed and electronically fingerprinted. I will refer you to my earlier post on the subject for more details about what led to the change, but it's basically all part of the new immigration procedures ("intended to combat terrorism") in Japan.
The reactions to these changes have varied among us in the expat community. I know one New Zealander who cancelled his winter travel plans in protest (I thought it was a joke at first, but this guy really did cancel a trip to SE Asia because he was so mad about the changes). I had a less-strong reaction. I do agree that America's policies can be hard on other nationals traveling to my country and understand that it can be fair to expect the same (even in places like Brazil that instated similar immigration policies that apply only to Americans)... but I also think there should be a difference between people living here and people just traveling through. You cannot hold dual-citizenship with Japan, for example, and prior to these changes, permanent residents (like people who have called Japan home for 30 years and have a life here) were permitted to enter the country in the Japanese citizenship line with their residency status... not so anymore...starting today. Foreigners still stand out in Japan, and I see this as a possible deterrant to effective internationalization, but I guess we'll wait and see what effect the changes have before I deem it good/bad/etc.
Anyways, I'll let you know how it goes when I go through "it" myself on the way back from our trip in a few weeks. I had some border trouble when trying to enter Syria through Lebanon once, but other than that, I do believe this will be my first time being fingerprinted for this purpose! Maybe just one to throw into the "perspective" pile...
posted by Brenda Ann Elizabeth McKinney @ 6:45 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home