fingerprinting in Japan

Rod Van Meter rdv at sfc.wide.ad.jp
Wed Nov 21 08:18:15 PST 2007


Dave,

for IP, if you wish...

A ton of interesting news developments have come out of Japan in the
last couple of days.  It's the fingerprinting that prompts me to
write, but the others are interesting, too.  Bear with me for a
moment:

* Japan is now fingerprinting all foreigners
* The CIA (USIS) worked to influence radical young Kyoto U.
 professors in the 1960s/70s
* Japan's whaling fleet is off to the Antarctic, planning to
 "scientifically" study the flavor^H^H^H^H^H^Hhabits of a 1,000
 dead whales
* The Michelin Guide comes to Japan, and Tokyo has more stars than
 any other city

Everyone foreign (including you, Dave) will have their fingerprints
and photo taken when they come into Japan.  This includes visa holders
like me and permanent residents, but not including those foreigners
with "special status": people born here but whose ancestry is Korean.
Those traveling on diplomatic passports are also exempt.

This will happen every time you come in, unless you register for the
special fast-screening program, which only works at Narita; they will
keep you on file.

As one friend pointed out, this means that Japan will have prints and
photos of every CIA agent who comes and goes using a regular blue
passport -- the ones who prefer not to be recognized.

As expected, the Japan Times, which is a bit more of a foreigners'
mouthpiece, is more outraged than the Daily Yomiuri, but both featured
it above the fold and ran several articles.  One article was subtitled
something to the effect of "no glitches", then the second paragraph
described the glitches.

I haven't had time to check the Japanese press, but I'm curious how
the coverage compares.  (This week is the big research exhibit for my
campus, Keio SFC, being held in Roppongi.  While we were debugging
problem with the Reversible Lego Babbage Difference Engine (intended
to demonstrate the principle of reversibility in computation) last
night, a motorized wheelchair drove by.  No rider, just the
wheelchair.  No idea if it was autonomous or remotely controlled...)

Tons of links for the interested:

[NATIONAL NEWS]
Foreign arrivals get biometric scan
Japan begins fingerprinting and photographing foreigners arriving in the
country under a revised immigration law to keep terrorists out, drawing
criticism from rights groups and foreign residents that their data might
be abused.
[MORE] ->
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20071121a1.html

[NATIONAL NEWS]
Rally targets Justice Ministry
MASAMI ITO
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20071121a2.html

[NATIONAL NEWS]
Kansai smooth; other areas suffer glitches
ERIC JOHNSTON
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20071121a4.html

[LIFE IN JAPAN]
Starting today, 'gaijin' formally known as prints
GRAEME JARVIE
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/fl20071120a1.html

[LIFE IN JAPAN]
Security cameras: Ensuring safety or invading privacy?
JACKIE HOFFART
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/fl20071120vf.html

[LIFE IN JAPAN]
Watching them watching us
MICHAEL HASSETT
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/fl20071120zg.html

[BUSINESS NEWS]
Michelin's first Tokyo guide names eight 3-star eateries
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nb20071120n1.html

[NATIONAL NEWS]
67 civic groups protest against screening system
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20071120a9.html

[NATIONAL NEWS]
Go home whalers, says N.Z.'s Clark
New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark lashes out at Japan's whaling
program, saying its fleet should have stayed home rather than operate
under the "deceptive" guise of a scientific operation.
[MORE] ->
 http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20071120a3.html

[NATIONAL NEWS]
U.S. envoys involved in '60s secret nuke arms pact
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20071121f2.html

[NATIONAL NEWS]
USIS role revealed in Japan's tilt toward West
HIROKI SUGITA
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20071121f1.html

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20071121TDY01303.htm

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20071122TDY03103.htm

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20071121TDY02308.htm

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20071121TDY02309.htm

Regards,

		--Rod

-- 
Rodney Van Meter
Assistant Professor of Environment and Information Studies
Keio University, Shonan Fujisawa Campus, Japan
http://web.sfc.keio.ac.jp/~rdv/




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