{"id":959,"date":"2007-11-20T23:50:43","date_gmt":"2007-11-20T15:50:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.darkmirage.com\/2007\/11\/20\/japan-fingerprinting-commences\/"},"modified":"2009-07-18T11:54:32","modified_gmt":"2009-07-18T03:54:32","slug":"japan-fingerprinting-commences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.darkmirage.com\/2007\/11\/20\/japan-fingerprinting-commences\/","title":{"rendered":"Japan Fingerprinting Commences"},"content":{"rendered":"

Japan’s new amended immigration laws<\/a> (\u00e6\u201d\u00b9\u00e6\u00ad\u00a3\u00e5\u2026\u00a5\u00e7\u00ae\u00a1\u00e6\u00b3\u2022) kicked in today, making it the second country in the world after USA to implement a compulsory fingerprinting system for foreign visitors.<\/p>\n

Fingerprint
\nImage shamelessly stolen from Stippy.com<\/a><\/p>\n

This is a particularly unpleasant development in my opinion, not because I am a strong advocate of individual privacy (I am not), but because it really brings out the uglier, nationalistic, racist and ignorant side of Japan.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

As of today, all foreigners entering Japan above the age of 16 have to have their fingerprints and photos taken or face immediate deportation.<\/strong> The interesting thing is that fingerprinting a Japanese citizen is specifically prohibited by law unless the individual is suspected of having committed a crime.<\/p>\n

Supposedly this is done to fight terrorism<\/strong>, but can you really think of any instance of a terrorist attack in Japan that was executed by foreigners? The high profile sarin gas<\/a> attack was perpetuated by the Aum Shinrikyo<\/a>, a Japanese cult. Japan’s infamously closed society already makes it next to impossible for any Islamic fundamentalist groups to operate there with any success, so this new measure is clearly an overkill in fighting terrorism.<\/p>\n

Apparently, the fact that a high-ranking Japanese official claims<\/a> to have friends in al-Qaeda who managed to enter Japan with various passports is enough justification for tighter immigration measures. This would have been just a really terrible joke if it were not actually true.<\/p>\n

The reality is that all this talk about terrorism is just for the foreign media.<\/strong> The real reason for this measure is because foreigners are perceived as the cause of crimes and social problems in Japan. This racist attitude is so pervasive in right-leaning media outlets that it legitimizes itself and influences the thinking of people in a way that is not immediately apparent and very, very sinister. For example, magazines<\/a> supposedly detailing the criminal acts of foreigners can find shelf space in regular convenient stores.<\/p>\n

Hive of Villainy<\/h3>\n

One look at Itai News’ article<\/a> on the latest fingerprinting scheme gives you a glimpse into the mindset of xenophobic Japanese who have probably never interacted with a foreigner in their lives. Most of the comments are along the lines of:<\/p>\n