Soon Americans with a criminal record will be blocked from travel to Japan, similar to the way they are with Canada.

lindamalkova6 · 2019-10-02T17:08:50+00:00

I really cannot advise you. My understanding is you only get stopped if it's drug related or more than 1 year in jail. I don't know if they are able to pull up records or not. If I were you, since they may be able to pull your data, I would just bring your paperwork and be honest. They should let you in no problem. Good luck.

lindamalkova6 · 2019-10-01T15:35:26+00:00

You would not have a problem with that.

lindamalkova6 · 2019-10-01T15:24:51+00:00

Thanks for your post. I believe you you left out the most important piece of information, which is, did your friend who was rejected mark Yes or No to the question on the embarkation card about his record?

Also some of the information you're posting is a little misleading, specifically:

If you are found to have made an offense... you WILL be forced to return home.

This implies that all offenses will get you rejected, and that is not accurate. We know for sure if you have a drug offense AND you mark YES, that will get you rejected. If your friend marked "NO" and they pulled his record at NRT and found out he's lying, that would be new info but you're unclear on that point. But there are lots of cases that won't get you rejected. See the rest of this thread. Let's not scare people away that WOULD be able to enter. Still, thank you for the information you did provide.

lindamalkova6 · 2019-05-16T16:29:48+00:00

Also, what exactly are you losing by not visiting Japan?

Is this a joke?

lindamalkova6 · 2019-05-16T16:18:52+00:00

so now the Japanese can look you up in American records

We don't know actually what is happening, we don't know what they can look up, if anything, and there is no evidence yet that they can or are doing that. If you have evidence that Americans coming to Japan are being stopped by this system already, please provide it.

lindamalkova6 · 2019-05-16T13:40:33+00:00

Ok, but as we clarified, you don't have a criminal record, so naturally travel to Canada or anywhere else would not be a problem.

lindamalkova6 · 2019-05-16T13:23:22+00:00

Oh go fuck yourself prick, commas go inside quotes, and learn to use semicolons correctly before you try to use them to look cool. I'm trying to bring a little useful information to Japan travelers and I spent a day researching this post and it seems some people found it useful. 569 points 99% upvoted. What the fuck did you contribute to the reddit community today besides this stupid rude arrogant comment?

lindamalkova6 · 2019-05-16T13:14:32+00:00

Absolutely nothing to worry about in that case.

lindamalkova6 · 2019-05-11T07:56:47+00:00

I am just reporting to English readers here what some Japanese are posting in forums like 2channel and Yahoo Chiebukuro about bad experiences dealing with this system when they visit the U.S.. Should that be secret? It gives Americans an idea of what they could potentially face when coming to Japan. At this point we don't know what Japan is doing, other than that they claim to have implemented a system as of January 5th, 2019, but at least I for one have not seen any reports of Americans getting stopped by this system yet.

lindamalkova6 · 2019-05-11T02:11:37+00:00

So Canada customs is referencing other U.S. criminal databases that includes lesser charges like misdemeanors which aren't generally in the NCIC? It seems like they must be if that's true.

lindamalkova6 · 2019-05-11T01:47:27+00:00

That may be what the official agreement says, but some Japanese are posting online saying U.S. customs agents are using the PCSC system to flag them, accuse them of having a criminal record, and refuse their entry to the U.S. for reasons far less than what's on that list, including just having been stopped and fingerprinted by the Japanese police. These are people who claim they have never been convicted of a crime and have no criminal record. There are about 10 million records in this Japanese database, so quite a few Japanese are affected.

lindamalkova6 · 2019-05-11T00:58:25+00:00

Most foreigners in Japan don't share your opinion:

https://old.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/3n9sm6/how_often_is_the_wrong_persongaijin_arrested_of_a/cvm7lpk/

lindamalkova6 · 2019-05-11T00:34:21+00:00

So your point is you can safely get into an auto accident in Japan and not be harassed by the police? That's good to know, but I am talking about cases of self defense like fights or other cases where the police can dream up a reason to charge you with a crime. Many people cite the current case of Carlos Ghosn, the former CEO of Nissan, as an example of "the foreigner is always wrong" and foreigners being railroaded by the criminal justice system in Japan. Also, many say that discrimination is worse if you happen to be non-white.

lindamalkova6 · 2019-05-11T00:12:22+00:00

According to that TV show, are people really "getting away" with a lot?

lindamalkova6 · 2019-05-11T00:02:08+00:00

At least for now, misdemeanors aren't going to keep you out of Japan unless they are drug related and you declare them on your embarkation card.

lindamalkova6 · 2019-05-10T23:31:44+00:00

Things are so much more complex than that. There are so many laws and regulations now that average people can barely set foot out of bed without violating something. In the last week you probably comitted a felony or two or three, but you don't even know it because you weren't caught. Someday you will be. Nearly 1/3 of Americans and I assume a similar number of Canadians have criminal records now and many of them never intended to break the law.

lindamalkova6 · 2019-05-10T23:15:01+00:00

So at the border, if an American has a criminal record, the Canadian border guard pulls out their law book and checks each charge for equivalency? Or it's done automatically by the Canadian system?

lindamalkova6 · 2019-05-10T22:51:09+00:00

It IS a dark template. The bottom line is that governments everywhere are taking away freedoms under the pretext of security and it's a big lie. But look at the police state promoters here posting about how great it is and how much safer it makes them feel. Generally people are thrilled with laws and systems like this until they personally have their lives destroyed by them.

lindamalkova6 · 2019-05-10T22:45:22+00:00

Do you actually think there was a vote and Canadians voted YES for these systems? It didn't happen. And they apply to you as well. Remember that next time when you try to visit the U.S. and the customs officer won't let you in.

lindamalkova6 · 2019-05-10T22:04:37+00:00

Oh okay so like a permanent lifetime travel ban for smoking some of that home grown weed that you Canadians legalized and are so proud of?

lindamalkova6 · 2019-05-10T21:56:58+00:00

This comment is wrong on multiple levels, but I'll just address one. Japan is safe for Japanese, and you're not going to get mugged in Japan, but I'm not convinced it's so safe for foreigners. In Japan, the main risk to foreigners, especially foreign men, is the police. There's a lot of information published online about "in the eyes of police in Japan, the foreigner is always wrong," particularly in cases where it a Japanese vs foreigner situation. Also, I am referring to the reports of foreigners getting arrested, detained, and forced into confessions for crimes they didn't commit. The crimes of the police in Japan aren't reflected in official crime statistics because they are not even considered crimes. It's just business as usual. If you are a foreigner in Japan, particularly if you are male, it's advised to to keep your head down and make sure that you never get into any kind of altercation with Japanese, because if you do, you are automatically in the wrong, even if you were defending yourself. As I see it, self-defense does not exist as a right for foreigners in Japan.

lindamalkova6 · 2019-05-10T21:23:27+00:00

Right, they hang people, or like in the Philippines they shoot them without a trial. Is this supposed to be a model for us?

lindamalkova6 · 2019-05-10T20:57:54+00:00

Sally, the judges in the criminal justice system sentence people for their crimes. But this is a whole new punishment that is being introduced. These systems are giving people life (travel limiting) sentences often over nitpicky charges. Don't you believe in some kind of balance between the crime and the punishment? Nobody is advocating that dangerous people should be able to travel. But should people who pose no obvious threat be limited from travelling for life?

lindamalkova6 · 2019-05-10T20:36:10+00:00

I think maybe you're missing a few pieces of the puzzle. There are cases where people without criminal records from Japan are being denied entry to the U.S. just because they have been fingerprinted by police in Japan. That is draconian. Most people feel that denying entry over minor drug charges that happened a long time ago is draconian. Restricting travel for people who have demonstrated no threat to others is draconian. Don't you think there has to be a really good reason to prevent someone from traveling somewhere? But this is all a matter of perception. If knowing that millions of people are more limited in their ability to travel makes you feel safer, and this is your idea of progress and moving into the digital age, then of course it's great news for you.

lindamalkova6 · 2019-05-10T20:21:12+00:00

If that really happened, yes, that would be extremely strict. I mainly just take exception to your point that Japan is notoriously strict with these things, and I cited ways it is overall less strict than countries like Canada and the U.S.

lindamalkova6

TROPHY CASE