Hailstorm,

1) That's the U.S. not Japan.
2) That's a driver's license not a passport, AND
3) If it was Japan and we were talking about drivers licenses, the penalty for driving without having your license with you is only $30 and no points.

and 4) The Japanese police are racist in their enforcement of the law and it would be worth getting stopped to just hassle them about it. If it was me and I got stopped, I would insist on a apology letter from the police. The last time I saw this happen was when a police officer was asking for a passport from an elderly Filipino woman in a quiet residential neighborhood. I forced him to verbally apologize to the woman. You can't let these fascists get away with this s**t.