With the G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting going on in Japan this same weekend, there could be more checking of non-Japanese-looking people going on, and as well, it is possible that some of the more-experienced officers (who would be more familiar with foreign passports) have been dispatched to Hiroshima or elsewhere (such as the international airports), leaving some of this ID-checking to less-experienced officers.

http://g7hiroshima.jp/en/summit.html


http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/osaka/news/...YO1T50011.html

One of the pieces of advice I have occasionally seen here and elsewhere that I take the most exception with is to not bother carrying one's passport. I have seen the allegedly "experienced" advice to just leave it in the hotel safe or room safe or elsewhere because one never needs it and it is safer that way.

Folks! In Japan, assuming you are on a tourist visa or waiver, you always need to have your passport with you. If you are concerned about theft, get one of the little "under-clothing" passport carriers. I usually just have it in my shirt pocket or occasionally in a little belt-loop pouch, along with other odds and ends. When out and about, it is always on my person.

It is not like a passport is all that large or heavy as to constitute an unreasonable burden. :rolleyes:

I also agree that increased police surveillance is probably related to recent international events and the large conferences going on.

I agree.
You never know when, for example, after a major earthquake or some sort of accident,
you may be injured and taken to the hospital. They would need to identify and document who you are.
It makes sense to keep I.D. (passport in this case) on you.

An older thread with a similar encounter at the subway with plainclothes officers:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/japan...led-tokyo.html

I have never been stopped, but several of my acquaintances and students have had that experience.

Usually they were taken to the nearest police station and questioned, and then they had to write a letter of apology and promise to keep their passports/residence permits on them at all times.

Japan is also a place that generally experiences very few problems with pickpockets. In fact, people tend to carry large amounts of cash with them routinely.

This isn't Japan's problem, but I tend to lose absolutely everything, and I would almost rather risk having to write this apology letter than having to get out of Japan without my passpor

This ID need not be a passport. The default ID I keep on me at all times is my drivers license, hey it even has my blood type on it if we're talking medical emergencies. It's a lot less of a hassle to replace compared to a passport, and it's not always about being afraid of pickpockets, rather just misplacing when out and about.

That said I usually bring my passport out with me when I'm in Tokyo - because tax-free shopping :p

Cops here have a quota of things to do in a day and don't actually want to do anything, so they will choose people who rather obviously don't have problems (because actually catching someone breaking the law would mean a ton of paperwork).

Thanks to all for the feedback. Based on that, and my Yokohama colleagues thinking this was likely a legitimate encounter (no recent news reports of fake cops, etc.), and that nothing more was done than my passport being examined, I'm leaning towards this indeed being a legitimate police stop. Somewhere in the back of my mind I assumed that any such stop would be done by uniformed police so I'm sure having it done by plainclothes officers threw me a bit.

I'll continue to carry my passport as I always have (in my shirt pocket, with the added bonus that I always know where it is) and suggest that other foreigners always have theirs with them, as required when visiting Japan. A 3 minute stop to have a few passport details written down by police is nothing compared with what I assume the hassle could be if one was stopped and didn't have their passport with them.

This has done nothing to detract from my love of this country. I was originally supposed to remain in China for the weekend and when those plans were cancelled and I had the chance to come to Japan early and spend time with my colleagues/friends, I jumped at the chance. Staying in a tiny Toyoko Inn hotel room and bar hopping in Yokohama on a Saturday night beats the hell out of sitting in a fancy hotel in Qingdao.

Attach your hotel information in your passport if you think you might lose it, but odds are, very high odds are, if you lost your passport in Japan it will be found and returned to you.

I'm one of those people who recommends that one leaves his passport in the hotel safe whenever possible. I think that is unwise to risk such a critical piece of identification unless it is legally or practically required to carry it.

As a general rule, I fear loss or theft of my passport far more than I fear the inconvenience of not having it with me, so that probably drives the strength of my opinion.

It's certainly important to know and follow local laws, but when I can get away with carrying a less-critical form of identification instead, I certainly do so.

Remember that for duty-free shopping, including stores that refund the tax, you normally must have your passport at the time of purchase. You also need a passport to prove your age at museums that give discounts to young people and the elderly.

I think I remember hearing once to make two single page copies of your passport (photo & ID info). Keep one in your luggage whilst you keep your passport on you abroad. Leave the other at home.

This thread got me thinking. Good reading. Thanks OP.

Now, off to the copier 😃

1. Foreigners are required to carry a gaijin card or passport at all times.
2. That said, I'm not sure police have a right to randomly check passports.
3. I've been asked for a passport a couple of times and when I asked if it was "gimu" (mandatory) that I show the passport, they said no.
4. I've confronted policemen who were hassling a Filipino woman I happened to know for her passport. When challenged they quickly backed off.
5. Japanese police can not ask Japanese for a passport. So unless they have proof that you are not Japanese they can't require you to produce a passport, and you have no obligation to answer any questions including "Are you Japanese?"

Unless you have time to waste or are interested in making a point about human rights, police excesses, etc., it's usually easiest to just carry the passport and show it.