Police asking for passport - Was this instance legitimate?
 

I'm aware that foreigners are required to have their passport with them at all times in Japan and that the police may stop you at any time and ask to see it.

Today, for the first time in ~20 visits, I was stopped and asked for my passport, which I always have with me when in Japan. Not having had this happen before, I'd like to ask those more experienced if my particular instance was legitimate.

This happened today (Sunday) at 4:00 PM at Kawasaki Station, at the top of the escalator leading to the JR gate level from the East entrance/exit. As I got off the escalator and headed for the gate, a Japanese guy not in police uniform approached me and said something. Since my Japanese language skills are pretty much non-existent I kept moving, thinking it may have been someone soliciting for a charity. He then showed a badge that said "Police" and was joined by another guy, also not in uniform, who showed a similar badge. I don't recall details of the badges other than that they said "Police", looked to be made of brass, and were in leather cases.

I was asked for my passport, which I handed to the first guy who had approached me, and he started to look through it and write down some details in a notebook while the second guy tried to converse with me in Japanese - and in turn I could only say, in English, that I speak English only.

I was not touched, I was not searched (I had no bags with me, no backpack, no jacket), I did not feel as though I was being hassled, and I did not feel that they were going to run off with my passport - i.e. it seemed reasonably legitimate to someone who hadn't been through this experience before.

The one thing that gave me pause was that they didn't seem super proficient at writing down my passport info, especially since they took down my first and middle names but not my last. I would expect that police who do this on a regular basis would seem more familiar with a US passport. Other than record the passport details and look at the most recent landing stamp, nothing else was done and I was sent on my way with a "thank you".

Was this a legitimate police stop? Japan is one of the last places I'd expect to find fake cops but that doesn't mean there aren't any.

Gaijin (外人, non-Japanese) being asked to show a passport by police on a street of Japan is nothing unusual. However, if two people approached you at Kawasaki stations were legitimate police office or not, I do not think anybody here at FT can answer that question. Although Japan is known as one of safe place, police impersonators is not anything unheard of in Japan. Unless you have a picture of badges these two people showed you, I do not think any of us can say those are real or not.

If you really want to find out and if you remember date and approximate time this incident happened, then you can contact police in Japan. Police can likely find out if non-uniform police officers were at Kawasaki station around that time and asked for an identification to you. Small notebook one of the officer was writing information is called Keisatsu Techou (警察手帳) which is an official police item and items written on that notebook do become official record. If those two police officers were legitimate then police should have record about encounter with you at Kawasaki station.

For future reference, if you encounter similar situation and question identity of so called “Police Officers” approached you, then what you can ask is to go to nearest Koban. Koban (交番) is a small street corner police station/office common in Japan. There should be one within easy walking distance from Kawasaki station. Simply say “Koban ni ikimashou” (交番に行きましょう) then if people approached you are legitimate police officers then there should be no problem with that.

Real Japanese police cases/wallets have both the actual metal badge and a blue ID card which is written in both English and Japanese, with the officer's photograph, name, ID number and rank.

If your entry stamp etc looks legit (valid, non-expired), that's what they were all probably looking for. You would of been in more trouble with no passport on you, or an expired stamp, that usually means going down to the koban/station and lots of extra paperwork. The police tend to not bother much after finding out everything is legit. If anything was amiss there would of been more questioning.

I thought about the koban but only after the fact. Next time I'll try to remember that up front.

I don't recall any ID card accompanying the badges that were shown to me, though that doesn't mean there was one. My entry stamp was only a day old.

It was really just the slightly clumsy/incorrect way my passport info was written down that made me think it might not have been a legitimate stop. I'll run it past my Japanese colleagues at the office tomorrow and get their input. I'm in Yokohama for a couple of days and could head back to Kawasaki if warranted.

I've been stopped a few times over the years - both in the airport and out and by plain clothes officers and uniforms - the only thing that gives me pause from your experience was the badge - I've never seen one that says police in English in Japan - not saying it isn't possible but that doesn't seem right to me....

I wonder what benefit imposters would get from the passport information they copied. It could have been a shakedown for bribes of people who didn't have passports with them, but if so, why bother the pretense of copying information versus going on to find the next victim as soon as a passport is produced?

Possibly To appear legitimate? Real officers really do use those little books as many foreigners would know.... Each time I was stopped they took down my information...

What Japanese police carry:

http://d1udmfvw0p7cd2.cloudfront.net...b-20140303.jpg

The left is the ID badge they carry in their pockets/not in uniform, the ones on the right are one ones worn on the uniform.

Are you sure about that? I found that picture showing up in other articles as a fake - but I'm only on my phone so can't be sure - I thought there was supposed to be a hologram as well or something like that in genuine id's - but it was a while since I read that article in the japan times as this scam has gotten more popular lately....

In Japanese, it's a Keisatsu Techo, if you are ever stopped by the police you have the right to ask to see it.

https://www.npa.go.jp/kouhousi/polic...otebook02.html

http://www.police.pref.wakayama.lg.j...redential.html

http://weblog.city.hamamatsu-szo.ed....s/P6170019.JPG

Great - hopefully OP's encounter was legit!

I had no idea about this rule. What is penalty for not carrying?

If you are a visitor Japan you are required to carry your passport with you at all times. Foreign residences of Japan carry their Residence Cards with them (replacing the old Alien Registration Card system). Special Permanent Residences however do not.

If you don't have your passport (or residence card) usually you are taken to the police box (koban) / police station for more questioning. If you claim it is in your hotel, after all the questioning and paperwork, they might take you to your hotel to retrieve the actual passport, followed by more paperwork and apologies you have to make. Of course more severe things could happen depending on the circumstances.

Section (2) covers presenting the passport, section (3) covers when I say you have the right to ask the police officer for his/her identification (other police rules and regulations apply as well when a member of the public asks to see a police officer's identification).

I hate this law (or the fact that they actually enforce it). It reeks of xenophobia. And if they're going to do this, they should at least approach foreigners with simple English and conduct their business in a manner that does not leave one to wonder whether it was legit or fraud.

The OP mentioned at no time were they touched, searched or otherwise harassed, far better than what the TSA does.

Fake police might of hassled for money or other items, the incident described by the OP doesn't sound out of normal to a stop conducted by a regular uniformed officer. Since nothing was amiss, no formal report was needed, thus no need for him (the officer) to copy detailed information from the passport, other than some notes into the police notebook, which officers carry. Japanese bureaucracy... trust me if something was amiss a lot of detailed paperwork would have been done.