The Community Page received an unprecedented number of responses to the "Taking Liberties" series that ran in this section last month. Following are some examples.
Re: " 'Gaijin card' checks spread as police deputize the nation" (Zeit Gist, Nov. 13).
I have been in Japan almost two decades. I have never been able to rent a reputable hotel room without providing ID or passport or both. I have never been able to buy a cell phone, acquire home phone service, get Internet service, rent an apartment or even a video rental without showing several forms of identification. I have never been able to purchase a plane ticket without two or three forms of identification — mandatory. I have watched native Japanese do all of the aforementioned without proof of identification. As far as I am concerned, laws in Japan are merely words on paper with absolutely no bearing or relevance to reality (for "gaijins"). I have tried stating the rules — and found myself without residence, or without a plane ticket. The rules are a joke, because anyone who lives and works in Japan knows that foreigners have no "real" rights, no "real" protection and no "real" say-so, period!