Regarding the Nov. 13 Zeit Gist article, " 'Gaijin card' checks spread as police deputize the nation": The story should have mentioned the trouble any foreigner can get into by neglecting to report to the Ward Office any change in passport visa status.
Some years ago I was put through a very strict inquiry process by the police when my city office turned me in for having failed to report a change -- despite the fact that I had tried my best to get the city office to make the proper changes well before any deadline had passed. It turned out that I had confused them by reporting a change of address at the same time. Somehow only one of the two changes I reported was properly carried out by the city staff -- unbeknownst to me.
Sadly, I failed to carefully examine the cramped notation on the back of my card, which did indeed show only one of the changes. Thinking I had been a good, compliant citizen, when the cops called me in, I was floored to discover I was now a suspected criminal! I was required to fully confess all the details of my life and times in Japan to a police scribe, who filed a hefty report on me.
Even though it soon became clear to all that I was a reasonably respected teacher, and hardly a truly bad guy, the wheels of justice did grind on slowly. I finally was summoned to the headquarters of the prefectural police to hear the outcome of my case. After a stern lecture, a manacled real criminal was pulled past me by a cop holding a rope to show what would happen to me the next time I broke the law! They did admit verbally that I was certainly not a criminal type, but I was admonished to strictly obey the laws henceforth.
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