Responsibility of foreign guests

What inspired me to write was once again the possibly false assumptions pertaining to the reported recent arrest and nearly 10-day detention of a 74-year-old American man for carrying a pocketknife, including the implication that the knife in question had been carried on the plane by the tourist. The knife probably had been in his checked baggage, in which you can carry pretty much anything — short of substances and weapons proscribed under U.S. law — because the baggage is in the cargo hold below the aircraft, which passengers cannot access.

If there truly is a nationwide ban in Japan on knives of the length of what the man carried, then there was a failure in the Japanese customs information and inspection process. It is to be noted that the man did not conceal the fact that he had a knife. He relinquished it to police and, if the news reports are correct, was very cooperative. The detainment, therefore, does seem excessive, but the U.S. Embassy does give information and issues warnings of this nature on its Web site.

As for the excuse that other foreigners in Japan don't even know about the knife law, within the first few days of my arrival in Japan six months ago, I saw so many picture posters of a policeman and a no-knives symbol that I realized that I shouldn't carry a knife, something I had done since I was a child.

I am not saying that I agree with how the man was treated; I believe that if the reported account is correct, the legal ramifications don't fit. But it is not my country and I don't make or enforce the laws. So I have to be very careful. If I don't take the time to study the laws and language of a foreign country, which every tourist cannot be expected to do, I take a calculated risk by living in or visiting the country. Just as I take a calculated risk in driving my car to work or taking a walk. Think about a trip to North Korea — the calculated risk would be much higher.

Yes, under Japanese law, foreigners live under scrutiny and sometimes a double standard, but we all came here to live or visit for a reason. I think that because there are some similarities between the United States and Japan, we forget that there are major differences and that we are now the foreigners.