Fingerprint of Japan’s new psyche

The introduction of the new immigration law has understandably been met with howls of protest from foreign residents and the foreign media, who have pointed out that the only terrorist attacks on Japanese soil have been those carried out by Japanese. Although the Immigration Bureau has only revealed that collected data will be “kept for an extended time” and access will be limited to a minimum number of personnel, the Japan Federation of Bar Association and human rights groups allege the system opens the door for misuse. Makoto Teranaka, secretary-general of the human rights group Amnesty International Japan, condemned the new law and said the introduction of the system is a violation of basic human rights.

Tokyo’s support of the US-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and dispatch of forces to each region has raised concerns that Japan could become a target of terror attack. It is this fear that seems to be the driving force behind the latest move. Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama attempted to justify the law by saying a “friend of a friend” of his was an Al-Qaeda operative who had entered Japan a number of times, using fake passports. Hatoyama was actually referring to a man who was involved in a bomb attack on Bali.

Interestingly, fingerprinting carries a strong stigma in Japan, because it is associated with criminals. Japan previously fingerprinted foreign residents, but that system was abolished in 1999, following civil rights campaigns involving Japan’s large Korean and Chinese communities, who felt that it was an official expression of mistrust of things foreign — a way for suspicious police to keep track of aliens. The earlier practice of making every foreigner who intended to stay in Japan for a certain period visit the ward office of the area for registration and fingerprinting was abandoned following a public outcry. In particular, it was perceived by the ethnic Koreans and Chinese as unnecessary humiliation which could alienate people born, raised and fully assimilated in Japan. Ethnic children often did not know that they were ‘foreigners’ until officials called them from their classrooms to ink their fingers. It was also seen as associating anyone who was not Japanese with criminal activity, since by law no Japanese can be fingerprinted unless “officially charged” with a crime. So people started resisting it, the first among them being an ethnic Korean in 1980.

This writer had a humiliating experience during his first visit to Japan in 1979 as a visiting scholar at Hitotsubashi University. He was made to get registered and fingerprinted. He was also required to carry the Alien Registration Certificate issued to him, until it was surrendered to immigration officials at the time of departure.

The revival of this practice is going to open old wounds and damage Japan’s new Asian identity. In July 2005, a UN special rapporteur, after visiting Japan to assess the factors of discrimination that affected minority groups, recommended that Japan should “avoid the adoption of any measure that would discriminate against foreigners”. Regrettably, the government has now introduced one that contradicts this approach.

The writer works as chief programme officer, The Japan Foundation, New Delhi. Views are his own

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