Apr 05 2007
My Run-In With the Japanese Police
I like to think I’m a pretty upstanding citizen for the most part. I do my part to contribute to society, and look out for my fellow man (be they Japanese or foreign). However if you live in Japan long enough, you’re eventually going to run into the police. It’s a fact of living here.
Put simply, I don’t have the highest opinion of Japanese police. Almost every policeman I’ve ever met or seen is lazy, stupid, arrogant and high on power. The most useful function I’ve ever seen them serve is giving directions to Tokyo denizens who have momentarily lost their way. One of the worst functions I’ve seen them performing is harassing random people and cars, stopping them and demanding to see personal identification or prove their vehicle/bicycle is theirs.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m from Australia, and I have a huge amount of respect for the men and women who put themselves in the line of fire to protect everyone else. Every experience I’ve had with Australian police has either been positive, or at the least, professional. Case in point, one of my best friends is a firefighter in Australia, and I have a huge amount of respect for him.
Compare this attitude to Japanese Police - they do as little as possible, are often overweight, harass people for stupid petty crimes or for no reason other than a brief power “high”, and are useless in a real emergency. I have watched them stand by idly, unwilling to get involved in a serious conflict between aYakuza and a taxi driver. Many of my friends have been stopped and demanded to show their passport to prove they’re not an illegal alien. I have watched them wait until a person has walked away from their parked before before running over and waving over a tow-truck to remove the car - which their unwitting owners can have returned to them at a costly fee.
They will even try to entrap you - a friend had told me about an incident where a sleek Skyline car pulled up next to her at the lights. She looked over, and made eye contact. The Skyline revved it’s engines. This girl, being something of a crazy petrol head(rare for a Japanese..!) revved her engine back. They ‘revved off’, for about 30 seconds until the light turned green, and she slammed into first, spun the wheels, and took off. She hadn’t gone 100 meters when the Skyline driver had pulled out a siren and a light, affixed it to the roof, and called out “PULL OVER NOW” on a loudspeaker. Bastards. Just, bastards.
For these reasons and many more, I try to avoid the police. Unfortunately, my strategy failed one fateful day two years ago.
I was driving my scooter, and my girlfriend was on the back. We were going through a Shoutengai, a crowded shopping street. I am a very safe driver, and I was concentrating on avoiding people. I made a right turn, and slowly accelerated with a controlled twist of my wrist. I was going very slowly, about 20 km an hour. I drove slowly past a “Koban”, which is like a Japanese Police box. About 5 seconds later, I heard :
“OOOOIII TOMARINSASAIIII!” (Hey!! Stop!!)
I check my mirrors and see a fat Japanese Policeman chasing after me, folds of face fat rolling angrily as he awkwardly chases my slow scooter. I stop, and he quickly catches up. I turn, and look at him. He’s winding up for some kind of statement, and then he sees my white face. He pauses, momentarily confused.
“Hello!” I say, brightly in English, capitalising on catching him off guard.
“STOPPU!” He says.
“I’m stopped already,” I reply.
“Come off!” He says loudly.
“Come off?” I question innocently.
My mind flashes back to many of my friends and their experiences with Japanese cops and motorbikes. “NEVER SPEAK JAPANESE! It’s a pain in the ass for them to fill out all the paperwork to book someone on an international license. Just be friendly, and happy, and likable, and act like you don’t speak Japanese. If you make it hard for them, but look like you’re trying to be co-operative, they’ll let you go” They all told me.
“Come off!!!” He says, louder, pointing at the ground.
“Sure!” I say with a smile. My girlfriend hops off, and I dismount, and put the scooter on the stand.
“SHOW TO ME LICENSE.” He says, loudly and gruffly.
“Sure, no problem!” I say with a big smile. I open the seat of my scooter, and start flipping through the documents. “Can I ask why I was stopped?” I said.
“LICENSE.” Came the reply.
I frowned slightly, and continued fishing around. First I gave him my Australian license. He looks at it, and squints his eyes.
“Auusss..treea?” He awkwardly reads.
“Australia!” I say proudly.
He looks at me with disgust. “INTERNATIONAL LICENSE!” He says.
“Sure,” I say jovially, as I turn back to find my international license. I look through all the documents, and it’s not there. Odd. I keep looking. I check my pockets, the front storage area, between the pages of the magazines in the scooter seat. After 3 minutes of frantic fumbling, I suddenly realise I left it at home. Oh, shit. Shit, shit, shit.
“Um,” I began.
His face scrunched into a ball, his beady eyes shrinking into his skull, as his frown protruded awkwardly from his face. Tough crowd, I thought.
“COME HERE.” He waved me over to the koban. Dammit. I wheeled my scooter around, and walked alongside him.
“PARKING HERE.” He gestured to the side of the koban. I obediently followed his command, and parked my scooter.
“COME IN. SIT.” he pointed at an uncomfortable looking foldout chair.
I slowly sat, and my girlfriend sat down next to me.
“You. You’re Japanese right?” The fat policeman addressed my girlfriend.
“I… um…. not.. speaking Japanese too good… born in America….!” my girlfriend replied in pidgin Japanese. Of course, she was a native Japanese speaker. Good girl.
The fat policeman scowled.
“I’m sorry,” I say with a genial smile on my face. “I must have done something wrong. Can you show me what it is? I’m so sorry to cause you trouble,” you stupid fat arrogantasshat , why don’t you do something useful with your time, like stop crime, or give someone directions, you piece of shit, “I wouldn’t want to cause you any more problems.”
“YOU SPEAK JAPANESE?” He yelled.
“I…. doing… to study.. Japanese… very hard… now!” I responded with a broad grin and mock pride, in deliberately pidgin Japanese.
“Come here.” He said in Japanese, and walked outside. I motioned for my girlfriend to stay seated.
“See this over here? This is a one way street. You turned into a one way street. See the sign there? Can you see it?” He punctuated his angry Japanese by pointing at a one-way sign obscured by a street lamp.
“Gomennasai, wakarimasen!” (I’m sorry, I don’t understand).
He threw up his arms, and walked back to the Koban, expecting me to follow. I momentarily considered leaving my girlfriend and making a run for it, but I realised they could track me down using the scooter numberplate, and my girlfriends wrath would be worse than the police. Ireluctantly trudged back to the Koban.
By this time, word had gotten around that the fat policeman had “caught” a gaijin. 3 other policeman were mulling around, with bemused grins on their faces, engaging in pleasant chat. I automatically frowned in irritation, but quickly became aware of my facial expression, and banished any sign of a negative or unpleasant reaction from my face. I retook my seat.
“WE CAN NO SEE LICENSE.” Specks of spittle showered out from his face as he awkwardly spoke English. “WE MUST SEE YOU BIKE LICENSE, OR WE NO LET YOU RIDE.”
“Sure…. my license is at home. You can come with me.” I offered, as friendly as I could.
“NO! YOU DO NOT HAVE BIKE LICENSE!” he shouted.
“Well, I do, but it’s at home,” I continued lamely.
“NO! I RIDE YOUR SCOOTER! You ride in patrol car.”
“Hang on a second,” I said, pushing my luck. “Can I see YOUR bike license?”
I battled to keep my grin away from my face as I saw that I caught him out.
“License? fuck.” He said under his breath. He again scowled, and called out to the crowd of police. “Hey, who has a bike license?”
“I do,” A random cop stepped forward.
“Come on then. Pile him into the police car.” The fat policemen said to the other police.
I was promptly led outside, and seated in a policecar. It’s a very weird feeling to sit in a police car. It was a busy street, and people were walking either side of the police car. They looked in, to see agaijin sitting on the backseat. I saw them shaking their heads in shock, and whispering to each other “I wonder what he did?”. I turned red in embarrassment.
After a few moments, I noticed in my peripheral vision that a young boy had come up to the window, and was staring directly at me, with his mouth wide open. I gave him 5 seconds to go away, and when he didn’t, I suddenly turned and “pounced” on him from the other side of the glass, with my arms up either side of my face making claws. He jumped in shock and ran away. I giggled to myself, and then stopped abruptly when a policeman opened the door and sat down. I gave them directions to my house, and we were off.
About 15 minutes later, we arrive at my house. A patrolcar in the neighborhood is BIG news, and all of the old women who lived around the area came out of their abodes in a desperate gambit for the next few days of gossip material. When they saw me sitting in the back, a familiar neighborhood face, they erupted in talk.
“Look! It’s that gaijin!”
“I always knew he was trouble. He probably killed someone.”
“No! Surely not. He said hello to me once.”
“I never trusted him. Lucky for me.”
Their mindless babble continued, as my frustration and embarrassment mounted. This is your fault you know, a voice in my head reasoned. Shut up, another voice reasoned back.
I was told to go and get my international license. Then, to my surprise, they asked if they could come with me.
“Can I say no?” I asked, guardedly.
“You don’t have to say yes.” They said.
“Alright, then, no.” I replied.
They looked almost crestfallen, as if they were hoping for a chance to see an exotic gaijin habitat filled with trees, plants and rare animals.
They drove me back to the police station. My girlfriend was remarkably cool about the whole thing, whispering to me what was happening and giving me some clues and head-ups since I didn’t understand all the complicated rapid-fire Japanese.
We finally arrive at the station, and I’m led deep into the bowels (and I mean BOWELS) of the police station. They make me wait for an hour. I do my absolute best to continue being jovial, fun and friendly with the surrounding officers.
Finally, they place a handwritten piece of paper in front of me.
“SIGN.” They ordered.
I frowned at the paper in front of me. I recognised my name written down the bottom, with a line for my signature. The kanji was difficult and written in messy longhand. I didn’t understand any of it.
“Um, can I have a moment to read it please?” I asked, warmly.
They grunted, and left me with my girlfriend.
“What does it say?” I asked her frantically.
She scanned the paper. “Hm… it just says ‘I made a big, stupid mistake when I turned the wrong way. It was very stupid, I caused lots of problems for everyone, and I promise I will never, ever do this again. I have no excuse, I am embarrassed and feel very stupid.” She translated for me.
I choked on a laugh. “Is it safe to sign? I’m not committing myself to jail?” I asked, earnestly.
“It’s fine, you can sign.” she said with confidence.
I signed the document, and I was released about 30 minutes later. They allowed me to ride my scooter home after the incident. The whole thing took about 6 hours from start to finish - a very shitty way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
I’ll re-iterate - if you live in Japan, or if you visit Japan, do WHATEVER you can to avoid the police. Many of them will make your life difficult on purpose. In the best case scenario, they’ll take a lot of your time, and really piss you off.
If you have the misfortune to be caught, be apologetic, friendly, and as stable and solid in your personality as possible. They smell weakness like a dog smells steak, and they will mericileslly attack you if they find you’re a pushover.
In addition, apologising in Japan is a way to show that you’re aware that you disturbed the ’social order’, and you’re simply regretful of the problems you caused everyone; it’s not an admission of guilt like in America. It’s best to apologise frequently, strongly, unabashedly and keep as friendly a demeanor as possible.
I hope you never end up at the mercy of one of these Japanese police officers, but if you do, follow these guidelines, and you should make it through. Best of luck, and leave some comments if you have had any experiences with the Japanese police.
Çϼ¯³°¿Í¡ª ^_^
Only been to Japan once XD
I once came across a Koban police officer…I was looking for a manga shop called Mandrake in Shinjuku I think and I needed directions. I asked the officer (looked quite cool in his uniform, I want one XD) in fractured Japanese ‘Madoreku wa doko desu ka?’. Where’s Mandrake? He didn’t know so I went and said ‘Manga-ka wa doko desu ka?’ which I thought meant ‘Where’s the manga shop’ He looked at me quite confused…so I kept saying ‘Manga-ka! Manga-ka!’ I think he got annoyed with me…then I remembered that Manga shop would be Manga-ya XD he sorta jsut pointed…
Typical story. Who ever gets stopped by the police who isn’t law abiding / never so much as got a parking ticket / respect all officials. You were riding a bike the wrong way up a one way street and didn’t have an appropriate licence with you, and when you were stopped you acted like a snotty spoiled, smartarse kiddy. Asking him for his bike licence - words fail me - you idiot will do.
You broke a rule and no less than you deserved. With your sad attitude a good truncheoning might have given you a more respectful attitude..
1) You rode your bike the wrong way down a one street
2) You didn’t have a license
3) You didn’t speak the language
Probably the same type of asshat who would complain if a Japanese was riding the motorbike down a one way street in Sydney, with no license and couldn’t speak English….
So your girlfriend lied to the police and you deliberately made the situation more difficult for the police to save yourself time and hassle? Well done asshat.
“if a Japanese was riding the motorbike down a one way street in Sydney, with no license and couldn’t speak English….” he’d probably get his head kicked in and rioting would ensue…or do you only do that to the ‘Lebboes’?
Indeed everybody seems to be in agreement, you sir are a fucking jackass. Learn the god damn rules, carry your god damn license and learn some god damn manners. Prick.
Seriously man are we supposed to think this is cool?
If you are going to live in and live off a foreign country you should respect their laws. Don’t be a jackass when you were obviously in the wrong and then write some smart-ass blog about it hoping people will think you are cool.
Next time I bet you will carry your damn license with you…lesson learned…idiot…
You’re making negative generalizations about every Japanese policeman just because you had a bad experience with one — and it was your fault to begin with.
“”if a Japanese was riding the motorbike down a one way street in Sydney, with no license and couldn’t speak English….” he’d probably get his head kicked in and rioting would ensue…or do you only do that to the ‘Lebboes’?”
The lebbo’s beat up the police in sydney
Apparently, your so-called martial arts training has failed you in more ways that you probably realize. Either you’re not taking your training seriously enough, the training you take is not traditional or your teacher is failing to teach you some critical (true) martial arts values. Given what I’ve read of your teacher, it sounds like he treats your “martial art” as more of a sport, which in my mind, puts it somewhere around the ‘judo’ genre, if I’m off, it still seems even more of a shame the way he (and you) behave (I’m going off of your post/s for these references).
Regardless, if you’re in Japan and failing to learn some traditional martial arts values (and here I’m talking traditional in the sense of Koryu) I suggest chat you take the opportunity you’ve made for yourself (which I highly respect) to live in Japan, make plans to move out of noise-to-signal ratio of Tokyo (I suggest Osaka/Kobe) region and go find yourself a martial art where compassion and respect are coupled with its martial traditions at a humble dojo run by a sensei who teaches with sincerity.
Then maybe you’ll learn not to be a foolhardy, arrogant, mindless prick. “Anything is possible”.
Mmm…I love the smell of the asshole Digg community in the morning.
I have lived in Japan for 3 years now and I sadly understand where you are coming from. Even though you were in the wrong, it doesn’t diminish the point you are trying to make. Japanese society can be infuriating. They always seem to miss the point. Example: Ambulances in Japan will be on route to the hospital for an emergency with sirens blaring and all. Yet, they will stop at all red lights along the way. Another example is the ATM’s in Japan don’t operate 24 hours. They shut early on Sundays and are closed for all major public holidays. There comes a point where thinking “it’s just the Japanese way” doesn’t cut it. Japan simply lacks in common sense some times.
I’m going to have to side with Firefly on this one (save the generalizations). 6 hours out of your day for riding a scooter in the wrong direction without proper paperwork is extremely excessive. As far as generalizations though, everyone I’ve spoken to from Japan or who has been there has told me the police are not above wasting ridiculous amounts of time chasing down extremely petty ‘criminals’.
Hang in there Firefly
So how does it feel to be such a douchebag?
My Mum and Dad are police officers (in Australia) and trust me 65% in a 10 man station are fat (including my dad.) Trust me, I know what they are like the genreal duties senoir constables they are very leiniet. But once you meet the those wankers HighWay potrol officers, they would book there mother. They book my dad in the police car for going 120km without signs! They also book kids on there bike, for having no chain guard, no front rflectors, no bell, etc. Which sucks…Since I know them, I tell them “fuck off, Cockroach” and said it was from from my dad. But, they get pissed on there days off and the excess comsuption of beer make them have a beer gut, thus fat. However, they dont use there weapons every chance they get. They just get into alot of brawls with alotta black fellas at the club. I wanna goto japan though. Sounds awsome.
Oh man! Firefly, little did I know until now that you are apparently a huge jerk! What an asshole for accidentally forgetting your license! You should be ashamed!
*sigh* What a bunch of assholes. Sorry about teh interwebs, Firefly.
I beg to differ. I am sure there are police who are malevolent, possibly more so to foreigners (due to the sensationalization of foreign crimes in the media when compared to the 95% of crimes committed by nationals, another problem in itself), but in my dealings with the police here, I more look upon them as a modern-day version of the Keystone Cops than egomaniacs on a power trip. I would also chalk part of it up to the very Japanese penchant for excessive bureaucracy and documentation for everything. Waiting on the phone is somewhat abnormal, but waiting in person upwards of an hour for everything from the hospital to the post office to apparently police dealings is very common, even with appointments.
I have lived here for going on 4 years now, and this has been my experience most of the time. It’s true, they don’t do much as far as fighting crime, and it may get boring giving directions to lost pedestrians all the time, but given such a low crime rate overall in Japan, it must get pretty boring for the most part.
Incidentally, it is illegal to drive on an international license past the first year you have been here
You never had it so good. Even in a progressive, relatively safe city such as San Francisco, USA… I’ve seen two police officers drive up to a drunk homeless man stumbling around the street (not bothering anyone) get out and for no apparent reason start beating the living daylights out of him. I’ll admit I was a wuss and didn’t intervene (possibly because they had Glocks and I had only my hot cup of coffee) because I was only visiting as a tourist and wasn’t sure what they would do to me.
Anyways, that is what really happens when you mix boredom with a power-trip.
Your understanding of Japanese police is slightly off if you don’t mind my saying. And if you are right and that is the extent to how you are “treated”, well, you never had it so good. It is true that they don’t have much to do so they do focus on petty crimes and seemingly unnecessary infractions. But if that is all they have to do, and they don’t even do that right, what would you think of them then?
If anything it seems like your standards to which laws should be followed does not match that of most Japanese. When I lived in Japan, I was very careful about not so much not getting caught, but about not even causing anyone “Meiwaku”. You seem to bring a very “Western” attitude towards laws… that maybe you can get out of a ticket or a situation with some friendly banter… or that laws are “made to be broken” or at least bent?
But from your perspective, world view, and attitude, the Japanese police are very “excessive” and “useless” in an emergency. Excessively thorough. A bit useless in confrontational situations. Like me are probably wusses. Although you have to admit that being given directions in Tokyo is actually very useful, if not life-saving. As to “lazy”… you said they spent 6 hours on your case… when they could just as well have been sitting in their air-conditioned Koban sipping tea and giving people directions instead…
I have been enjoying reading your blog for a while now… but perhaps it is time for me to use my limited time reading something from someone with a little more sense. Or not, I suppose its still an interesting read from a different perspective.
I lived in Japan between 1999 and 2004. In the late 90’s, there was a lot of corruption within the Kangawa and Tokyo police unions but the same allegations were not heard of again after . Before I left, they (the police officers) were extremely courteous to me and my fellow gaijins. I suspect you had a run in with one of the old schoolers who missed roughing up the outsiders.
Yeesh, a lot of jerks leave you comments, eh?
That’s a pretty crazy story. I was in Japan a few months ago and was shocked to see only one police car (empty) the entire month that I was there. I didn’t see a single policeman.
Anyway, cool article.
Mass generalizations about the japanese police here.
I was in kyoto for 2 weeks back in 2001 and found the police to be extremely helpful. My friend lost her passport and some money and they were helpful not only in recovering the passport (it was turned in in another part of town) but transfering it to the closest police station near where we were staying. Not only that but the money was with the passport as well.
Do you think a lost passport and about 300 dollars in mixed currency would be turned into the police in australia? the US? NO WAY!
In contrast, here’s an article I read last week, that gives the complete opposite impression of the police in Japan. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-bike28mar28,0,244160,full.story?coll=la-home-headlines
You should really block Digg users from coming to your site. You would get less retarded comments.
Cops are /always/ fat, stupid, useless, etc. in America. Glad to see they’re not much different in Japan.
It’s fantastic to see so many flames on such a simple post with some advice.
He said to be as polite and apologetic as possible with Japanese Police. It’s hilarious seeing so many people call him an “asshole” or “douchebag” for that.
Boy…6 hours wasted…You could very well have been put in jail or ticketed. Too frickin bad all you got let off was a warning, fricking jerk off. Learn the culture you are living with and respect it. If you had to grow up on a small island that is cramped, you would need to respect authority and follow rules…but alas, another simple aussie who thinks that he has the best culture around and will not abide following the rules of other cultures. There are plenty of stories of Japanese policemen going out of their way to help foriegners…you lied and broke the rules, should of been extradited back to your sun-filled nations full of ex-prisoners. How’s that for a generalization a$$hole.
“It’s fantastic to see so many flames on such a simple post with some advice.
He said to be as polite and apologetic as possible with Japanese Police. It’s hilarious seeing so many people call him an “asshole” or “douchebag” for that.
Posted by Sean”
well, how would you call an asshole and a douchebag other than asshole and douchebag?
or should we cut it short and put it the “american way”: you don’t like it - you piss off back to sidney.
cheerio
So you were driving the wrong way down an obviously-crowded one-way path, and got stopped by a policeman. Understandable so far? Sure. That’d happen pretty much anywhere.
The policeman was likely going to give you a warning and have you go on your way, but of course has to ask to see your license, as you would be asked anywhere. Still with us? Sure.
OK, next, you fumbled around and never produced the license. At this point, what do you think would happen in your home country in a similar situation? What would you have the policeman do at this point? Smile and send you on your way? Are you on crack?
Sounds like a very reasonable situation that would’ve played out similarly in many countries… you should feel lucky you got away without having to pay a fine or even undergo a breathalyzer test, which would’ve surely happened in my country…
Great post, you made a mistake got a slap on the wrist and all is well with the world. A bit heavy on the generalization but (shrugs) it sounded like a bad day. I appreciate your posts warts and all. To me that is what makes blogs so wonderful. If I wanted whitewashed politically correct drivel I would read the local newspaper. Keep it up!
There are police everywhere that are on power trips. Go look up the psych profiles of cops and organized crime and you’ll find they’re pretty much the same.
That said, in the USA, you would also get stopped for going the wrong way down a one way street. When they checked and found you had no licence (and registration and insurance) they would impound the vehical and arrest you. They would NOT give you a lift to your house to get your paperwork. And smarting off would almost certainly get you roughed up and/or held for an additional 23.5 hours after your bail had been paid. And let me tell you, US jails are not like the movies where 2 people are in a cell, most of the holding cells have 200 people in them, gang members and would be homo-rapists.
I would say the Japanese police treated you better than US police would have if the same thing happened here.
You screwed sir up sir. Be glad you were treated with just a little touch of disdain. Imagine how you might have been treated in some countries had they caught you. You got off lightly. Learn from your mistake and try not to be so arrogant in the future.
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2007/04/04/opinion/05opart.html
I got caught jaywalking.
As soon as I heard a stern “STOPPU!” and turned to see an officer running toward me, I was overcome with panic. I had an important meeting to get to, and things would be very bad if I were late. Since I was in the wrong, I was pretty sure the officer would take me back to the koban to issue a ticket or sign an apology, either of which would take a while, and then I’d probably lose my job for being late meeting our client.
So, taking a deep breath, I put on my most relieved face and gushed enthusiastically as the officer approached, “Thank goodness you’re here! I am SO lost. You see, I just moved into a new apartment and not familiar with the area yet, and I’m feeling pretty confused right now. Thank you for recognizing my problem and coming to assist me! The police in Japan are always so helpful and kind whenever I get lost. I’m very fortunate that you arrived at just this moment. I’m so sorry to bother you, but would you please tell me how to get to…”
I felt like an ass for doing it, since I knew perfectly well how to get where I was going, and also knew I was totally in the wrong for jaywalking. But fortunately his face softened as he listened, and his direction-giving instincts kicked in to high gear. He gave me thoroughly excellent directions, and much to my relief didn’t mention the jaywalking bit at all. I thanked him profusely and headed off to my meeting, mindful not to break any other laws along the way.
But just as I arrived at my building, another officer came running up to me shouting for me to stop. Uh oh…
Nearly out of breath, he asked if I was the same man who had been lost a few minutes earlier. It looked like karma had finally caught up to me. “Yes, that’s me…” Was I finally going to get that ticket I deserved?
The officer smiled broadly, pleased that he had the right man. “Here you go…” he said, and handed me a small but very detailed map of the area. “My partner wanted you to have this, but he can’t run as fast as I can.”
“Thank you so much! Can I pay you?”
“Oh no, it’s always our pleasure to help.”
Man, I definitely felt like a heel after that. This guy had run several blocks to give me a map so that I wouldn’t get lost again. I was really touched by the kindness these two officers had shown me. I carried that map with me for a long time, until one day I met someone who really was lost. I passed it on, grateful that I could finally share the help that I never deserved with someone who truly needed it.
your condescending attitude gets in the way of your message
Firefly…
Anyone posting saying that you are an a$$hole, or that it was your own fault, etc, doesn’t understand Japanese society. I lived in Japan twice already and this is so true. You handled everything perfectly, and don’t listen to these other morons who argue only via ad-hominem attacks.
Excellent writing and good advice, gaijin.
Ignore rude comments made by shadow demons on this page. Barbarians live for blood, you know. They gulp it down to slake their lust in shadowy anonimity.
The above posters have no idea what life is like in Japan. The mentality over there is totally different than it is anywhere else.
I think you handled it very well. Curious what your girlfriends opinion was. I’m sure she thought you handled it well too since she went along with you.
no bigotry in that story
“Every experience I’ve had with Australian police has either been positive, or at the least, professional. “
Clearly you have never lived outside a major city.
Been in Japan and I never felt safer. The thing to remember is that there are good cops and bad cops. Some will give you a pass and some won’t.
The Japanese, for the most part, have difficulty thinking out of the box and individuality is not one of their endearing qualities. More than likely everything they did was right out of the book.
Don’t forget your license next time
Phil
“Ignore rude comments made by shadow demons on this page. Barbarians live for blood, you know. They gulp it down to slake their lust in shadowy anonimity.” - nogijinme
Shadow demons? slake their lust? Seriously man… who talks or write like this. You sound like you just got done hosting a D&D game. Write like a normal person and your comments may be taken more seriously.
As for Firefly, you live in another country, you should learn to respect the culture and customs. You were in the wrong from the start gave the officers no reason to let you off with a warning. I’m pretty sure it’s standard procedures even in Oz to check on a driver without a proper license. The officer was right to be pissed from the start because he had to chase your bike down. If you were in his shoes trying to catch a motorist going the wrong way on a one way street, I’m sure you’d be pretty pissed too. Get off your high horse and put yourself in their shoes. How would you had to chase down a hot-headed foreigner without proper ID, listen to a girl that’s obviously lieing, and then had the balls to be smarmy? Get real man.
Wow, I have never read so many ignorant comments in my life? It seems these idiots care more about the “law”, than what makes sense. He went the wrong way on a one way. For that they should simply have told him he was wrong, and to turn around. A light warning that would have taken 5 minutes would have sufficed for something so stupid. At least that is how it would have gone down here in California. Unless it was a situation where he was driving reckless or caused an accident should he have been asked for his license. They wasted 6 hours and asked him sign an apology. That is one of the most retarded things I have ever heard. But you know what? Be glad you weren’t in Mexico. Those are some of the most corrupt police I have ever met. I know from watching people get into crap that was stupid and many, many stories.
Fuck, not another one.
Every time I have to hear about the problems foriegners cause, every time I have work extra hard to prove I’m worth working with, every time I have to show that I’m not a worthless leech of a foriegner, I think not on Japanese Racism, but on the Foriegners like Firefly here who justify Japanese suspicion of outsiders. What the hell man, you are actually bragging about making that officer’s job more difficult and have the nerve to complain when he does the same to you.
You were in the wrong, and you knew it, and you act like it’s the cop’s fault? You DO speak the language, you COULD have made things a lot easier for everyone involved and chose to act like a Jackass. Grats, mission accomplished, one more cop with more reason to hate forigeners.
I really feel bad for your Girlfriend though, she was probably ashamed to be associated with you, I can only hope you caught hell for it later. Seriously though, what you claim to have done can’t be acceptable behavior in any country, it shames me to share Visa status with you.
Seriously, it’s bigoted self-righteous assholes like you who ruin the reputation of foreigners in Japan. I’m surprised you didn’t have the officers saying something like “CHING CHONG STUPID GAIJIN” in your story. I’m willing to bet everyone that lives around you realizes you’re a huge asshole, too.
…case in point - I am from a totally unrelated country, and I have a friend working as a librarian or something totally unrelated to police in Japan, therefore I am not a racist!
I read this story because I’d just read a worthwhile LA Times article about a reporter’s recent experience with Japanese police. No crime too small in Tokyo has a more positive view.
With your attitude, I think you didn’t come off too badly. Reading this, I asked myself how an arrogant foreigner would be treated in, say, Brisbane in the same circumstance. You’re driving the wrong way up a one way street, you don’t have the right papers, and you’re fucking one of the locals. Hmmm. (She didn’t fool anyone.)
Firemaggot,
You are the scum of the human race and pretty much justify Japanese xenophobia towards gaijin.
I’m going to forward your article to Japanese Police. Maybe those original police officers will read it and give you the treatment you really deserve. When you lose you job or wonder why you landed in jail, I’ll right an article about the asshole gaijin who got his just deserts and post on Japanaese humor sites. We can all laugh at what a shithead you are.
I’ve lived in Japan 4 years. My experience is that generally police, all over the world are very unplesant people to deal with. In each country they get at you in a different way given the opportunity. I measure how bad they are by how long it takes me to calm down after they piss me off. Japan is probably the best as it wears off quickly. Here is a story from one of my encounters with them: I was leaving home on my scooter. I live in a very nice area. 100 yards from home I see a taxi stopped in the middle of the very quiet road, passenger in and a French man shouting at the old driver from outside the driver¡Çs window. The French man is shouting him to be more careful and don¡Çt go that fast in such a small road. I can believe the man. Taxi drivers here are all retired man and drive pretty recklessly. I drive back 20 minutes later and the taxi is still there. A police man is taking the driver and passenger¡Çs story as witnesses of a crime. An hour goes by and it happens to me to pass by again, on the way back home. Now there are two police cars investigating the scene. Obviously nothing serious had happened but since nothing major ever happens the police have to kill their time with this. As I¡Çm passing by I just glance over the scene and I¡Çm surprised. One of the police man looks at me, his face expression changes when he realizes I¡Çm a foreigner. I keep going and all of a sudden I can hear him screaming at me. I know it¡Çs him but I don¡Çt stop simply because you don¡Çt stop you vehicle just because someone in the street is screaming (I don¡Çt speak Japanese btw). I arrive in front of my house as I realize that they are chasing me in their police car. I had already stopped as I was already in front of my building. They come out, three of them, shout at me, my neighbors coming out to check what¡Çs going on and asking them if everything is alright. They ask me for my documents, driver license and other questions. You have to realize that at this point I hadn¡Çt done absolutely anything yet. Bottom line, I gave them all the documents and the three of them started searching every inch of my scooter for anything to book me. They found that the cable that measures the speed was broker and wanted to book me. I tell them it just broke 2 seconds before I arrived. They cannot but believe it as one cannot easily prove the contrary. They take my name, address, etc. and leave. Yes, I agree, in Japan they are not as bad as in other countries but my experience in my life is that ¡Èmost¡É policeman are just legalized criminals and of little use to common citizens. To those of you hypocritical enough to blame this blogger for not having his driving license with him I¡Çll respond with a sentence from Cardinal Richelieu: ¡ÈIf you give me six lines written by the most honest man, I will find something in them to hang him¡É
Wow, I was pretty unprepared for the flow of comments that came after this article. I was surprised that people had such a strong reaction to it, so I read it again and tried to figure out the reason.
Firstly, I am not anti-authoritarian. Thats why I included the part about my firefighting buddy. I’m simply anti-asshole. I treat people with respect, and I expect the same in return. I’m simply not going to be my regular charming self and be extremely helpful, when some asshole is spitting in my face and yelling at me. Authority figure aside, people like that deserve what they get. I did my best to try to follow my friends advice and act as friendly and nice as possible.
If I started speaking in Japanese, they might very likely have booked me for something, since it’s much easier to speak quickly, use complicated words I don’t understand, and trip me up. Or get me to admit to something with a nuance, or thats wrong.
To clarify, if I was driving dangerously, or attacking someone, or being violent, then I would deserve whatever I got, and I wouldn’t be justified in complaining about some asshole on a power trip.
One thing is certain : since I missed the hidden sign, and was driving very slowly and carefully, I didn’t warrant the rude response I got from that guy.
Regarding my girlfriend - she had nothing to do with the case. It was my mistake that I made (even though I didn’t see the one-way sign), and also my mistake that I forgot my International License. The cop shouldn’t have tried to involve her, or make her translate - it’s not her responsibility and I didn’t want to cause any problems for her.
As for me asking for his license - he was saying to me : “You can’t ride your bike without a license”, then he tried to ride MY bike, without a fucking license. Come on.
Also : to the Japan fan boys(/girls?) who think that Japan is perfect, and I’m an ignorant idiot gaijin, you’re wrong. Well, at least about the Japan is perfect part.
The point of this blog is to show a foreigner living in Japan - all the wonderful and fantastic things, and also all of the negative and frustrating things. I want people to see that there is a balance between the two, and obviously for me, the positive side wins, or I would have left a long time ago.
I actually ran into problems with an American cop once. I needed to change lanes, so I checked my mirrors, blind spot, indicated, then changed lanes. The cop car behind me suddenly turned on it’s lights and siren, and I pulled over. He told me I had crossed a solid white line, but I was pretty sure that I changed lanes before then. The cop was professional, friendly, and even apologetic that he had to give me a ticket, and I treated him with respect, and he afforded me the same courtesy. I just don’t know of too many stories where this happens in Japan. However - I do know some, and I will post them when I get a chance.
To the people saying that I just had one negative experience with one Japanese cop - not true. I’ve seen and heard Japanese cops causing problems for many people, and many of my friends tell me the same stories.
Also, I really don’t like deleting comments, even negative ones. I like to leave them up so people can judge things for themselves. Sometimes you will agree with me, sometimes you won’t - this is great. Lets have an open discussion, and maybe we’ll both learn something. Do try to avoid the one line ad hominies without any reasoning or backup - lets keep things on track here.
Carolyn - Don’t worry, I’m a big boy, I only cried for a few hours when all the meanies called me a douchebag.
Jason - very true about the license. We better watch out….!
Simon raises an interesting point. Is my attitude a Western attitude that is causing problems? Should I just relax and resign myself to the feeling of “Thats just how it is in Japan, and I should go with the flow?” For the first few years here, I thought so. Then I realised my personality was literally being watered down, and I was becoming a different person. Let me tell you, thats a horrible feeling. I reclaimed my personality, become more Western, and quite possibly became more of an asshole in the eyes of some people. In any case, you don’t want to mess with the Police - the idea is to be as polite yet as strong as possible, even if they’re being really rude and difficult to deal with.
Brandon - corruption seems rife, and whats even stranger is Japanese people are pretty apathetic about the whole thing, and don’t talk about it too much. It’s not even covered in much detail by the media.
Mitch - thanks mate. You didn’t see a single cop? Were you in Tokyo?
Dave - It seems like there is a world of difference between Tokyo police and country police, IE Kyoto, etc. I’m really glad you had a positive experience and got your stuff back!
Skitch - I really don’t mind constructive comments, even if they’re extremely negative. I want to encourage open discussion on Japan, it’s great points and it’s flaws.
Sean - thanks for your apt comment.
Surveydude - You’re right, I was probably lucky to be let off lightly. Then again, I don’t know what the legal penalty is for driving without having your license on you, even if it’s at home. Also, you’re wrong - I love Australia, but I never say or think that it necessarily has the best culture. I should be extradited back to Australia because I lost my license? Are you sure you’re not a Japanese policeman?
Django - quite right. I can’t really complain about what happened, and I can’t blame them for doing their job, but it wouldn’t have killed them to treat me a bit more nicely. It would have turned into a much more positive and great experience for me, and this blog entry would be very different.
cntzero - perhaps you’re right and I was heavy on the generalisations. When I have some experiences or I hear some stories that run counter to these ideas, I will definitely post them.
Ugly American - Jesus - I’m sure glad I live in Tokyo.
Katrineholm Review - don’t be arrogant in the future? Why ever not?
Michael - excellent advice on how to deal with Japanese cops - well done. Jaywalking? God, who gets booked for jaywalking. Unbelievable. I’m really glad you had a positive experience as well to balance out my negative experience. Was this in Tokyo?
ug - probably!
Ru-su - thanks for your comments, I agree. Japan is a different society, with different norms, and what seems to be a different breed of cop.
nogaijinme - Thanks I think? Gotta go conquer some Japanese towns now, lamentations of women, etc. Be back later.
Qwirk - thanks for your voice of reason. Appreciated.
She was impressed actually - I got off scott-free with just some wasted time and a bit of a negative experience.
Phil - good advice. I’ll be sure to bring it next time to avoid this problem.
lei - the day I don’t have the balls to be smarmy is the day I leave Japan. I agree with most of your points though.
Saiyanid - to be fair to the cops (devils advocate), I was unable to produce my international license. I think they were justified in what they did, I just didn’t approve of the way they did it…!
Thrakhath - Yes, I am all that is evil in Japan. I go around being evil and deliberately making other foreigners look bad so guys like you have to work doubly hard to prove your worth and the fact that you’re above degenerates like myself. Thanks for dropping by.
Stephen - see above.
Listener - that was thrown in to show that I’m really not anti-authoritarian. Not really anyway. Ok, maybe a little bit.
Pete - good point - a foreigner in Australia might have had much more trouble.
Bill - Are you the same Bill I know from the Firefly Saga?
If so, welcome buddy. I’ve been waiting for you. When you send this article to the Japanese police, make sure you get it translated into Japanese. They’re not too good at English, you know.
Bob - thats an interesting story, and I’m really glad you took the time to write it out. Thanks very much. It’s annoying to get sucked into a debate like that just because you were white. Thats discrimination at it’s finest. UNLESS the crazy frenchman said “Oh yes, well I have an accomplice who also attacked this taxi driver, and he’s riding a scooter in this area”, in which case it becomes understandable, but obviously this situation was very different. Agree with pretty much all your points too. Thanks again for commenting!
Firefly, you’re a terrific story-teller. I keep wondering when the book will come out. You’re obviously still in Japan because you like the place and the people. But … something smelled wrong about this piece. Warning lights went off when you generalized from an Australian fire fighter friend to the decency of Oz police? Know any Japanese fire fighters? Maybe they’d give you a different impression of Japanese police. Or maybe that would be beside the point.
I’ve only had one experience with Japanese police. I was riding my bike home, and carrying bags from every available bike part and spare finger — lots of shopping. I suppose it was a suspicious number of bags or something, because a pair of passing police stopped me and seemed to want to know whether the bike was mine. They were exceedingly polite. My Japanese is pathetic, but I was keen to try out a few words. Notwithstanding my stumbling Japanese, it all went very smoothly and was over in a couple of minutes. I came away with a good impression of Japanese police. On the other hand I know about their bad reputation among foreigners here, so maybe I was lucky.
I suppose there’s no way to call all Japanese police bastards and not sound a bit unbalanced. At the very least, you’ve got to follow it up with one hell of a story. Your story would have been funny taken on its own (I’m pretty sure), if it was about that particular fat policeman, but as a back-up to “all Japanese police are bastards” it came across as a bit weak.
Well, you don’t need my advice, you’re doing a great job. You’re not perfect but you seem to be pretty decent and you’ve got some sort of gift for spinning stories.
The police here certainly do have a problem with attending to the mundane while ignoring stuff that would be too bothersome. The “speed tribes” are a good example. The system just doesn’t work. In the US these guys would be ticketed for noise violations and illegal modifications to their mufflers. If they didn’t pay their licenses would be suspended, and if they kept it up without any licenses their would be hell to pay, not to mention their vehicles would be towed. The police system in the US isn’t very GOOD, but at least it does WORK to a degree.
The Japanese police system does next to nothing. I’ve been stopped on my bicycle several times for no reason, ostensibly to check if my bicycle was stolen. WTF?! Ever hear of friggin’ probable cause? They are supposed to be preventing nuisances, but instead they just cause them.
Definitely, you must always carry your license with you when you drive. That is a universal rule everywhere. However, people are known to forget their licenses on occasion. I’ve done this in the US. The nice thing about the US is although there are patrol cars all over the place, you’ll NEVER get pulled over unless you’ve broken the law. Accidentally going down a one-way street, slowly, is simply a mistake, and constitutes the most BS excuse I’ve ever heard to check someone’s license, other than simply being a gaijin.
The fact of the matter is, if Firefly had been Japanese, he wouldn’t have had to produce his license simply for taking a wrong turn downa one-way street.
In fact, I’ve seen this particular situation play out several times in Japan. What happens is they call out to the driver with a megaphone warning that it’s a one-way street. They don’t even get out of the police box usually. And they sure as hell are not checking licenses for such a minor “violation”.
The flamers need to get this whole “we must respect the culture” BS out of their heads. Dudes, I got news for you: some aspects of some cultures are just better than others. For example, western laws are simply better than samurai feudal law, which is why the Meiji Restoration was a GOOD THING. Western laws may not be all that awesome, but trust me, the feudal system was far more barbaric and unfair. NOT ALL CULTURE IS AUTOMATICALLY GOOD AND DESERVING OF YOUR RESPECT. Japan is a wonderful place and my favorite place in the world, but it has its flaws and they are considerable.
Wow, I’d be screwed in Japan. In the UK you don’t have to carry your driving license around with you. If they ask for it you have to produce it at a police station within a week. In the mean time you can drive around as much as you want!
Yeah I felt really sorry for you with all the flamers etc. People just need to chill out a bit. I found it an interesting story, not some excuse to have a good go at someone about what they should or shouldn’t have done. At the end of the day, this is a space for you to write your experiences, not to be criticised for doing things you can’t change.
I only decided to post a comment because there seeemed to be a lot of inconsistencies within the post. For example, about needing a license.. . You only need a regular driver’s license for a 50cc scooter, at least back when I was there. Is that what you have? Actually, that is more of a point which only needs clarification. But you are correct in that the way in which you acted was one solution to the problem. Faking not knowing the language is a great tool that can benifit you greatly in Japan because most Japanese cannot speak a lick of English. However, I ran into a policewoman who spoke almost perfect English once… so that could backfire on you. Especially your girlfriend if they found out she was lying. Speaking of which, you said you could trip up with you Japanese if the words got complicated, but couldn’t your girlfriend have helped out? And what might have happened if you had tried to speak in Japanese, tried to explain the situation about the hidden sign? Might they perhaps have let you off with a warning? We’ll never know, but perhaps your preconceived notions about Japanese cops from all the horror stories you heard from your friends caused you to act defensively and pretty much fated you to having a “bad” experience?
And let me apologize if my comments seemed a bit one way in an attacking sort of way. Just like you probably only heard the horror stories from your frienda because they are much more interesting than “a cop helped me find a building today” story… most people who enjoyed your story probably did not bother to post any comment at all. And Burke is right that you are a great story teller… which is why I read your blog… and I realized now with this post, not for similar minded experiences and worldview but for the differences. So blog on and sorry if I offended you in any way!
p.s. The world will be colored exactly how you see it.
hmmm…
next time you hear “OOOOIII TOMARINSASAIIII!” (Hey!! Stop!!) - i suggest getting your head down, gassing it, and not looking back.
You’re obviously an idiot.
What a dick. Ride up a one way street anywhere in the world and you’re going to get a bollocking. Do it outside your native country without a licence and you’re going to get off even worse.
Try acting like an adult if you want to be treated with respect.
I agree with the police more than I go with you. The Japanese were right and you were wrong. Period. You lied, broke the law, and had no license! Come on, you think this is cool showing this story to everyone??? Puh-lease!
I think you give the aus police a bit more credit thans due the story about your friend and the skyline I have had a mate have the exact same thing to him here in perth.
Japanese cops don’t look cool and may look like slacker for some time, but your story didn’t convince me at all. Your story just change my idea about Japanese police. First, they didn’t even give you the ticket. Second, they did their job right. After all, I think they just suit the police job for this country, which has relatively low crime rate.
I think you handled this situation pretty wel. I had a kinda bad experience with a japanese cop too. I was in a car with a japanese friend and a black friend. Around midnight we were driving back from Ibaraki-prefecture to Chiba where we had dinner at my j-friends’ parents home . On the way we went into a convenience store and bought some drinks. In front of the store was a cop on a¡¡moped. When we came out and had our drinks near our car, the cop approached us and demanded us to show him identification and explain what we were doing here. He did this in such a rude, arrogant and unfriendly manner, that it didn’t make us feel like complying at all. So my japanese friend, irritated by this, starts asking why we have to show him our ID’s. His first response was that our car was ’suspicious’ because it had an ibaraki-number while being in Chiba. Which was a totally ridiculous reason because we were only 10-15 minutes away from Ibaraki on a road coming straight out of Ibaraki! This really pissed of my japanese friend and he started yelling at the officer that we were just driving around and that me and my black friend were visiting him during summer holiday and there was totally no reason to treat us the way he was treating us. Luckily we were carrying our passports and my friend had his license, which easily could not have been the case since we were just going out for dinner, and showed them to the cop. My friend, still not satisfied with the explanation given, asked again why we were treated this way. This time he responded that we were ’suspicious’ because we were foreigners and something about 9/11 and terrorists and because my j-friend was wearing a beenie-cap. With my j-friend getting angrier with every minute I thought it was better I calmed him down and started talking to the cop in japanese,which I did not at first because I thought it would be better pretending not to speak japanese. My pronunciation is perfect because I’m half japanese, but I look 100% not japanese.Then I started talking to the officer and explaining that my mother is japanese, so I have every reason to be visiting Japan and brought a friend along to show him around so there is nothing suspicious at all about us and that there was no reason to treat us like this and that we were just getting a drink at a store. He eventually let us go without apologizing.
I’m telling this, to let you know I totally understand what you went through. You met one of those asshole-cops as I did. It’s asshole-cops like the ones me and firefly met that give the whole japanese police force a bad image. Nobody knows how many of these asshole-cops there are, but I guess it only takes a few to create a bad image. Just the way a person approaches or treats you makes such adifference.In retrospect, I should’ve asked that cop’s ID and threatened him that I would file a complaint. I’ll certainly do that next time.
Sorry to hear about your bad experience Firefly, but one must remember that in Japan rules are rules and unlike in western countries you are guilty until proven innocent. In all my years in Japan my experience is that the police, for the most part, treat Japanese and westerners alike. Your failure to speak Japanese when you can, probably caused more trouble as whenever I was stopped by the police on my bicycle or in my car, my Japanese sort of “broke the ice” and things went much smoother for me. I detailed one such experience in my blog when I innocently didn’t have my “gaijin card” on me and was brought in.
As in any country, there are asshole cops and I ran into a few in Japan, but I do not not brush the whole police force as assholes because in most other cases I was treated with respect.
I’ve seen too many a westerner act arrogant towards the police and have trouble because of it thinking they have “rights” when in Japan they do not if they have broken the law no matter how small the infraction.
In a story I will publish soon, I will detail how I was busted for an illegal substance, the most serious infraction outside of murder a foreigner can commit. In that case the police were nothing but polite and professional throughout the two weeks I was held. Sure, they were firm as I had broken their law, but they were not arrogant and I was not abused. In fact, due to my cooperation, I was not deported and my name did not enter the newspapers even though I was found guilty. I received a 3 yr suspended sentence and my school remained intact with no one the wiser.
A foreigner in Japan WILL be stopped on occasion and asked to produce ID whether riding a bicycle, walking, or driving a car.
It is a fact of life living in Japan. Cooperate, be polite, speak the language if you can, and you will see that things will probably go much smoother for you, but don’t be surprised to come upon one on a power trip once in a while.
Well I ain’t racist or a fan of da fuzz but serves you right you dumb Australian bastard
Nothing to do with Japanese cops, but I thought you might enjoy this. Why you should not make love to married Japanese women:
http://forum.exler.ru/uploads/77/post-1174941758.jpg
Looking forward to your next article. Hurry up and get writing!
spoiled-brat
how dares the police ask the great firefly for his license and THEN have the nerve to make him go to his house for it?
I mean, as he describes the australian police, they would surely have just let him go without seeing his license, after offering their sincerest apologies for the bother.
I mean, what’s breaking a little law or two compared to making him waste HOURS of his invaluable time to complete paperwork? and what about the terrible psychological damage he underwent as he was FORCED to ride in a patrol car all the way to his home? how will he recover from that?
(advise: when people feel shamed they tend to spite their surroundings. Grow up instead)
I enjoy all of your writings, so please ignore the rude comments and continue to write more about your employment with the tech company. Thanks!
You are giving other Australians a bad name. We are not all like this arrogant shit.
You think cops in Australia would not drive up to some kid in a car start revving it and then book him??. Well guess what pal I do it all the time and its KIDS I emphasise the word “KIDS” like you that I love screwing over the most.
So get the chip off your shoulder pal obey the laws, no matter how petty you think they are and life will go much smoother. Living in another culture means you have to respect the laws/ traditions no matter how silly you may think they are. You made an honest mistake and you should have admitted it without all the lying and generalisations its just common sense.
p.s I hope you enjoy your time in Japan I have always wanted to visit there.
Firefly!
Get back to writing about the saga! Damn! How much longer do we have to wait?!
Does ANYONE ELSE BUT ME think that the first eight comments were by the SAME PERSON?! I mean, come ON. SERIOUSLY. Who ever that is needs to get their X-Men tidie-widies out of a twist and get something better to do than flame someone else’s blog.
Firefly- your advice really helped me when I was stopped by a policeman last night. *mutters* Fat, drunken bastard…
The cops in Japan are particularly horrid. Just a few pointers for people living in Japan and have the unfortunate opportunity to encounter police harassment.
That’s why you see them popo pricks only “catching” people in small cars and on bicycles. THeya re afraid and the recent organized crime violence is a result of their laziness. Paying over 35% of my salary in taxed to these pricks is a waste of time. We can make a difference through public awareness and humiliation of the once noble profession they call law enforcement.
BTW, the asshole who wrote “Çϼ¯³°¿Í¡É¡¡is a drunk monkey looking cop from Kagacho Keisatsusho. Do back to North Korea you ass.
1) the cops do not have the right to question you without a formal reason - the “shokumu shitsumon” facade they alway use is just that, a facade. All you have to say is whether you did anything wrong and if you are obliged to answer - the answer is NO. Don’t be a victim of police harassment.
2) you are not obliged to stop for “kenmon”. Thats a fact.
3) you do NOT have to hand over your license to them if they stop your car. Just slide it into the rubber seal in your window from the inside. Again, it is not¡¡an obligation.
4) don’t entertain them,
Cops in general suck, especially in Japan and as a Japanese, I am ashamed that nothing is being done about this. All these assholes care about are their quota and pension. Get them fired by complaining people. I love Japan too much to see it go down the drain because of corrupt government officials.
how do you know who the poster who wrote “Çϼ¯³°¿Í” is?
btw wouldnt it be fun it the Bill who posted was the Bill from the saga? if you are reading this how about telling us your side of the story?
Those Japanese really got their image clamped down to a perfect shade for the foreigners aint they. For the people who dont believe you’re the good guy in the tale, I hope they run into these policemans on their visit to japan. The ignorance is just overwhelming. Theres a lot people dont know about that country. Their crime rates are exaggerated as well I’m sure, the police have incentives to keep those rates as low as possible in their individual district. Anyhow, couldn’t care less.
Firefly, where did you go? We haven’t heard from you in quite some time.
This was hilarious! I almost peed my pants reading. Those Japanese police are assholes.
Knock Knock…r u there Mr. firefly…….
I wonder if Firefly is dead. WTF dude?! You better post soon about your saga!
Dude, are you still in the house??
Dude. Post.
I was stopped by a cop in Tokyo because I entered a marijuana paraphernalia shop. I was in there for thirty seconds, then quickly stepped out. Not a second went by when an English speaking Japanese cop told me and my friend to stop. We had to show them our passports as they frisked us right there on the busy sidewalk. It was so embarrassing. Luckily, we are law-abiding citizens and they were just arrogant retards.
is there ever going to be another post?
Apparently not.
If his writing wasn’t so good, i wouldn’t come around… but seriously, weeks without a post is started to get a touch (really) annoying. How about you have a “Run-in with your blog” for once?
Doctor, call it.
Blog dead: 06 Apr 2007, 15:50.
That is all.
Earth to Firefly, come in Firefly…
Dude, post already. Or, can I officially remove this blog from my bookmarks?!
Grrrrr……….
I wonder if the Japanese Police read this blog, figured the identity of Firefly and in a honor bound rage kidnapped poor Firefly and are now holding him hostage in their secret underground bunker, thus preventing him from spreading anymore of his ignorant Gaijin stories.
Time for a new saga, don’t you think?
Firefly,
I loved your article, and I agree with you that most law enforcement, beat cops, are just as you generalized them. Overweight, arrogant, and sometimes time-wasting.
Thanks for the good read.
Next time learn to operate your vehicle properly, obey traffic signs and dont be a dumbass without your permits. LOL you got owned by a fat Japanese cop who cant even speak Engrish properly.
Dont ever come to the US, a moron like you screwing around going the wrong way down roads would be off the streets with his vehicle impounded within 24 hours of touching down on US soil. Not only do you need to have the proper identification but your registration and proof of insurance must be on your person at all time.
Man up dude. You screwed up then acted like a punk and thankfully the local fuzz was good humored enough to let it slide. Here in the US, even if you’re stopped for a broken taillight (not to mention a moving violation) procedure allows that we run your record and bust your vehicle for contraband. if you you’re caught operating with no ID, you’re going cuffed and taken in. Any 16 year old American kid ready to operate a car (let alone a sad little scooter you putz around in) is ready for the consequences for screwing up like you did and they wouldn’t be crying about it either
congrats,you manage to paint yourself like an idiot. I won’t bother with your blog anymore..the other guys commenting pretty much nailed it down