Roughed up by the cops in Shinjuku

By Yvonne Lee

On April 18, my friend and fellow Singaporean, Joyce Tok Mui Ling, and I were outside Shinjuku station, specifically right outside the Toei-Oedo line entrance (where the train ticket gantries are), around 11:30 p.m., when we were stopped by two Japanese men, dressed both in blue shirts who flashed a badge at us that said “Police” and who repeatedly said “Passport” to us.

Doubting the authenticity of these supposedly plainclothes “Police,” we tried to ask them if they spoke English and we tried to walk to the nearby train control station which was about 10 steps away from where we standing to ensure that these suspicious men were not posing as officers.

As we took a step away, one of these “officers” grabbed my friend by the arm and tried to walk her away. She tried to get him to take his hands off and so did I. We repeatedly told them to take their hands off her, and when I tried to take the man’s hands off my friend, the other “officer” grabbed me and tried to lead me away.

Feeling quite threatened at this point, I started shouting at them to let go, and there was a mild tussle between us, as we had to repeatedly get them to let go of both of us. We literally had to drag and shout ourselves over to the station control where I asked the station control officer whether they spoke English and whether they could help us because these two men were trying to grab us.

The station officer looked confused and the two “police officers” started their spew of Japanese at us. One of the “police officers” once again grabbed me by both hands and tried to drag me into the station control room and I physically refused and asked them for the umpteenth time what they wanted. They kept asking for “Passport” and when i asked WHY, they simply repeated clearly the only English word they knew—“Passport.”

I asked one of the “police officers” to get on the phone and get someone who DOES speak the English language to speak to me, at which point my friend said just show them the passport. I then opened my bag and showed them my passport while asking them “Do you read English? My passport is in English, if you can’t even read it, why are you bothering to look at it?”

One of the “police officers” saw my passport, then asked me for my visa. I informed him that as a Singaporean, I did not need a visa to enter Japan. All of a sudden, their attitudes changed and I heard one word I did understand—“Arigato.”

The ridiculousness of the situation really hit me; these men who just man-handled us, were thanking us?? And before I could ask them for their police badges again to note their numbers down, they disappeared. My friend did catch the name of one officer: “Yamashita.”

We have no idea even now what the whole incident was about. We would like to know and more importantly, we would really like some form of apology for the way we were physically handled. This incident was extremely disturbing and I cannot believe that the Japanese police acted so aggressively, like thugs in such a public area, without any ability whatsoever to explain themselves.

It has marred the image of Japan for both of us, and for all I read about the polite and courteous culture of Japanese, we are now left to wonder if that only applies to non-governmental situations.

A few burning questions that arose from this incident:
1) Are these police officers authorized to request our passports as they wish?
2) Under what circumstances can these officers exercise this authority?
3) Without any resistance in any way from us, other than just asking why they require our passports and trying to walk to the station control, where we feel safer, are they allowed to use physical restraint?
4) Are these male officers allowed to use physical restraint on females like us? Should they not have waited for a female officer?
5) In such a predominantly tourist area like Shinjuku, where these officers are checking for foreign passports, should they not have received some form of language training so that they can explain why they need to see my passport? I do not believe that expecting them to be achieve a basic level of communication skills in the English language which is spoken in most of the rest of the world is unreasonable in anyway. What kind of training DO these officers receive?
6) What in the world did my friend and I do that warranted the passport check and the physical restraint?

Editor’s note: This commentary was submitted by the writer. Japan Today contacted the Shinjuku police but a spokesperson declined to comment on the incident.

› Login to comment

Latest 15 of 128 Total Comments Show All

aoto at 02:29 PM JST - 29th April

Why should Japanese cops speak english, no more than Chinese Korean German Spanish. If i am arrested in London or paris the cop will not speak Japanese. If I were in the USA and acted like you did I wuold be arrested on the spot. Every body from the UK and the USA thinks that english is the main international langauge. Mainly because its the only language that they speak
USNinJapan2 at 03:11 PM JST - 29th April

Too bad these policemen weren't carrying tasers. They may have been able to zap a little sense into these two foolish women...
lovevictim at 08:38 PM JST - 29th April

Starviking,

About "communication", they might think the words "police" and "passport" were enough to tell them what they want to do. As aoto says, I've never been spoken to by police officers in Japanese enough to "communicate" abroad, although Japanese are often majority in many tourism destinations. At passport control, immigration officers, for example, just say, "Kanko or bijinesu?". I don't think these words are enough to "communicate" but at least necessary for them to do their jobs. I don't think they can speak Japanese more than that.

What do you mean by "properly" and "communicate"? People have different quality standards for different purposes. Be realistic about issues. Everybody knows Japanese don't speak English well because English ability is not "national standard" unlike Singapore. What's the point of your blame? The officers in this story would be just from a local police station. They are not perhaps the special task force for international crimes. They are just "chiho komuin", not diplomats.
jpdrag0n at 11:35 PM JST - 29th April

After reading this article, I have no sympathy for the author. If a police officer asks you of something, you comply. Its as simple as that.

Why was the author so paranoid if these "officers" were real police officers? If they were trying to take them to the station control room wouldn't that mean they're for real?

Also I have a hard time believing that these officers "grabbed" these people. Just yesterday I was approached by two officers in Shinjuku, and they reminded me it was forbidden to smoke while walking on the sidewalk. Then of course they searched me and my belongings, which as far as I know, is legal in Japan. (In the US they need reasonable doubt I believe) Anyways I complied and assured them I wasn't carrying a bomb or anything like that and I was let go after a couple minutes. Being Caucasian might be different, I don't know. Because I'm Japanese, the usual police stories I hear from my white friends never happen to me. Does a non-japanese have a similar experience?
OssanULTRA at 03:27 AM JST - 30th April

starviking

"English is the main international language. That is a fact - not arrogance. Note that in this letter the police identified themselves (badly) with a badge that said "Police" - an English word, and said (repeatedly) "Passport" another English word!"

Just for good orders sake,..both the word Police (porisu) and Passport (pasupooto) are used in Japanese. One could easily argue that the cops didn't use "any" English.
Everton2 at 07:00 AM JST - 30th April

Ho Boy, English being the international language so Japanese police should speak it is hog wash! You must comply to a police directive and the word passport was clear. The Japanese police don't have to have fluent English to conduct a check on a person. There is s a lot of Japanese in Australia and the police there would be hard push to find one person in their ranks who speaks Japanese. Again they are lucky they were not arrested for their disgraceful behavior
dewisri at 02:12 PM JST - 30th April

A somewhat similar thing happened to me at Shin-Osaka Station once just before midnight. Two men wearing casual clothes and claiming to be policemen stopped me as I was walking from the Shinkansen to the subway. They demanded to see my passport. I replied that I was not required to carry my passport, but that I did have my gaikokujin touroku shoumeisho (gaijin card). They glanced at it, lost interest, and hurried off. I don't think they really were policemen.
ADK99 at 04:30 PM JST - 30th April

I already posted to this effect once, but if you've seen one of these "badges" then you'll have a lot more sympathy for these women. All this talk of the language issue is a red herring - of course it's unreasonable to expect the police to speak fluent English, but that's not really the point. They simply MUST be able to identify themselves as officers with something that they couldn't have bought at a 100 yen shop. Personally, I'm happy to show my ID to someone who looks as though he has a right to see it. I'm not happy to produce it to some bozo in jeans who could be absolutely anyone.

In the case of these women, having reached the police station they should have just shown their passports and gotten on with their day. It doesn't change the fact, though, that in virtually any other situation one would caution against handing over important documents to someone unidentifiable. In fact, in most countries I'm pretty certain THE POLICE would advise that for all sorts of reasons - first world passports are potentially valuable commodities, identity theft is becoming more and more common, and not least because if you lose your passport it's a right royal pain in the behind.
pathat at 02:51 PM JST - 1st May

If the cops in Shinjuku really want to do something productive and constructive, I suggest they spend more time away from the entrances to Shinjuku Station asking foreigners for passports, and more time here and there throughout many of the surrounding parts of the city looking for criminals. Shops selling illegal porn, shops selling sexual services from Japanese and foreign women and men that are against the law, Ichihashi probably hiding somewhere in the vicinity, there are a lot of things that come to mind.

And considering that many Asians, and not just Chinese and Koreans, can be physically indistinguishable from Japanese, I don`t see how "profiling" Asians would work. Sometimes the police might recognize someone they think is a foreigner, or they might overhear a foreign language. But to use any sort of physical I.D. test as a way to crack down on illegal foreigners here makes little sense to me. Incidentally, with the number of "half" Japanese-and the varied appearances they have-increasing so much in the past decade or so, and the number of naturalized Japanese too, I think this further hampers any kind of "eye test" as a way to weed out the non-Japanese from those that are.

As far as the "speaking English" debate goes, its stupid for the police to approach every suspected foreigner they find suspicious and simply say, "Passport." How about a simple lesson consisting of an introduction and show of police I.D.? "I/We am/are police. Please show me your passport or I.D." This could alleviate a lot of potential problems. For those saying the police dont need any English because this is Japan, well, I say that if they are asking only for "Passport" then they are looking for temporary visitors who may be overstayers or simply involved in some criminal activity. Whats the likelihood someone in this category can speak Japanese? Not very good if theyve only been here a number of weeks or months.

All in all, since we haven`t heard the police side of the story, I can only say that I think mistakes were made on both sides.

I`ll feel sorry for them if Tokyo gets the 2016 Olympics or even a Rugby World Cup next decade.
Peeping_Tom at 04:19 PM JST - 1st May

pathat

Do the cops in your country speak Japainese when in the presence of a Japainese national? I know for a fact that here in London they don't. My girlfriend’s girl friend was robbed/assaulted and badly beaten up by a complete stranger in the middle of the road; she went to report the case and instead of sympathy got roughed up by the police, in full Queen's english, even though she was here on only her second day; distraught with the whole thing she packed up and left the country vowing never to return. What about demanding Japanese cops speak Swahili as well? Cut me the crap; that's Japain and Japainese don't have to speak your language just to accommodate your deficiencies. Japainese don't get language support when abroad; why should you or anyone foreigner staying in their country? I don't speak Japainese because I'm not interested in it in spite of the fact that I'll probably end up marrying one. I don't want to visit Japain but if I were to do so wouldn't expect the locals to go out of their way to help given that I've made a conscious decision not to learn their damn language. As for these two no sympathy from the Peeping, learn the language, stoop moaning or get out!
pathat at 06:01 PM JST - 1st May

Peeping Tom: What is Japainese? Is this full Queen`s English?

My point is that if the cops are going to go around demanding to see I.D. and just blurt out "Passport" to people who they think are foreigners, they can`t expect that everyone, more accurately probably anyone, who needs to carry a passport has any knowledge of Japanese. You seem to misunderstand the fact that all of us who are here more than 90 days must carry Alien Registration Cards. We do not carry our passports.

"What about demanding Japanese cops speak Swahili as well? Cut me the crap" Talk about irrelevant crap....

that's Japain and Japainese don't have to speak your language just to accommodate your deficiencies.

You know nothing about my Japanese language ability which is passable, and you most certainly know nothing about Japan, which begs the question: Why do you care about all this? Youll probably end up marrying a Japanese, but you dont want to visit the country and don`t want to learn the "damn language?" Talk about deficiencies!

Again, the police would do well to be more open-minded when approaching these situations, a little more knowledge of English would be beneficial in SOME situations, and they should properly identify themselves as the law stipulates when stopping someone for questioning. The young women probably made their share of mistakes as well, however, we have only their side of the story to go by. If the police wanted their side of the story to be included in the discussion here, they should have responded to JT`s request to do so.

Cheers, Peeping Tom!
Peeping_Tom at 09:33 PM JST - 1st May

Pathat

Now getting to the meaty part of it; I don’t want to learn Japainese because it’s just useless as far as I’m concerned. It’s not a deficiency because I don’t even want to attempt it; I’ve got better things to do. Deficient is he who attempted and couldn’t do it. You’re the one who’s been there for an eternity and yet can only speak ‘passable’ Japainese. Interest in all this, as you put it, stems from the fact that I live with a Japainese who incidentally never got any kind of language support when she was fresh of the boat. Stop being the modern day cultural imperialist demanding others adapt to your inability to be fluent. Japainese don’t have to speak any other language within their borders. British bobbies don’t speak Japainese ; on the same token Japainese bobbies don’t have to speak English. Plain and simple. As for the two girls they should have been dealt with brute force for obstructing the police. Lastly, why shouldn't a Tanzanian demand a J cop address him/her in Swahili? Or only english is allowed?
superesonator at 04:02 PM JST - 3rd May

"As for the two girls they should have been dealt with brute force for obstructing the police"

There sure are a lot of people here who do not understand legal protections and the responsibilities of law enforcement personnel in Japan. I can only imagine that these posters are racists themselves and had you written that you had UK passports they would be singing a different tune.

The police here are given the latitude to ask for identity documents under certain conditions. In no way does this allow them to use physical coercion, and your presentation of the documents is voluntary. They may escort you for questioning to a police station if they have reason to suspect you have committed a crime, but they must

a. identify themselves b. provide you with a translator for your native language and c. allow you to contact your Country's consulate

If they do not have either a warrant, direct knowledge of a crime, or provisional authorization by a proper authority (ie, a call-in to a supervisor at their police station), they can not search you or use physical force to detain you.

And all of the foolish comments here about Tanzanians and brute force merely bely the fact that the readers who have thus responded know nothing about Japanese law and that it has adequate regulations in place to check the behavior of the police and safeguard the rights of individuals.

This is why the police tend to ask you as a question, if you will show them your passport or contents of your bag, and this is why they carefully apologize if it seems that they have overstepped their authority,

You are perfectly correct in asking them to first present proof of identity, and they are required to do so.
psyentific at 01:08 PM JST - 11th May

This actually happened to a friend of mine in Koenji a month or so ago as well -- http://koenjicalling.com/20080401_archive.html

I think a lot of the commentors are missing a very large point of concern for the women who have been stopped by these plainclothes 'policemen': one or two women are being stopped and harassed by what is usually a group of plainclothes goons who are manhandling and treating them far rougher than their uniform wearing equivalents. I think women are always on their guard when they're harassed by groups of men, especially when those groups of men try to use force or intimidation to get them to co-operate.

And so far I have yet to hear of any men being harassed by the plainclothes 'police,' only women usually of non-caucasian ethnicity. This is a serious issue for the police if it's legitimately their work, and I do feel their goons should be trained with more English or with a pamphlet to set the minds of the women they're pursuing at ease if this is, in fact, legit. Because from every woman I know who has dealt with this the first time it looks like goons pretending to be police to either a) steal a passport or b) commit an assault. Both of which are not unlikely as any street smart woman in Tokyo knows or has experienced.
kmwee at 09:52 PM JST - 11th May

In Singapore in certain areas the street are full of call girls. I think we need the service of the two cops.