Take our user survey and make your voice heard.
From July 2012, Japan's Ministry of Justice assumed control over the system of registering resident aliens. With the new system came new nomenclature for the cards foreigners are required to carry on their person at all times: the old "gaikokujin toroku shomeisho" (certificate of alien registration) became the new "zairyu kaado" (resident card). The cards carried the bearer's immigration status, such as "permanent resident," "spouse of Japanese," "student" and so on.
Not long afterward, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Dec 30), counterfeit resident cards, produced to a high degree of sophistication, began appearing. Unlike the cards issued by the Japanese government, the imitations did not incorporate an embedded IC chip. But they did have a hologram and most indicated the bearer to be a permanent resident of Japan.
Now, such cards have been arriving from abroad in the mails. Interestingly, the current laws, while stipulating that possession of falsified cards or supplying them to others is illegal and subject to punishment, do not specifically prohibit the cards' import. For this reason when the customs authorities spot such cards in the mail, they are not authorized to confiscate them; instead they simply notify the police or Immigration Bureau and then allow the mails to go to their intended recipients.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police told the newspaper that they can make an arrest at the time the phony cards reach the intended recipients or when they are passed along to third parties, but strongly feel that the only certain way to ensure the cards don't fall into the wrong hands is to "halt them at their point of entry."
In the first half of 2014, the authorities reported a total of 87 cases of fraudulent resident cards or passports, as opposed to 51 over the same period in 2013.
The unanticipated loophole may come to impact on the fundamentals of the registration law as it currently stands.
"Using the Internet, a photograph of the intended bearer's face is sent to the counterfeiter, and the card ordered in China," explains a source in the MPD's Investigation Section 1, which is in charge of organized crime. Last September a Chinese national, a male in his 20s, had related his story to police following his arrest on suspicion of having violated the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act.
According to police, the man's forged card was received from a manufacturer in China the same month it was ordered, sent by international post to an ethnic Chinese man in his 30s who had previously naturalized as a Japanese citizen.
The police suspect the man had served as a go-between for the sending of other forged documents.
Initially police had supposed that the counterfeit card in possession of the suspect had been produced in Japan. But the MPD had previously filed charges against a group of some 20 Chinese engaged in card counterfeiting, and the others were said to have fled the country. It was not long after that that police became aware of the growing number illegal cards being mailed from abroad.
"We suspect that the same perpetrators who had early fled Japan are now producing the cards in China," a police source was quoted as saying.
The Justice Ministry has a system that enables authorities to check card registration numbers via the internet. However the forged cards bearing authentic numbers are said to be selling for 30,000 yen -- about twice the price of cards with nonexistent numbers -- which further complicates the process of verification.
Currently the law requires employers of non-Japanese to refer to the immigration status on the resident card and check their passport before they can be hired, but employers have no easy means of ascertaining whether a resident card is genuine.
"This might very well develop into a breeding ground for illegal sojourners and unauthorized workers," a police supervisor told the Sankei.
© Japan Today
34 Comments
Login to comment
sillygirl
A case of not thinking things through thoroughly. Just wanted to "control" foreigners.
shonanbb
The Ward Office should have a chip reader. New possible employees should be sent there to see if the cards are good, then verify the employment.
KnowBetter
What, Chinese involved in counterfeiting? I am shocked... said no one ever.
M3M3M3
The reality is that most of these illegal migrants are working for unscrupulous employers who know that they are in Japan illegally. So tightening up the system with better IC chips and holograms isn't going to help much.
It wouldn't surprise me if the employers are forcing them to buy the fake cards so that the employer will have plausible deniability when the immigration authorities raid their restaurant/hostess club/scrap metal factory etc.
nath
I don't think Japan needs more hysteria around the dreaded fereigners. They need immigration if they want to continue to be a first world country.
Frungy
What the article fails to mention is that the first residents cards issued under the new system lacked chips. I had one briefly then I got a letter from Immigration asking me to please note that my card had no chip and would be exchanged for a new card with a chip when I next renewed.
The point I'm making is that these new chip-less cards are possible because of that initial mistake.
SenseNotSoCommon
So is this identity theft, or identity rental?
slumdog
Those are some intelligent resident cards to be able to do that on their own.
Mizuame
There is over-emphasis on the card itself, which leads to such an outcome. Why have cards at all? Japanese citizens don't carry a card. Their citizenship is verifiable through the familiy register. The status of any non-Japanese is also verifiable through records held by the government. Simply make the system for foreigners the same as it is for Japanese.
shonanbb
Some info: The serial number was partially worn off on my brand new card. Customs picked it up when trying to return. Had to get a new card. I new the number of my card though, so was not a problem, plus had my passport with me.
Laguna
Oh, please, no! Do not subject non-Japanese to the byzantine insanity of the family registration system!
Yubaru
How about making Japanese carry identification cards instead. Japan is not the only country that places the requirement on foreign residents to carry identification.
You seem to have no idea how much of a problem your suggestion would make.
Mizuame
Yubaru
I have given you a "Good" vote.
Harry_Gatto
Customs checked your card? You new (sic) the number of your card? (All 12 digits? That's very good). You had your passport with you; well you would wouldn't you if you were "trying to return".
masri
a law are made to be broken
zones2surf
Let's see.... 87 cases of fraudulent cards in the 1st half of 2014. That would be 200 for the year? And let's see, there are 128 million people in Japan and 2 million non-Japanese residents (including the special category Korean residents).
Hmmm, I can see how this is going to be such a huge problem for Japan. As opposed to the dropping population, the rapidly ageing population, and the slow death of many towns and cities in rural Japan.
Leila26
Which towns are dying? American Japanese should be allowed to come and buy land and farm or rejuvenate the areas. It is hard for them to live there - even legally. Since America is being invaded by other ethnic groups, Japan may be a preferred destination now. Those with some Japanese blood should be given preference.
Fadamor
...and surprisingly mobile for a card!
Wc626
zones2surf is right.
forget all the resident card counterfeit nonsense. there are more serious issues within Japan's society.
& its not like the bubble era when Japan's economy was booming. so could fake resident cards be in demand at all?
Dan Lewis
Leila26, nobody is stopping you from buying land. And you can buy farmland, too! You just have to know what you're doing.
NYtoday
@Mizuame
I am a permanent resident of the US and I carry my state-issued driver's license as a regular form of ID. At the same time, the US government requres all the green card holders to cary their green card AT ALL TIMES. Why? Because we are not same as the US citizenes after all. And we are not. I have no problem carrying my green card with me, being questioned to present it, and being questioned anytime. I am aware of my status, that I am not American, that they kindly allow me to stay, that I could be treated as a citizen if I choose to naturalize, and that homeland security comes with obligations and responsibilities on our shoulders.
Any immigrants, foreigners, visitors should know that 1. you are welcome as long as you fulfill your responsibilities. 2. you can't expected to be treated equally as their citizen. Be one if you want.
Mizuame
Sorry, don't get it. Why are non-citizens any more or less responsible than citizens?
bjohnson23
Again the Chinese ruin it for other foreign residents and making things harder and tighter control for the Japanese. More police harassment and ID checks constantly. Might as well stamp a Japanese "rising sun" on my forehead, but that too would soon be copied. And for the poster who is wanting obligations and responsibilities, just like they love to take my money in taxes without a voice on how to use it. That's crap.
Peeping_Tom
"Sorry, don't get it. Why are non-citizens any more or less responsible than citizens?
Because on this instance the law places a burden on foreigners to carry an ID with them; there's no such a requirement for nationals.
All it means is that foreigners are foreigners and nationals are nationals.
And yes, if you're a foreigner you must be more responsible than a national. You are not living in your country!
There will be laws applying specifically to you on account of your foreign status.
The two are not the same; a foreigner can never be regarded as a national, because he's not one.
Any Government can require foreigners to carry ID, this is not discrimination. If I go to the US I will be required to abide by laws for foreigners.
Why should it be any different for foreigners in Japan?
Simple!
Mizuame
Peeping_Tom You almost seem to be saying a rule is a rule even if it is a bad rule. A considerable cost, for both the government and the foreigner in terms of time and effort, is involved in this process, and it is reasonable to ask whether the process of producing cards and requiring them to be caried produces benefits. The whole point of this article is that the very existence of the card requirement is spawning a new type of crime - the production of quality fake cards - the existence of which takes the government and people of Japan further away from their goal of accurately monitoring the behavior of foreigners in Japan. These days a more rational and accurate approach to check the status of anyone is to access an on-line database, which in Japan's case for foreigners, but not citizens, includes photographic and fingerprint data.
NYtoday
@Mizuame
My apologies. I didn't explain well enough. But yes, Peeping_Tom pretty much summed up what I was trying to say.
I do not see what is so "bad" about foreigners carrying zairyu card. An ID issued by Immigration Bereau of Japan contains some information about an indivisual that an international drivers license or even a passport cannot provide to the authority when an extreme situation calls for it. It also plays an important role in counter-terrorism.
Before 9/11, I was able to cross US/Canada just by showing my state ID. They did not care to see my Japanese passport because my state ID showed I was a resident of America. After 9/11, it was no longer the case.
I know the process of getting the status, card, hussle, trust me. I obtained my green card. I carry my green card all the time, but if I lose it, I have to pay $495 for replacement fee. It sucks. But then again, what's the big deal?! Police would pull over anyone, everyone gets IDed at a gun store, liquor store, airport, anywhere...right? It is for our own safety! I know because I went through 9/11.
The US Department of Homeland Security is not going to let another foreign innocent-looking terrorist with a student visa to bomb their civillians again. I know the horror, one of suicide pilot members of 9/11 lived in the same apartment as me back then. He looked liked an ordinary student. He looked just like one of us.
And I am more than happy to do anything to help the government prevent criminals from entering to our land, pretending to be an innocent resident, and threatening our peace. You want me to carry this card? Sure! You have some questions? Sure, I have time for that! What's the big deal?
@Peeping_Tom
Thank you!
Mizuame
NYtoday Thanks for the detail, but I think the situation in Japan with no land borders and virtually no unrecorded illegals is quite a bit different from the US. The best instantaneous and up-to-date information for law enforcement in Japan is surely by directly accessing the uniquely comprehensive database rather than physically checking ID cards which can be forged or lost. That's all I'm basically arguing - that with IT, the cards have had their day. There may be an issue of not enough terminals yet. M3M3M3's comment above above that key elements of Japanese society may like the forged cards because they allow employers access to needed labor is interesting, as is the legal use of the postal system as reported in the article.
Peeping_Tom
Mizuame
"Dura Lex, sed Lex"!
It can be traced to the Romans, who knew a thing or two about laws.
You may not like it; you don't have to!
You'll bear the brunt of it anyway, and no amount of protesting will save yer!
Governments throughout the world have rules for foreigners; the obligation to carry an ID card is just one amongst many! That is the black letter law in all its glory.
Absolutely nothing wrong with that.
Just because Japan is an archipelago has got nothing to do with it!
If the Japanese want a foreigner to carry an ID, Japan will oblige the foreigner to carry that card. The same applies to any other country out there.
That's sovereignty.
Mizuame
Peeping_Tom: Agreed with gritted teeth! But I'm from Australia where we no longer require paper air tickets, we no longer place visible visas in passports, in my state we no longer require an annual registration sticker for automobiles, and we do not require citizens or non-citizens to carry ID cards...because it's all online and that's more secure and more accessible. It's the 21st century and the rest of the world will catch up someday...
nath
Online is not more secure by default.
nath
The chipped zairyu cards do not require the checker to be online to be verified at all and provide pretty absolute proof that what's printed on the cards are not forged.
(And there's no personal data on the chip that's not physically printed on the card)
nath
Japanese drivers licenses use the exact same anti-forgery chip technology as the zairyu card FYI. (Well, 99% the same, the PIN code to authenticate to the chip is longer)
Christina Gmiterko
I actually think that this happened to my card back in fall of 2013. I was around a shady charecter at the time (didn't know it then). And my card went missing after meeting with him. I always knew where my card was and had never lost it before. I reported it to the police and got a new card, but I never heard anything about it after that. My friends all thought I was crazy that I thought this person would steal it becuase nobody could conceive of what kind of value there would be in that.