A gaijin card is a special photo ID card that foreigners are obliged to carry with them at all times while in Japan. The full name of it is “gaikokujin-tourokusho” in Japanese. Tourists should carry their passports, and the rest of us who are here for more than 90 days this little piece of laminated paper.

The card is issued by your local government and is used as an ID card when you go to the bank, buy a mobile phone or any other normal situation when ID is required. However, in the fine printed instructions that come with the card it says that it should be carried at all times and under article seven that a person who fails to produce his card when asked by “the competent authorities” simply “may be punished”.

Now, since there is no law that forces Japanese citizens to carry ID at all time this has genereted some delicate situations. Theoretically a person who fails to produce his card to the police can simply claim to be Japanese, because as you know by now, the Japanese don’t have to prove their Japaneseness. If policeman in this situation would say to suspect, “I can see that you are a gaijin because you are white/black (or generally “foreign” looking)” then that is racial profiling. Or maybe they’ll say to an Asian looking person “Your Japanese is a little poor, sure you’re not Chinese?”

I have never had my card randomly checked, but I recently read about a few people who failed to produce their cards and got in trouble. After that I have made sure to bring it even when I go for a short walk. From what I understand the police is always polite and pleasant in this situation, but getting caught in Japan is a very time consuming activity. It includes several long appointments at the police station and sometimes also an actual court date. The penalty can be jail time and/or to be expelled from Japan.

Still I wouldn’t worry to much. I’ll just make sure to bring the card with me going out. My friend got caught for a traffic violation the other day, and the police checked his drivers license and gave him a 5000 Yen fine.

Update Another friend of mine got caught doing the same traffic violation, crossing a yellow line with her moped. Turns out they both had to show gaijin card and drivers licenses.

Related articles:
Getting a japanese drivers license

Links
Read these accounts of people who got in trouble:
Sushicam.com Gaijin Card. Don’t Leave Home Without It!
Sushicam Forums Gaijin Card. Don’t Leave Home Without It!

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