Kirk here with news about a survey conducted by the Tokyo Bar Association. The …

Kirk here with news about a survey conducted by the Tokyo Bar Association. The results probably won’t surprise many long-time residents of Japan who don’t look Japanese: Foreigners get questioned a lot just because they are foreigners. The law says that the we must comply with such questioning. OK. But it also says that the police only have the right to stop and question us when they suspect criminal activity. The notion that one’s skin color or facial features are enough to make one a criminal suspect is what is called racial profiling. I think the Tokyo Bar Association took this up in part because it’s an abuse of the law – the police don’t have carte blanche to stop anyone they like without good reason.

I haven’t had too much experience with this (though I’ve had enough to be angry about it) but I remember an exchange student here in Kumamoto that said he got checked all of the time – just walking in town. According to the student, the officer would say “just checking” (or perhaps the equivalent in Japanese), as though being foreign meant that such checking was warranted.

I’m pleased to report that this has gotten a good deal of coverage in Japanese. Here are some links to Japanese articles for those of you who might want to see how this is being discussed in Japanese or who might want to convince a skeptical Japanese person that this actually happens:

職務質問、「外国人」は受けやすい？　東京弁護士会が実態調査 https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASQ3253DHQ2PUTIL00B.html

職質、外国人を狙ってる？　東京弁護士会が実態調査 https://www.asahi.com/articles/DA3S15220978.html

レイシャル・プロファイリング「全国的に調査しなければならない」国家公安委委員長が答弁 https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/839e2f71ad1d44baa4e0a55c3c6530e7def2fa05

人種差別的な職務質問、東京弁護士会が調査へ【レイシャル・プロファイリング】 https://www.huffingtonpost.jp/entry/story_jp_61d508f5e4b0d637ae9b4101

「だって黒人でしょ」「名前を確認して態度が急変」人種差別的な職務質問、329人が訴え【レイシャル・プロファイリング】 https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/cb8fc3edfd927c2917e02e7fce25c13c76d954ed

人種差別的な職務質問、東京弁護士会が調査へ【レイシャル・プロファイリング】 https://www.huffingtonpost.jp/entry/story_jp_61d508f5e4b0d637ae9b4101

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20220410/p2g/00m/0na/019000c