Kirk here. First of all, happy new year! Secondly, sorry to post something that is not Kumamoto-specific. The topic is “expat-specific” and, as many expats read the page, I hope you’ll agree that it’s not too far off topic.
In many ways, I have considered the U.S. to be more enlightened regarding issues of immigration or the treatment of non-citizens (well, that is, before 2016). And, even though Japanese politics have taken a fairly anti-foreigner turn recently, it hasn’t gotten THIS bad. Once upon a time, if the Japanese government had put such a discriminatory policy in place, I would have been indignant and thought “this could never happen in the U.S.!” Well, here’s hoping it doesn’t happen in Japan in 2026!
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1kpnxvpgy2o
P.S. No explanation about how this will actually be administered. “OK. Five people in this car. So, I need to see five IDs proving citizenship. That’s five passports or birth certificates, alien registration cards, or the equivalent. Driver’s licenses are not acceptable because they don’t show citizenship. Anyone without a proper ID will be treated as a non-resident foreigner.”
