tripler 0 Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 nice rant, skidaisuki. But my personal experience is police here have a much lower profile than in the UK, for example. Link to post Share on other sites
skidaisuki 0 Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 tripler - really? Not sure about Nagano, but there are a lot more cops on the beat in Japan (in kobans) and on the street here. They have a higher profile and more obvious local presence than the UK, definitely in Tokyo. Not in itself a bad thing, I'd say. The point of my rant is that their priorities are skewed...they are great at knowing the minor details of the rule book and doing paperwork, but have no interest in dealing with the more serious offences, or crime prevention. Case after sad case has seen people murdered or assaulted having complained to the police about harassment and stalking, and the police have taken their detailed report and done...precisely nothing. I speak with personal experience of their way of working. Japan doesn't have a generally law-abiding population because of the police, arguably the police reflect Japanese society itself. In places like Kutchan, which must get a substantial economic boost from Niseko tourism, harassing tourists for driving licences seems pretty daft, you must agree. SdS Link to post Share on other sites
iiyamadude 6 Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 Originally Posted By: skidaisuki Why the hell did they ask for your driver's driving licence when in Kutchan? They shouldn't be bothering you for that unless the driver did something stupid. Police often do spot checks on licences. You will get fined if you drive without one with you. Oh sorry, it's at home doesn't work. Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 Originally Posted By: iiyamadude Originally Posted By: skidaisuki Why the hell did they ask for your driver's driving licence when in Kutchan? They shouldn't be bothering you for that unless the driver did something stupid. Police often do spot checks on licences. You will get fined if you drive without one with you. Oh sorry, it's at home doesn't work. We are not quite sure why he asked. There was a definite language barrier as we left the J-speaking junior back in Niseko The driver parked in a carpark beside a store that we went into and bought some items from. Then went a few doors down and had lunch. When we parked there were heaps of cars, and it seemed no problem. When we came back - cars gone and they were clearing the carpark of snow(we had only been gone an hour). We had held them up and they were not happy - we apologized and jumped into the vehicle. Then the J-Police rocked up and told us off again, and asked where we worked. They didn't have a problem with letting us go on our way until they realized we were tourists - they must have thought - right! Bet they haven't got a valid license. It was actually an oversight that neither of the two people who had international licenses had them on them - they normally did. But it did make for a fun keystone cops afternoon. It is possible it was a staff only parking area, or had a sign that clearing would take place at x time or something - but nothing in English - so an innocent mistake. Link to post Share on other sites
tripler 0 Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 Originally Posted By: skidaisuki Not sure about Nagano, but there are a lot more cops on the beat in Japan (in kobans) and on the street here. They have a higher profile and more obvious local presence than the UK, definitely in Tokyo. Not in itself a bad thing, I'd say. Interesting. I did read about police making gaijins give urine samples outside Roppongi clubs and busting them if there's an illegal substance IN THE URINE. That's bad. Link to post Share on other sites
Thundercat 60 Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 Japanese police are pretty tame compared to cops in other countries I've lived in where they use fear/posturing etc to intimidate you. I've had good and bad experiences with police in a number of places. Here the only time I've ever felt harrassed was when I was coming home late one night on my bicycle with a bird on the back. They stopped me, checked my papers, the bicycle serial numbers and sent me on my way. I've had pretty good experiences with them otherwise (including a night of crazy karaoke with the boys in blue who were celebrating their bosses birthday!) Link to post Share on other sites
tripler 0 Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 I had a good experience with them here when I got picked up for drunk & disorderly. One officer rode my bicycle home while we followed in the police car. They even let me carry on drinking my can of beer. Hanko stamped a bit of paper and that was it, end of story. Compare that with the UK where I was taken to the cells in the back of a police van (like a common criminal!), locked up for 6 hours without a watch and then had to pay an £80 (10,000+ yen) fine. All for being unsteady on my feet 5 mins from home. Link to post Share on other sites
Weegeoff 0 Posted February 3, 2010 Share Posted February 3, 2010 Originally Posted By: JA Geoff, you're saying that there are people out there whose ability is lower than their assessment of their ability. (or, who are not as good as they think they are!) How could you think that? I am saying that there are selfish people with the ability .But they think the rules and common sense dose not apply to them. There are car who are like this as well Link to post Share on other sites
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