Some Advice For Visiting Foreigners in Japan: A Cautionary Tale

Hello all.

I've been visiting Japan for the better part of two months now and I've learned some interesting things about Japan that I wouldn't have thought about before. I will now impart this knowledge in the form of advice to those of you who are planning to or are currently visiting Japan. It's not so much advice as it is common sense, but I had a particular image of Japan before I came here, even despite being here 8 times before.

YOUR STUFF CAN AND WILL BE STOLEN

Now, as many of you who have visited/lived here can attest to, Japan in believed to be a safe haven from crime. Where one does not have look behind him/her a dark street for fear of being mugged or having your things stolen. Where people can leave their belongings unattended in a Starbucks without fear of it being taken. A land where, if you drop cash a friendly native will see it, pick it up, and return it to the nearest koban. While that's still largely true for the most part, this belief will lead people to keep their guard down, much as I did when had my wallet and cell phone stolen in broad day light. I'll spare you the small, useless details, but a friend and I left our belongings in an unlocked car in a small neighborhood in Higashi Totsuka of all places. We were going back and forth moving things between the car and a location from which our car was visible, but it was rainy that day and the thief took advantage of our rain-dulled senses (That's all I got here) and made for the car and took both of our things. The crazy thing was it must have been within a ten minute period as were not away from the car for longer than that. Our stuff was taken by a modern day ninja (allow me this stereotypical description, just this once please).

The irony here is that just before my departure to Japan a Japanese friend and I were trying to convince a non-Japanese friend of mine back home that Japan is the aforementioned land of all that is safe from crime. An ironic situation that she, when told, definitely did not miss the opportunity to reminded me of.

Also lost: a beloved Alf-themed t-shirt, a pair of black jeans and a bag that a friend's parent bought for me. I'll miss that Alf shirt the most, though.

ALWAYS CARRY YOUR PASSPORT WITH YOU

Now, something I've heard you definitely need to do as a foreign tourist is to carry your passport with you at all times just in case you get randomly stopped. And as most people will rightfully think carrying around their passport is tedious. Especially on days you won't necessarily carry a bag of some sort around with you as I have been known not to frequently do. Also, the relatively recent American passport is quite rigid due to the RFID imbedded within it and carrying that around in your back pocket is sure to add unwanted stress to that sucker. So, me being me––I'm quite the mendokusagari––I opted to walk sans passport. I've gotten away with it for the previous 8 trips, so I thought this time would be no different.

One night I decided to take a walk at 1am in the morning from Nishi Nippori back to where I was staying at the time––I figured It'd save me the cost of a typical expensive Tokyo train ticket, and I'd get some much needed exercise out of the deal. It was then when a police car slowed near me. But I thought nothing of it. This is something that hasn't even happened to me in Los Angeles so you can imagine my surprise when it happened to me here in Japan. I was stopped for WWF (Walking While Foreign). Had I had my passport with me, the altercation would have possibly stopped right then and there. But, of course, I did not. So, these fine policemen called for back up in the form of another cop on a bike. They made some radio calls back to the station and they all accompanied back to the station. Not the common neighborhood koban where'd you'd go to ask for directions or some other similar mundane task. No. The actual local headquarters. As I entered the station everybody there stopped what they were doing and stared at me as I walked the down the halls to an empty room. Needless to say I felt like quite the common criminal. Upon further inspection of the faces and attitudes of the officers in the station I surmised the probable reason for my short incarceration: the ever-dreaded BOREDOM. As many places as there are that I want to visit that I have not yet had the chance to in Japan, the inside of a working police station was not one of them.

After a few questions about where I was from and subsequent questions asking me about how Los Angeles is, about an hour and a half later they finally drove me back to where I was staying so I could retrieve my passport and show it to them. But hey, the upside is I totally saved money on a ticket that night. So, in my eyes my mission was absolutely accomplished.

So, rather than actual advice this is a cautionary tale. Some people might think, duh, it's common sense. Don't leave your stuff in an unlocked car and always carry your identification with you. But, as any Japan aficionado, or––as told by the looks of shock upon the faces of my Japanese friends when I told them this story––even the Japanese natives will tell you that being a victim of theft is incredibly rare and not at all expected here. The passport deal, though, is probably a case of sheer stupidity and stubbornness on my part.

Anywho, as you might expect, I now keep my phone, wallet and passport on me at all times no matter where I go here. And anyone other than those with common sense and smarts reading this, please learn from my mistakes and don't ever keep your guard down. Even here in the magical land of Japan.