The other day., me and my Japanese colleague were talking and then he asked me if I trust Japanese police or not? I told him yes, but his views were totally different than mine. So, I would like to ask our international community, if they trust police or not? Do you think justice will be served to you, if you are the victim and the suspect is a Japanese citizen?
by Suspicious-Bag-8057
46 comments
No lmao
I don’t see an issue with them, they are more tolerant than back in the US 😅
Nope.
Don’t trust the police anywhere.
Although it was surprising to hear my Japanese kids students regularly say that they wanted to be a policeman when they grow up. Don’t hear that where I’m from at all.
No way. Institutionally racist to the max.
Trust, yes. Rely on? No.
Unless they find the criminal holding the bloody knife, nothing’s gonna happen.
Depends on the situation and what you mean by trust.
As a defendant/accused… I would not trust the police anywhere, as their job is adversarial to that position.
As someone who lost a wallet or had a break-in, especially in Japan. Yes, absolutely.
Fuck no
No.
I don’t trust them fully, especially after seeing that video of an officer admitting “they were asked to specially check some ethnicities if they are legal or not”
Hell no.
You should make an effort to be distrustful of the police. Trust a reputable lawyer, that’s it. Don’t trust yourself, don’t trust the police, don’t trust anybody that could ruin your life with a simple miscommunication or bad memory.
I do. But my few interactions with them they definitely relaxed once I made it clear that I was part of the community.
I don’t fault/disbelieve anyone that has had a negative reaction because people suck everywhere. I think that I have just been lucky.
Depends for what. Asking directions? Sure. Anything else? Not so much
Every time I’ve had an interaction with them, they’ve been professional and courteous. This includes being stopped for bicycle checks, pulled over for speeding, pulled over for driving the wrong way on a one-way street, reporting a suspicious individual taking a picture of my young daughter, bringing a lost puppy to a koban, reporting a dead Kite at a koban, going to the police station to change details on my license, and being present at in unlicensed dance club (pre-2015 when it was illegal to dance at night).
Probably forgetting a few instances, but I’ve never had a cop leave a bad impression.
This includes calls to 110 and the local police station to report accidents, suspected drunk drivers, and bosozoku activity at night.
Also used to play futsal with a cop and a detective. Both nice guys.
I am inherently distrustful of them tho.
Yup, definitely. But the police of my own country, no way!
To quote N.W.A…
Anythings better than the British police lol.
I have a good friend who’s a police officer, and another who quit because he said it was the worst experience of his life. I think most officers are fine, they’re just following the instructions they’re given, but without real due process here, if you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time, it doesn’t matter where you’re from, you’re fucked. Global rankings for “safe” measure outcomes, not rights.
Hahaha! Nope! Damn racist fucks full of prejudices.
Story here. My first experience with the Japanese police was when they came to our house because some degenerate (Happosai?) stole the underwear my girlfriend had hanging on the balcony. Their first conclusion was: “are you sure it wasn’t this gaijin who lives with you?” The wretches asked her directly, without even considering that I could understand their language.
One comment I regularly seen on social media regarding the police is “優しすぎる”.
I think that echoes our thoughts. The police here are not violent but they don’t seem to care either.
> So, I would like to ask our international community, if they trust police or not?
I have no reason to trust or distust them. I’ve lived here for a little over a year and thankfully have never spoken to one.
>Do you think justice will be served to you, if you are the victim and the suspect is a Japanese citizen?
Absolutely not. But that’s unrelated to the police. That’s a i-can-barely-express-myself-in-japanese-and-dont-see-how-i-could-defend-myself-in-any-capacity problem.
Yes, of course.
This isn’t Mexico
To sit around and act important all day? Yes. They’re mostly nice, just they don’t do a whole lot.
I think that… there are people who go into police forces with good intentions, and there are interactions in which the police can help people. There are also instances in which there is a lot of pressure on a police force to “solve” a crime as quickly as possible, in which case you’d better hope you don’t fit any profiles they’ve come up with.
I trust the police to give ME a ticket if a drunk cyclist hits my unattended parked car.
Nope. The police exist as a threat to the lower class that anything they do to disrupt those in power will be met with harsh punishment.
Kind, yes but reliable, no. I’ve seen them try to negotiate a reason not to come out when you call them which I find weird.
I’ve also been on both sides where the Japanese police have stuck up for me when a Japanese neighbor left a threatening complaint note for being a foreigner, in addition to the Japanese police getting me in trouble for a situation I wasn’t even involved in, just from walking by it.
Lol NO
Fuck no.
My experience with Japanese police was infinitely more pleasant than any interaction with US cops. Which is to say they were professional and helpful, I never once felt like I was in danger or like I needed to be filming for my own safety.
They can detain you for a month without charging you. They can break your bones and get off with no repercussions.
no
No. You can look at the murder of a Nepalese guy by a Japanese woman in Funabashi. They’re trying so hard to save their face here and brush it off as a suicide. Not that this is the first time the police have done sth like this tho.
I had a bunch of cops as my students a while back and out of the ten of them 8 were nice guys that got into policing for the right reasons. The other two seemed like bullies.
At the end of the course we went out for drinks and we got drunk.
At a certain point I ended up asking them this question,
You’re a cop at some little koban in the countryside. One night this woman comes in and she says she’s trying to escape from this guy who’s chasing her. What do you do?
They all said “We protect her”
Okay so the next day the local yak guy comes in and he says “that woman is my property” what do you do?
They all said “We give her back”
These were all the nice guys too. That’s the way it works in much of the country. There is an arrangement between the police and the mafia and they keep the peace together.
Later on and without giving too much away, one of my friends was murdered by her boyfriend. There was a whole building of people that heard him saying he was going to kill her. He said she slipped and fell. He had connections and was never charged.
Now, I am not comparing with back home. The cops back home might be corrupt in a different way, but this is often how things go here.
Aside from this aspect, if you get arrested in this country they will do a lot of stuff to secure the conviction. They will get you to sign stuff you didn’t say or force you to sign stuff that you don’t understand. They will good cop bad cop the heck out of you for 3 weeks. Just refuse to say anything. Don’t sign anything. You cannot 100% rely on translators they provide.
Even if you are Japanese this is the case. One of my friends spent time inside and she told me about the way they kept altering her statement and how she had to keep fighting. “I didn’t say that” “Yes, you did” “No I didn’t. Rewrite it”
Your Japanese friend told you he doesn’t trust the cops to serve justice to him? Why would you disagree?
Nope. Police in Japan are pretty useless.
I’m indifferent.
Neither trust nor distrust.
Not everyone is out to ruin your day. I don’t clutch my pearls when they’re around and if needed I just cooperate and answer basic questions so I can be on my way ASAP rather than blow everything out of proportion. At that point the only person who that would negatively impact would be me. So far nothing has ever escalated or became a problem or anything that I felt has violated “muh rights”.
So yeah. Indifferent.
No I don’t. I’m not intimidated by them, but I don’t trust them to use common sense.
I dealt with them once after asking them to check on an elderly neighbor I was worried about. I thought my part would end there, but they started grilling me for information about my visa, work, even my children. I had to ask them to leave my door twice.
I’ve known others who have had bad experiences as defendants too. Most stemming from a ridiculous report by a stranger looking for an easy financial settlement.
I just wouldn’t want to get involved with them unless absolutely necessary, even if I’m the one with a problem.
Nope, they harassed me because I’m a Gaijin.
So about 5 cars were parked illegally on the side of the road, I was waiting for my wife, they only searched my car.
“Don’t park illegally”, 🤡. no sh!t Captain Obvious, if Japan actually had parking lots people wouldn’t have to park on the side of the road waiting to pick people up.
No, ineffective and biased in how they work. Focusing on petty crime and “teaching people a lesson” rather than serious crime.
Based on experience is no. I had accident on bike because of a car and the police just feed words to me that it is kinda like my fault and if i continue pressing on that it is not my fault then i will not be believed as he said i was too far etc, he even mentioned that he also got in accident in bike and he is very ashamed so he kinda understand that i would want to blame the car for the accident and not myself. Is it normal for him to kinda dictate the situation? Isnt it their job to just listen to my side without those side comments? I have no idea
ACAB
maybe if I had had a bad experience in the past I would feel different, but I have no problem with Japanese police at all. but then again I’m one of those weirdos who when asked to show ID just shows ID and moves on 10 seconds later. maybe if I was the type to argue and try to gaijin smash my way through all situations it would be different?
After seeing how they treated me for simply walking in my own neighborhood while carrying some groceries, hearing how useless they have been in major situations and hearing how they have treated other foreigners, *HELL NO*. They are always going to find ways to deflect and minimize the behavior of the Japanese assailants while augmenting anything pertaining to the foreigner’s actions, regardless of who is in the right or not. We’re paying local taxes to not even receive a small amount of social capital, and they will do whatever they can to contribute to us being scapegoats or amplifying any wrongdoing done by a non-Japanese person.
I actually can’t think of many interactions with them. Except when I lost my zairyū card and I had to go to the police station (they were nice and helpful for what it’s worth).
Having worked with the police is a contractor, yeah, I do.
In day to day life, I trust them to generally act in my interest.
If I ever find myself in an adversarial position with them, I trust them to act in a predictable way that will inform my actions and allow me to advocate for myself as best as I can.
It’s true that the police are not my friends, but the same is also true of the guy doing my paperwork at city hall.
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