Wacky, silly, and idiotic doesn’t always have to take the form of a gadget, product, or movie. Sometimes it’s also actions that are silly.
The Japanese are going to start fingerprinting all foreign visitors effective tomorrow, November 20th 2007. The move is aimed to fight “terrorism”. Of course, Japanese citizens are excluded from the policy.
Wait a second. When was the last time a foreigner committed an act of terrorism on Japanese soil? If you know of even one incident, please let me know. Meanwhile, there have been plenty of Japanese domestic terrorists, like misguided cults.
So does this policy solve anything? Does it make anybody actually safer? I highly doubt it. At best it’s just blind activism without any purpose. At worst it’s an expression of xenophobia. Either way, I am not exactly encouraged to visit a country that treats me like a criminal on arrival.
I wish this kind of nonsense was contained to Japan… but unfortunately it isn’t. America and Europe are guilty of the same kind of nonsense, too.
Oh, well.
dude! The USA has been doing this since January 2002!
Yes, but this blog is about Japan, and besides it is sad to see that other countries have no more sense than the US. And while the US has pissed off enough people to actually be worried about terrorism, what enemies does Japan have? Disgruntled aging Detroit car factory workers who lost their job in the 70s when the Japanese took over the markets?