I stumbled across this article (Japan starts fingerprinting, photographing visitors) which reports on Japan's recent move to prevent terrorists and illegals from entering the country. At one point in the article it is mentioned that Japan is the second country after the United States to implement such a system. It goes on to point out: "Fingerprints and photos will be checked for matches on terrorist watch lists and files on foreigners with criminal records in Japan. People matching the data will be denied entry and deported."It didn't mention anywhere that the record check is synchronized with any foreign databases such as the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) database although one can only wonder if it is headed in that direction. It is entirely possible that in a not to distant future all individuals who have criminal records will either be denied foreign travel or would require waivers or other bureaucratic materials.
I'm a Permanent Resident of Japan, from the UK and have lived here since 1994. Japan has never been attacked by foreign terrorists and if such attack is likely it will happen overseas. Japan has been attacked by home grown terrorists. The introduction of fingerprinting is against the Japanese Constitution which affords protection to all peoples who are in Japan and not just Japanese nationals.
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