Unjustified Profiling a surprise?
 

I just found this article. After reading it, I thought about it for a minute.

Pocket knife lands tourist, 74, in lockup | The Japan Times Online

I've never traveled outside the U.S. and have only traveled a few places outside my own state. I like to consider myself a very observant person, I tend to notice a lot of stuff that goes on around where ever I am at the time. I can usually pick out what is stylized and what is more truth in tv shows, movies, and anime.

After reading this article, I realized that the person who wrote it really doesn't know a lot about the world at all. Sure, I feel bad that this happened to this guy, but this type of situation can happen anywhere in the world. You can be from there and it can happen to you. Pointing out that, in his eyes, the officer was targeting Giajin is like saying this could never happen to an American in America. Yes, it's a fact that there are Japanese people that do not like tourists. But couldn't the same be said for some of the people in any other country?

Other random questions I unquestionably believe police officers really asked with no apparent reason to do so:

"Do you have an ecstacy pill hidden in your left shoe?"

"Do you have a F1 Ball Grenade concealed in the door of your car?"

"Is there a young girl tied up as a sex slave in your apartment?"

"Are you going to strap a bomb beneath the Prime Ministers car this evening?"

Where did you get this fact from? I always felt very welcomed by the people in Japan. If this story is true I admit that it is not fair but it safer not to carry any weapons at all if you're a tourist. I wonder what will happen when people buy one of those samurai swords to take home with them?

I guess I'm lucky that when I lived there I didn't get caught bringing home those kitchen knives from the ¥100 store.;)

It's a simple that fact that there will be atleast a few people in any country one can travel to that do not like outsiders coming to their country.

This is a letter to the editor. A search for "pocket knife, foreigner, Japan" led to no news on this arrest. So we have no way of knowing if this actually happened or not, at this point.

I had nothing but positive experiences with the police in Japan.

Wait... that didn't work.

Hm..

I wouldn't jump up and call it racial profiling but I wouldn't not call it such.
Really I don't know about you...but I wasn't there, so who knows what really happened?

It could have been a racist cop or.. perhaps the man threatened him.
Orrrrr maybe as suggested above it really didn't happen.

Japan is a lot more foreigner friendly then a lot of places in the world but that doesn't mean that all Japanese like foreigners nor does it mean that it's a dangerous place for them.