Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Getting arrested in Japan

sundaicity.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

111–120 of 359 posts

Re: Getting arrested in Japan

#111

Post by cjbgkagh »

EMIRELADERO wrote: post #63
infotainment wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

100% this -- westerners love to criticize Japan's justice system, while ignoring the fact that much of it actually works . Drugs? Petty crime? Homelessness? No other country comes close to managing these problems as well as Japan does, and Japan somehow manages to do this without descending into a 1984-esque surveillance state. Wander the streets of Tokyo at night and you will see zero drug-addicted homeless people.…

The virtues you mention are not a consequence of the tortuous treatment described in the post though. Conditions could rise to Western humane standards and the underlying Japanese culture that allows for such peaceful living would still remain.

I don’t know what is humane about skid row et al.

Re: Getting arrested in Japan

#112

Post by cjbgkagh »

jpablo wrote: post #65
infotainment wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

100% this -- westerners love to criticize Japan's justice system, while ignoring the fact that much of it actually works . Drugs? Petty crime? Homelessness? No other country comes close to managing these problems as well as Japan does, and Japan somehow manages to do this without descending into a 1984-esque surveillance state. Wander the streets of Tokyo at night and you will see zero drug-addicted homeless people.…

Darn. I don't know if I have been living in the wrong places but I never see drug-addicted homeless people in my western country at night.

It seems to be more of a US phenomenon and it is pretty pervasive in the US.

Re: Getting arrested in Japan

#113

Post by threatofrain »

HPMOR wrote: post #5

Holy shit this is horrible. It really shows the true cost of having a disciplined public society. People love to hate on SF, and the homelessness. But I think it’s a society that prioritizes individual freedom which allows for both this outcome and the entrepreneurial environment we see.

Japan absolutely does not stop being Japan just because they change their prison policy. Just like Sweden doesn't stop having a very well run society just because they don't have the same prison policies as the Japanese.

You can have western values while also having Japanese peacefulness.

Re: Getting arrested in Japan

#114

Post by Avicebron »

g-b-r wrote: post #99
Avicebron wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wanting to feel safe walking around the city because you know the homeless aren't going to attack you or otherwise be psychotic at you is evil?

To be clear, you support authoritarianism, because of that?

absolutely not. You are proving the point of this whole thread.

Re: Getting arrested in Japan

#117

Post by applfanboysbgon »

perching_aix wrote: post #107
applfanboysbgon wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An interpreter is in fact provided for important communications, but it's a given that there's not going to be interpreters on-hand for every foreign prisoner 24/7. I think most people would simply accept that a language barrier is a normal fact of life of being arrested in a foreign country. The expectation of not needing to speak a foreign language in a foreign country seems to be a uniquely English one, and it man…

So the claim was misleading, and they do in fact provide the interpreters that are entitled to wish for? I guess I see what you mean, but I feel there would have been a way to express this all better.

You are legally entitled to an interpreter when being questioned by police or while in court. I believe the claims in the article are exaggerated, I would speculate intentionally so as the author is an engagement-farming content creator who has made several videos about the subject garnering hundreds of thousands of views. Of course, it is possible their experience was worse than what they are legally entitled to -- the real world often doesn't live up to ideals and legal rights can be violated -- but they speak in broad generalizations about the system as a whole that are not representative.

Re: Getting arrested in Japan

#118

Post by perching_aix »

OutOfHere wrote: post #102

Wear a body camera while in public, one that is always recording. It won't save you from absurd prescription drug charges though.

Related: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sousveillance

For those somehow actually considering this: make sure to check local laws, might be super illegal or at least inadmissible, (im)morality nonwithstanding. Although just because it's illegal, inadmissible, or immoral, doesn't mean you shouldn't do it of course.

Also maybe don't use the Meta glasses for this, even if you do decide to go for it. Not so sous anymore if you do.

Re: Getting arrested in Japan

#120

Post by krackers »

aloisklink wrote: post #77
metacritic12 wrote: post #14

Seems like it's not pleasant, and the author says in theory it could be as low of a bar as getting into a heated argument; but the author never discloses his actual charge, which I think is critical context. If he stabbed someone and got this treatment, it would be very different than if he had a loud but normal argument you might see in any big box store in the US. That he doesn't go on to protest why he got locked…

The author mentions it in a YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2epTf2IW1g (at the 2:20 mark). But essentially, somebody else sent her a package with something illegal in it that she didn't ask for. The police took her passport for a few months and searched her house. After a few months, she got her passport returned to her, she left Japan temporarily, but when she came back, they arrested her "to ensure…

Skimming the video there's also important unstated context that the person was non-white foreigner, had tattoos, and on visa. It's possible that the combination made an ambiguous grey-area situation much worse.
Post reply on HN