THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
November 17, 2022 at 17:58 JST
National Police Agency Commissioner General Yasuhiro Tsuyuki addresses a Nov. 17 news conference. (Hidemasa Yoshizawa)
Japanese police confirmed six cases in 2021 of officers inappropriately stopping and questioning foreigners based mainly on their appearance.
The National Police Agency on Nov. 16 released the results of its study of phone complaints made to prefectural public safety commissions by foreign nationals who felt they had been victims of racial profiling.
The NPA said six instances occurred at four prefectural police departments that raised questions about the conduct of some officers.
Reasons for stopping non-Japanese included, “It is unusual for foreigners to be driving cars” and “We have found cases where those sporting dreadlocks have drugs in their possession.”
Two such cases involved officers at the Metropolitan Police Department in Tokyo and also the Kanagawa prefectural police department as well as one case each in the Osaka and Miyagi prefectural police departments.
“We will continue to ensure that all prefectural police officers are thoroughly conversant with appropriate on-the-street questioning based on the law,” NPA Commissioner General Yasuhiro Tsuyuki said at a Nov. 17 news conference.
The U.S. Embassy posted a tweet in December 2021 asking American citizens in Japan to be aware of an example of racial profiling.
The issue was taken up at the Diet in March, leading the NPA to comb through consultations about questioning received by prefectural public safety commissions.
Referring to the six cases of inappropriate conduct, NPA officials insisted the officers held no discriminatory intent based on racial or nationality prejudice.
In December 2021, the NPA called on prefectural police departments to refrain from questioning practices that could be misunderstood as being discriminatory.
A meeting was convened last month that brought together the heads of the community police affairs and community safety departments of prefectural police departments to ensure that officers familiarized themselves with what is appropriate to ask someone without due cause.
(This article was compiled from reports by Hidemasa Yoshizawa and Senior Staff Writer Shimpachi Yoshida.)
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