300 Internet death threats since Tokyo killing spree

300 Internet death threats since Tokyo killing spree

Documentary on forced confessions screened in Tokyo

Documentary on forced confessions screened in Tokyo

Dangers of Street Photography in Kabukicho

did tomoko mention that 3 guys kicked my ass?

[5:13:11 PM] andreszd says: no!
[5:13:13 PM] andreszd says: ?
[5:13:17 PM] andreszd says: what happened?

[5:16:53 PM] Max Hodges - White Rabbit Press says: oh was out with 3 Japanese. two girls and another guy. We were all in suits and had dinner in Shinjuku and drinks in Kabubukicho. On the way back to the station I snapped a pic of some girl sitting on the curb. she had her head down like very drunk. but not puking. didn't get her face or anything, just her sitting there. some guy out of the blue came over and complained that I took the picture. I immediately said "sumimasen sumimasen, keshimasu." (trans: sorry, i'll delete it) and showed him that I was deleting it. (if it was a stellar photo I might have tried to keep it, but I didn't really care about the shot at all). and then he kicked me. so I said again, "keshimasuyo!" (trans: I'm deleting it!) and tried to show them that I'm deleting it, and he punched and kicked me. after about 3-4 times of that, I gave the camera to my friend so I could fight back

[5:17:39 PM] andreszd says: shit
[5:17:46 PM] andreszd says: fighting in a suit!
[5:17:51 PM] andreszd says: then what happened?

[5:18:15 PM] Max Hodges - White Rabbit Press says: his friend joined and I busted his friend's nose. (got blood on my shirt and jacket) :(

some people tried to break it up, and someone held me from behind. at first I was like,, oh this is bad, but then I just figured that the guy behind me was just trying to stop the fight so I relaxed...but then he threw me down to the ground, so I had three guys kicking me.

[5:18:33 PM] Max Hodges - White Rabbit Press says: I managed to take off my jacket at one point...

[5:18:41 PM] andreszd says: jesus
[5:19:07 PM] andreszd says: go to hospital?

[5:19:50 PM] Max Hodges - White Rabbit Press says: dude kicked me as hard as he could in my thigh. it's very bruised. hurts to walk. even hurts when I lay down. kills me on stairs. also hurt my shoulder, jaw, neck, and stomach/adbomin near my lower rib. luckily they didn't break it.

[5:19:52 PM] Max Hodges - White Rabbit Press says: no
[5:20:12 PM] Max Hodges - White Rabbit Press says: no hospital. cops came and the dude who started it manged to walk away while the cops where checking my ID haha

[5:20:30 PM] andreszd says: man
[5:20:34 PM] andreszd says: wtf

[5:21:06 PM] Max Hodges - White Rabbit Press says: on the way home, I saw another fight and took pictures of it. I've seen like 4 fights in the last couple weeks. too many K1 fans in the place. think it gets them all in the fighting mood.

[5:21:49 PM] Max Hodges - White Rabbit Press says: guess my luck in kabukicho ran out. think I'll just take photos of cats and flowers from here out.

[5:22:55 PM] Max Hodges - White Rabbit Press says: hard to fight three people...

police searches in japan

this is an old article I dug up, but relevant to recent increases in police activities directed towards foreigners:

Police shakedowns on the rise
By MARK SCHREIBER

Weekly Playboy (Oct. 16)

Last January, I was rushing past the koban [police box] at the west exit of Shinjuku Station en route to a meeting and suddenly this cop halts me, saying, 'Will you please submit to an inspection of what you're carrying on your person?' " relates editor Toshikazu Shibuya (a pseudonym), age 38. "I happened to be carrying this Leatherman tool, a pair of scissors with a 3-cm-long folding knife attachment in the handle. The next thing I knew, he escorted me into the koban."

Shibuya vociferously argued that he used the tool for trimming films and other work-related tasks. "There's no need for that gadget, you can find something else," the cop growled, confiscating it.

Several weeks later Shibuya was summoned to Shinjuku Police Station to undergo another round of interrogation. After an hour, he was let off with a stern warning that possession of such scissors was illegal, and made him liable to misdemeanor charges.

Weekly Playboy reports that police have been conducting these shakedowns of the citizenry as part of an "Emergency Public Safety Program" launched in August 2003. In 2004, the number of people actually prosecuted for weapons possession misdemeanors uncovered during these ad hoc inspections, referred to as shokumu shitsumon (police questioning), reached 5,648 cases, double the previous year, and up sixfold from 10 years ago.

"I think you can interpret it as an expansion of police powers," says a source within the police. "They are taking advantage of citizens' unfamiliarity with the law to conduct compulsory questioning."

In principle, police are not empowered to halt citizens on the street arbitrarily. The Police Execution of Duties Law, Section 2, states that an officer may only request that a citizen submit to questioning based on reasonable judgment of probable cause, such as suspicious appearance or behavior.

Moreover, Weekly Playboy points out, compliance to such a request is voluntary, i.e., you have the right to refuse.

Hiromasa Saikawa, an authority on the police, states that officers are being browbeaten to come up with results, or else.

"Officers are under pressure to meet quotas for nabbing suspects who can be prosecuted," he says. "Low achievers might be passed over for promotion or denied leave time."

What should you do if you're stopped? Weekly Playboy offers several suggestions, including recording the conversation and carrying a copy of the relevant passage of the law to show you know your rights. Since cooperation is voluntary, you can refuse; but an uncooperative attitude might be regarded with suspicion. Raising a ruckus in a loud voice might cause a crowd to gather and convince the cop you're more trouble than it's worth.

But on the other hand, a show of good manners is probably a wiser strategy. Keep smiling, but be resolute. Policemen are human too, and a disrespectful attitude will probably just aggravate matters.

"A cop already knows that almost everyone he stops for questioning will be a law-abiding citizen," a retired policeman tells Weekly Playboy. "If you refuse, they'll suspect there's a reason. They can summon assistance and gang up on you, or in a worst case even make a false charge that you interfered with official duties."

For the time being, the magazine concludes, it's probably a good idea to eschew carrying knives and other potential weapons on one's person.
The Japan Times: Sunday, Oct. 8, 2006

China's All-Seeing Eye : Rolling Stone

China's All-Seeing Eye : Rolling Stone
Now, as China prepares to showcase its economic advances during the upcoming Olympics in Beijing, Shenzhen is once again serving as a laboratory, a testing ground for the next phase of this vast social experiment. Over the past two years, some 200,000 surveillance cameras have been installed throughout the city. Many are in public spaces, disguised as lampposts. The closed-circuit TV cameras will soon be connected to a single, nationwide network, an all-seeing system that will be capable of tracking and identifying anyone who comes within its range — a project driven in part by U.S. technology and investment. Over the next three years, Chinese security executives predict they will install as many as 2 million CCTVs in Shenzhen, which would make it the most watched city in the world. (Security-crazy London boasts only half a million surveillance cameras.)

Know your rights in Japan

Had more trouble with renegade cops tonight. sa. Will post more on it later. For now, the police here are getting more aggressive in their tactics with foreigners. Print this and keep it in your wallet so you can demonstrate that you know your rights.

====================================
"The Foreign Registry Law, Section 13, Clause 3. Public officials
governed by the previous clause, if asking for the Gaijin Card
outside of their workplace, must carry a certificate of their
identity and present it if asked."
====================================
外国人登録 法　第十三条　第三項　前項に規定する職員は、その事務所以外の
場所に お いて登録証明書の掲示を求める場合には、その身分を示す証票を携
帯し、請求 があ るときは、これを掲示しなければならない。
====================================

IF THE POLICE ASK FOR YOUR I.D. ask to see their ID and write down their name and badge number.

Ask why. Because, under Police Execution of Duties Law (Keisatsukan
Shokumu Shikkou Hou), Section 2:

====================================
"A police officer is able to ask for a person's ID, but only if based
on a reasonable judgment of a situation where the policeman sees some
strange conduct and some crime is being committed, or else he has
enough reason to suspect (utagau ni tariru soutou na riyuu) that a
person will commit or has committed a crime, or else it has been
acknowledged that a particular person knows a crime will be
committed. In these cases a police officer may stop a person for
questioning."
====================================
警察官職務執行法　第二条　警察官は、異常な挙動その他周囲の事情から合理
的に判 断して何らかの犯罪を犯し、若しくは犯そうとしていると疑うに足り
る相当な理由の ある者又は既に行われた犯罪について、若しくは犯罪が行わ
れようとしていることについて知っていると認められる者を停止させて質問
することができる。
====================================

IF THE POLICE TRY TO TAKE YOU TO THE POLICE BOX (kouban):
they cannot do so against your will, unless they formally arrest you,
under the Shokumu Shikkou Hou Article 2, Clause 2 and 3:
====================================
Clause Two: "It is possible to ask a particular person to accompany
the [police] to a nearby police station, police branch [i.e. kouban],
or any police administration area for questioning if it is determined
that this place is unsuitable for questioning because it obstructs
traffic or is disadvantageous to the questionee."

Clause Three: "Unless there is a regulation relating to criminal
action, officials may not confine, bring back to any police
administration area, or else coerce a person to reply to questions
against his will."
====================================
警察官職務 執行法　第二条　第二項　その場で前項の質問をすることが本人に
対して不利であり、又は交通の妨害になると認められる場合においては、質
問するため 、その者に附近の警察署、派出所又は駐在所に同行することを求
めることができる。

警察官職務執行法　第二条　第三項　前二項に規定する者は、刑 事訴訟に関す
る法律 の規定によらない限り、身柄を拘束され、又はその意に 反して警察
署、派出所若しくは駐在所に連行され、若しくは答弁を強要されることはない。
====================================

Photographer's Bill of Rights

Photographers Bill of Rights

I'll talk to the Japanese Photojournalist Association sometime and see if this is all true in Japan...

Fuji makes you sign bizarre EULA to buy a camera

By signing this End User Questionnaire, End User certifies that (1) the subject camera is being purchased by End User for the above stated legitimate business purpose, (2) End User will make its best efforts to safeguard the camera from being used by others, and (3) in the event End User transfers the camera or the camera is lost, stolen or is otherwise no longer in End User’s possession, End User will immediately notify Fujifilm of such event.

more at boingboing

Found this on a fuji website:

Fujifilm UVIR Digital Camera USA End User License Agreement:

By breaking the packaging seal you acknowledge your understanding and acceptance of Fujifilm's Ultraviolet (UV) and/or Infrared (IR) sensitive digital camera firmware End User License Agreement. The camera firmware contained in each system package is fully activated to engage the camera's UV and/or IR capabilities and ready for use. No other firmware modifications are necessary in order to activate the camera's UV and/or IR wavelength sensitive CCD. THIS LICENSE IS NON-TRANSFERABLE.

You hereby acknowledge and agree that your use of the camera's UV and/or IR light energy sensitive capabilities, as enabled by Fujifilm's camera firmware, will be purely to accomplish a legitimate business purpose in the medical, forensic, fire investigative, law enforcement, scientific, systems integrators, museum/antiquity, aerial photographic survey, astronomy, professional nature and fine art photography, photographic education and local and federal government markets.

In addition, you further agree not to use the camera's hardware and firmware enabled capabilities to engage in unethical photographic conduct involving the violation of personal privacy, child endangerment, lewd photography, and or paparazzi like activities.

source

Photography as a Terrorist Activity

London's Metropolitan Police recently launched a counter-terrorism campaign that warns citizens to be on the lookout for "odd" photographers. Posters promoting the campaign present the camera as if it were a weapon. The climate in the U.K. is such that the photographers there last year organized a photographer's rights petition out of fear that public photography might become a licensed activity.

Campaign posters here

In 2004, New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority considered a ban on photography in subway stations. It dropped the idea the following year.

In 2006, Saudi Arabia lifted a ban on photography in public places to attract more tourists; some restrictions remain, however.

Somewhat related: Police in Japan have on occasion asked me and my friends to delete photos of police and their police boxes that we've taken on public streets here in Tokyo. I don't believe they have an real legal basis for that here, but a friend in Singapore tells me that photography of police in his island country is strictly prohibited.

When I added, "doesn't a free and active press play an important role in monitoring the police in a democracy?", he reminded me that there is no such thing as a free and active press in Singapore.

Surprisingly (to me), world opinion is divided on the importance of press freedom, according to a BBC World Service poll of 11,344 people across 14 countries. About 48% of respondants in Singapore supporting controls over the press to ensure peace and stability. Unfortunately Japan was not represented in those results.

DIY Law Enforcement: Shibuya Center-Gai Patrol

Is Japan turning into a police state or what? Check out this post from Japan Probe on Shibuya Center-Gai Patrol (SCGP) a volunteer group of authoritarian do-gooders who patrol the streets of Shibuya wearing imitation uniforms--resembling police and security guard outfits--and yelling and blowing whistles at anyone who isn't behaving like a model citizen--apparently they believe model citizens should also be in motion--never standing or sitting on the street.

If you understand a bit of Japanese, then you can see that their use of strong language is clearly offensive and harassing.

It's been reported that they sometimes bring German Shepherds (also in uniform) on their patrols.

Link with videos here

UPDATE:
My friend Jeff G. adds:

Anyone who's ever had any training with conflict resolution or policing
can see that these guys are doing everything wrong. You can read by the body language of these guys; the swaggering, getting into people's faces and personal space, they've been watching too many cop dramas.

Watch the scene with the foreigner smoking and you see them kind of circle around behind while the main guy stands in front. This is a move that is used to intimidate the subject. Police (real police, that is) would use this in the case of a threatening subject, because it can be used where you want to keep someone a little unnerved and vulnerable to a take-down. It's a definitely overkill in this case.

And the scene with the German Shepherd dog that they have - what's the point of that? As these guys are not police, I can't think of any legitimate reason they would need a dog to do their "patrol". The only reason you'd have a dog like that is to attack or take down a suspect, protect the handler or search for contraband, so I am assuming it is another intimidation tactic or just an accessory for their "freelance police" cosplay.

Yeah, aren't their anti-gang laws in Japan? What's the difference between the activities of SCGP and those of a street gang:
-both use intimidation to wield influence over a neighborhood
-both congregating in groups often loitering in the street
-both signify their membership in an exclusive group with the use of special clothes

SGCP are harassing and intimating people with strong language, the use of confrontational body language, uniforms, dogs and whistles.

How would the police react if a group of young males dressed up in some intimidating uniform and swarmed around drunken salarymen with dogs and whistles and berated them for being low-lifes and a nuisance to society?

(thanks to kmb for letting me know about this story.)

Ikebukuro Police Checking Foreigners' IDs

I noticed these police in the station doing random checks of foreign looking people's identification. I started shooting them, and they got pissed and told me that I couldn't take pictures ("Shashin wa dame!")

I held my ground, and we got into a heated debate. I told them to check their law books because I clearly understand there is no law that forbids a photojournalist from taking pictures of police. They asked me to prove I was a journalist so I gave them my business card (which says White Rabbit PRESS and also Publisher. They eventually gave up and started harassing other foreigners.

I kind of feel bad about the whole argument because I repect the police here (they're quite a relief from the sexually pent-up ex-marine macho American mentality I'm use to back in Texas). But I just think that random checks is a pretty inconsiderate and ineffective way to find illegal immigrants.

Ikebukuro is crawling with hordes of foreign prostitues--especially Chinese who have moved to places like Ikebukuro to escape police raids and other efforts to clean-up Kabukicho. Why don't they just do some undercover work because Chinese girls on the street are asking me all the time, "Massage? Sex OK!" (In Japan, you can buy and sell anything except intercourse and be on the right side of the law.)

I asked one of the officers why they were working in the station, because I'd never seem them doing this guy of thing in the station before. He said it was because it was raining outside (which was true).

For a gallery/slideshow of more photos from this series click here.