Three Japanese citizens of foreign origin claim they’ve been subjected to numerous unlawful searches and could file the first-ever racial profiling lawsuit in the country.
Three Japanese citizens of foreign origin are expected to file a lawsuit this week in Tokyo District Court accusing the country’s police force of continued stop-and-frisk racial profiling. (Update: the lawsuit was filed on Monday, January 29).
Motoki Taniguchi, a human rights lawyer representing the trio, claims they’ll seek 3 million yen (20,000 dollars) in damages per person from the Central, Tokyo Metropolitan, and Aichi prefectural governments, adding that the continued police questioning is an act of discrimination and violates the constitution.
A Pakistani man in his twenties known as “Zain” is one of the plaintiffs. He moved to Japan when he was eight years old and obtained citizenship at the age of 13. Despite this, he claims to have been subjected to numerous searches over the years, including twice in front of his house in 2023. “In total, he has been stopped about 15 times in Japan,” said Taniguchi in a statement.
The two other plaintiffs are known as “Maurice,” an African American in his 40s who lives with family members who are Japanese citizens, and “Matthew,” a man in his 50s. Matthew lived in several countries before marrying his Japanese spouse in 2002 and moving to Japan, eventually becoming a permanent resident.
In 2021, a police patrol car reportedly made a U‑turn while he was driving to work with his wife, turned its siren on, and ordered him to stop the car. He was then asked for his driver’s license, residence card, and passport. Though there was no wrongdoing, the officer claimed that it was “unusual” to see a foreigner in that particular area.
“In total, he has been questioned about 100 times by the police in Japan, and experienced being questioned twice a day about four times,” Taniguchi said in a statement.
Taniguchi told NHK News that he believed this would be the first suit filed in Japan to fight the illegality of police questioning based on racial profiling and hopes it will offer an opportunity for people to think about whether police actions in the country are in accordance with the international standard.
Though Japan’s National Police Agency has not commented on the matter, an internal survey they conducted in 2022 confirmed six cases across the country of inappropriate questioning by officers based on racial stereotypes. At the time, they claimed they would provide guidance to officers.
Last September, the Tokyo Bar Association released the results of its own survey about potential racial profiling by Japanese police. The two-month online survey of 2,094 people living in Japan with a foreign background revealed that 63 percent of the respondents were questioned in the past five years.
According to the survey results, 84 percent of Latin American respondents were questioned, followed by 83 percent of those with African heritage, and 76 percent of those with a Middle Eastern background. North Americans and those with Northeast Asian backgrounds stood at 60 and 50 percent, respectively.
The survey also revealed differences based on gender. Fifty-one percent of women said police officers questioned them, while 70 percent of men said they were queried. And while 60 percent believed the police were polite when questioning, 70 percent of those surveyed were offended that they were.
The Police Duties Execution Law in Japan stipulates that police officers can question someone when they identify probable cause.
Last October, Japan’s Immigration Services Agency announced that over 3.2 million foreign nationals lived in Japan, a record high, and an increase of 148,645 from the end of December 2022. About 880,000 were characterized as “permanent residents.”
