On Jan 21, 9:14 am, The 2-Belo <the2b...@msd.bigREMOVETHISlobe.ne.jp>
wrote:
> Okay, so within the same month I've had the opportunity to go through
> immigration procedures at both Narita and Chubu Centrair. The verdict? While the
> degrading procedure of fingerprinting and mug-shooting is unsurprisingly about
> the same at both locations, the way they handle the line of people waiting to
> get through is radically different. Both have similar problems, but Centrair so
> thoroughly disgusted me that it essentially erased any good feelings I may have
> had about that airport.

I advise you to avoid entering the country via Fukuoka and Shin-
Chitose then :-)

> Since last November the policy suddenly changed for the drastically worse,
> forcing airports to lump all non-Japanese together in the same immigration line
> regardless of their status. This is even more strict than the United States --
> the original instigator of all this anti-terrorism bullshit -- where my wife
> could go through the US CITIZENS line with me; the fingerprint/camera thingie is
> present at all stations.

I didn't realise Sepponia treated non-US citizens with slightly less
bullshit.

> At Narita, there was at least an attempt by the inspectors to separate
> re-entrants from the rest of the temporary visitors in order to streamline the
> process; I was able to get through this line in three minutes. At the time, the
> ratio was at least 10 to 1 in favor of the tourists. Since there were also
> hundreds of Japanese going through their own line at the time, I was able to
> otherwise deal with not being allowed to accompany my wife.
>
> Chubu Centrair
> --------------
> I don't know the last time I got so pissed off at an airport.
>
> On a Sunday afternoon in the low season, traffic is evidently rather light at
> the immigration gates, but the Chubu inspectors decided to divide their 20 lanes
> perfectly in half -- Japanese on one side, and "other" on the other -- and herd
> the foreigners into *one* snaking line to the gates rather than allowing them to
> line up behind all gates equally.

As I wrote in your prescient "Redress of Grievances" thread on
Novermber 16th, the more vocal groups complaining have been largely
Kanto based, particularly
the "expat biz" community via the various chambers of commerce, such
as the ECB, ANZCCJ and ACCJ.

When Immigration compromised, it was mostly with regards to Narita:

Central Japan International Airport - Nagoya:
- Add 18 immigration officers during the transition period
- Provide a dedicated queue for airline crew members and disabled/
reduced mobility passengers
- Install cameras/fingerprint readers at all positions and
dynamically
expand number of queues available to foreigners
- At least initially allow mixed nationality families (at least one
Japanese parent) to use Japanese passport holder lanes
- Consider installing automated immigration gates during 2008

Bastards.

> When my flight (which was 90% Americans) landed, the "foreign passport/re-entry"
> gates promptly filled up to overflowing. There were soon over 100 people in a
> single line. I looked through the people waiting -- almost all of them had a
> disembarkation card for temporary visitors. There might have been, oh, three
> re-entrants in line. I was one of them, at the very back.
>
> I was traveling with my boss. All the Japanese gates were open, and five were
> manned. He didn't even have to wait; he went right through like shit through a
> goose.

Lovely visual there.

> What kind of morons would force 100 people to wade through a single line and
> wait 15 minutes before sacrificing the precious (but totally fucking empty)
> Japanese gates to let them through?
>
> What kind of morons would force me -- a permanent resident -- to wait in the
> same line as 100 tourists, while manning five gates to attend to the 20 or so
> Japanese (a procedure that consists of hammering their passport with a stamp)?
> Couldn't they have also attended to me, since they already have the
> fingerprinting machines at every gate?
>
> At the risk of sounding like a snob, god dammit, I live here, and have lived
> here for fifteen years. Japan is the only country I've ever entered where
> residents were forced to wait in line with temporary visitors. It didn't used to
> be this way.
>
> Narita at least had the good sense to realize
<snip> Not Narita's decision, probably just that of some arsehole
bureacrat who happens to know the people bitching to him.

This whole thing is just pissing me off. Improving security my arse.
Its lunacy. Not just in Japan either. For 30 years during the Troubles
in Northern Ireland, if you wanted to go to London you just jumped
onto the Belfast to Stranraer ferry. No one asked you for ID, you just
bought your ticket and off you went. Of course it was quite possible
that a passenger on board was a terrorist smuggling bomb-making
equipment into mainland Britain. You probably even downed a pint next
to him in the bar.

Eventually, peace is restored. And what happens? Suddenly you can't
travel without a passport or ID card, and all your luggage is scanned.
Once in Belfast you decide to take a train to Dublin, a journey you
have been making unhindered for 30 years. When you book your ticket
you are, for the first time, asked your name, address, credit card
number and 50 other pieces of data, including the purpose of your
visit (going home) and details of accommodation you have booked (umm,
home). When you ask a fucking security clown why the sudden need for
the sudden formalities you are told it is all because of the
"terrorist threat".

Where the hell was he for the previous 30 years?