Michael Cash wrote:

> Have you read his account of getting a new drivers license after
> receiving Japanese citizenship?

I have indeed. Good reading, and I have quoted his story many times.

The subtext is very important - Japanese people are not required to
carry identification; foreigners are. If he was stopped by the police
and asked for his 外人登録証, and he said "I'm a Japanese citizen", they'd
probably not believe him, and he'd be in the clink. The suggestion that
he always carry a Japanese passport was ridiculous. The solution -
getting a new drivers' licence with a 戸籍 code was ingenious, but still
exposes the crude racial profiling (not that Japan is alone in that -
listen to the stories of non-whites entering the UK or US.)

I have a Japanese friend who is a German citizen, and therefore has a
外人登録証. He's never been asked to show it.

-- 
Jim Breen        http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/
Clayton School of Information Technology,
Monash University, VIC 3800, Australia
ジム・ブリーン@モナシュ大学