The 2-Belo wrote:
> CL totally sneezed all over fj.life.in-japan with a withering cloud of snot:
> 
>> Oddly enough, the
>> several times I have been stopped since, simply responding in Japanese
>> has always led to a "Oh, you're a long-term resident?  Have a nice day."
>> kind of answer.
> 
> Reading stuff like this mystifies me. I haven't been stopped and asked for ID by
> anyone in this country for what, 12 years? Perhaps I look sweet and innocent?
> 
> (Not like I wish for this trend to change, or anything...)

It's happened to me 2~3 times in 20+ years and, each time it turned out 
that they were looking for a specific person who looked nothing like me. 
   Asking for the torokusho was a pretext.  Once they established that 
English was not a prerequisite, they'd show a photo and ask if I knew, 
or knew of the person or, if I'd seen them around the terminal.  Like 
all of us gaijin know each other, or something ...

-- 
CL