Why Japan Arrests Foreigners 

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1. Get Arrested. 2. Learn Japanese in Japanese Jail. 3. Write a book about your experience. 4. Profit.

This is crazy. Why would people pay a thousand dollars for a flight to japan, and shoplift a 1 dollar rice ball?

Finally someone who talks about the other side of Japan. It's crazy that confessing to a crime you didn't commit will get you out of jail faster.

I lived in Japan for 3 years. Plenty of times I got stopped by police randomly, many times even undercover police. I remember one time, I was riding my japanese friend's bike around Osaka, when police stops me and starts searching my bags etc, seeing my ID and asking lots of questions. Then they asked me where the bike came from. I told them it was my friends' bike. They took me to the police station and detained me for an hour, still asking me where did I took the bike from. I didn't have a functioning phone number at the time so I could not call my friend so they told me they were going to follow me to my friends house to confirm this. The whole walk through the Shotengai (shopping street) was super awkward, and I was the center of attention for everyone as I was a foreigner followed closely by two police officers. We got to my friends house and they were extremely polite with her and apologizing time and time again to HER and not even a word to me. I love Japan tho but the justice system and how policemen go around at foreigners is something that annoys the fu** out of me. I never been to jail in Japan but two very close friends I made there spent months in jail for very simple and almost insignificant crimes, like the onigiri situation the lawyer describes. So, If you are a foreigner living in Japan or wanting to go to Japan be VERY careful how you behave and if you like doing drugs don't even think about having anything on you, specially in big cities like Osaka and Tokyo where there's a lot of undercover policemen.

So in japan your guilty until proven guilty

"Are you going to confess?" "No, I'm innocent." "Sorry, I phrased that the wrong way. _When_ are you going to confess?"

That Lawyer is awesome! Really well spoken and straight forward. Well done.

It is worth noting that Japan is condemned for the length of the detainment allowed, the 23 days. There are also valid criticism that confessions are coerced during that extremely lengthy time. Amnesty International, for example, has a lot of material about it.

That lawyer's English is so fluent. I give him mad props for his command of English conversation skill.

"How long you been in here?" "26 years." "What are you in for?" "They thought I threw a gum wrapper on the street."

Thanks for sharing this, I watched this before we visited Japan and was good to know these details. I felt safe the entire time when I was in Japan and as I don't think, I think was less likely to get into issues with people in bars etc.

I recalled the case of Julian Adame, the American student held for more than 9 months . Well, I love Japan culture and tradition. My wife and I are about to buy a pretty house in urban area of Tokyo for semi-retirement but now I have to highly reconsider, we never do anything wrong in our entire life but their legal system is scary.

You can tell he is an ethical lawyer, for the polite contempt he shows towards the system's inherent bureaucratic abuses.

If Logan Paul didn't get arrested in Japan I think I'm gonna be ok

A friend of mine got arrested in Tokyo. Foreigners are tolerated but not really welcome. He was totally innocent but not one of the nearly 200 Japanese present would make a witness statement. He was only cleared after the CCTV footage came to light. But by then he had spent 23 days (I think) in jail. The guilty Japanese person got totally away with it!

Paolo great information! I just started watching "Day in a life" during my 3 days off and this video came into my to watch line up and the other videos are inspiring! My mother was a major legal official for the Air force while growing up I learned alot from her and I learned alot after watching this even more so! Please let your legal advisor thank you for such great advice! I'm definitely still visiting to see the sights, culture and more so speak with the people that are so amazing! Even though I'm a 6ft 5in or 1.956 meters at 240lbs/108.862kg might be much for japanese accommodations 😅. Best wishes Paolo and to your family! Hope to hear from you and to talk!

The police will have their hands full during the Olympics.

The scariest thing about this is that Japan's conviction rate is 99%.

Wow it’s nice seeing people actually get penalized for shoplifting. Here in America, it is a free for all. When you see others shoplift in America, you mind your own business because you don’t want to get shot 😂.

I wish the USA was a little tougher on crime

That lawyer’s saying a lot in English that most won’t say in Japanese… especially not on record. Good on him for helping share the real situation and reason behind the 99% conviction rate in Japan

That lawyer's English is excellent. I want his business card before I go to Japan.

I smacked a Japanese cop that stopped me ..he laughed and said you are so brave i must let u go. No bullshit.. it works

Thank you for making such an amazingly detailed video about this with an expert! I will def. bookmark this for sharing later, since this is a point I have to go over with people so often, and it is quite frustrating and hard to explain just how horrible the justice system in Japan can be from a Westerner's point of view, and also why human right organizations are constantly admonishing Japan for especially this ( 5:03 人質司法　hostage justice/forced confession) practice

I have a feeling the lawyer was really just saying discreetly and carefully, "you are f***ed".

Long story short: Dont get arrested in Japan, especially if you're a foreigner. If you do get arrested, prepare to be found guilty even if you are definitely innocent.

"Japan is the best place to live." *Proceeds to describe one of the most fucked up justice systems in the modern world.*

*Thank you--very informative.*

I grew up in Tokyo with my abusive parents in the 80s and there was no way the whole apartment building didn't know what was going on. My father would terrorize me in the hallway in front of everyone's closed doors as I screamed and cried, and once he even did it in a city park. NOBODY ever stepped up, called the police, or even made so much as a noise complaint. It's reassuring to know, as I nurse my PTSD as an adult, that the police were ready and waiting to round up the real criminals who pilfered rice from convenience stores.

The lawyer’s accent is amazing considering how hard English usually is for Japanese people

This is great! As a lawyer it’s interesting to see the differences between the American and Japanese legal systems.

wow the Japanese lawyers English is so good and so smooth like i applaud that 👏🏻

I lost my wallet when I was in Japan. I went to the police and they said maybe some one will turn it in by tomorrow. I was bummed. Checked it out, they said there is a wallet at the central location. I went and it was mine. The money and everything was there! I love Japan!

If you ARE arrested, NEVER, sign any papers they give you to sign (which will be in Japanese and you admitting you're guilty of things you don't even realize). DEMAND to be able to call your embassy. My Kiwi buddy was interrogated by more than 5 officers for 2 days, day and night, until they finally let him call his embassy, who immediately got him out. The one officer even forcefully tried to get my buddy sign papers, by bending his fingers and bruising them. DO NOT TRUST WHAT THEY TELL YOU.

I was thinking to plan a holiday in Japan but after this video I decided to go somewhere else. Thank you

Great video. After living in Japan for several years, looks like I was lucky to have avoided being arrested ...

It may have changed, but I went to Japan 4 years ago. I've never been arrested, I treated people equally nice and had some really nice experiences, let alone made some friends. HOWEVER. I did get a lift home by police escort from a special case. I was in the southern prefecture of Osaka and was heading home from Namba, after a day of shopping and I was about to board a train, when I saw a man twitching and body spazzing in quite a painful way. I kindly asked if he was alright in Japanese and when he looked at me, it instantly clicked that something was very wrong. I tried again to be sure and again, he was moving his lips (or trying to) and couldn't say a thing, but his eyes were telling me he needs help. So I went out and hit the emergency button that they had for medical emergencies. (which from what I remembered viewing, was the exact reason in his case.) Two engineers came and I explained in broken Japanese that there was a man who needed help. They went in and sure enough, tried the same thing I've done before to him. They too, saw a problem and got him help and had me remain behind. An officer came and asked me some questions, which thankfully I understood what he was asking and I answered in kind, explaining that I was using a translator to help answer since my Japanese is a bit poor. (It's not great, but enough to get me by.) He asked me where I was staying and since I missed the train and another wasn't leaving for another two to three hours and I said to him I was rather exhausted from a long day, gave me a lift back with no problems. I was told not to leave my room for the night, which I wasn't, I was very tired and went to bed the moment I got to my room. Next morning, I get a call from downstairs lobby that I have something for me. I get down there and there was a bouquet of flowers for me. Apparently, I saved that man's life, according to the note from his family. I honestly felt so happy I did the right thing, and I wish I could take the flowers back with me, but you know.. customs.. So I let the desk receptionist keep them for me.

I had a friend who was arrested for shoplifting at Disneyland in California. He had purchased a Disneyland baseball cap the year before. He wore that baseball cap back to Disneyland the next year. A store employee accused him of stealing the cap. Naturally, he no longer had the receipt. He was arrested and charged. The video footage cleared him, but now he has an arrest record. Oh, he was also banned from Disneyland for life although they later lifted that restriction. I was there when he burned the Disneyland baseball cap. Sounds a lot like Japanese justice.

Me too I just lost all thoughts of visiting Japan now you're detained whether you're guilty or innocent if you're a foreigner one guy does something illegal in the apartment in your both taken in and found guilty no thank you I will stay home and watch these wonderful RU-vid episodes.

"Japan is so great! You definitely should visit. But also, a lot of foreigners get arrested, and then they can get completely destroyed and unfairly pressured by the justice system to the point where it ruins their whole life, the police doesn't even need evidence until then, nobody can help you, you'll be psychologically tortured, almost everyone gets pressured into false confessions, your job will be gone. They're going to be raging racists towards you, the likes of which you've never seen... but otherwise japan is just fantastic!"

This is interesting. I only had one interaction with Japanese police, a man (Japanese) was harassing me when I was on my way back to hotel from meeting friends. They intervened- scared the man away and walked with me to my hotel. ♡ so thankful for them.

Lived in Japan for 6 years. Once a guy from Brazil who worked with us was arrested because a woman said she was robbed in front of a hospital. The guy was at the hospital as his wife was giving birth. He got arrested because the woman said the offender was a foreigner. The police didn't care, he was a foreigner, and he got arrested. In the end, the woman admitted she was not robbed and was afraid to tell the family she lost money gambling, pointing to a foreigner to be more convincing. He got out after 3 months, but he lost his job and the birth of his son. And the woman, nothing, nothing, he tried to sue the woman, but it was not accepted because she was Japanese and "apologized."

Yugo san. Such a legend. Forever ❤

This is interesting to hear. I did it at Japan back in the early 1990s. From what I remember it did not used to be like that and the sense that you weren't just held for 72 hours know what I heard was that you can actually be jailed for up to 23 days. It sounds like a long time and more or less the reason why they keep you incarcerated for 23 days automatically. There's was no such thing as a 73 hr 'grace period' where they access the situation. The reason beingis IF, in the course of their 23 day hold on you -- investigation against you -- they find out about anything else you might have done having you already IN custody makes it a lot easier on their legal system to charge, indict and ultimately sentence you, because they don't have to go hunting for you throughout the whole city. You would have already been in custody.

"I tell my clients to remain silent, there is no point in giving information to your opponent"...good lawyers exist all over the world

In a nutshell: "guilty until proven innocent"

Thanks for the tips

Funny story I was in akihabara and I was buying something but stepped out to take a phone call but then the shopkeeper called the cops so they stopped me and my friend when we crossed the street. We didn't have any ID apart from my school ID from overseas and they saw "High School" so they let us go... I didnt know how lucky we were until now

I had been living in Japan almost 20 years when I found a lost smart phone that had been left on a mail box. I took it to the local mini police station ("police box"). The first question he asked was "Did you steal it?" I was impressed- he hit both foreign stereotypes (criminals and stupid) in a mere 4 words. Makes one very reticent to do good by others.

They arrested my friend who was a foreigner. He was locked up for 5 or 6 days. There was a fight in Tokyo that involved another foreigner who was eating at an establishment 5 stores down who was black as well. The only thing that saved him from further punishment was his restaurant receipt.

Good morning family and good health to everyone especially MENTAL. Very interesting. Thank you for sharing 👍🏼👍🏼

So basically, dont act up in Japan. If you do, you are in deep trouble.

Whilst in Yokohama some years ago was needing to exchange foreign currency......was down to a few hundred yen.Could not find anywhere so headed to the police station and they informed me l needed to take a train ride to Tokyo.They saw my predicament and loaned me the cash to get there.Will never forget their kindness.They did not take any particulars,just my word.On my return journey l was grateful and of course returned the cash.A small act but something l've never forgotten.

That lawyer gives off a really professional vibe, you feel you can really trust him.

This is the best video of Japan, I would like to see more real things compared to touristy things like best food in Tokyo etc.

Coming back to your video after Johnny Somali getting arrested in Osaka.

I guess the answer: arresting foreigners is more easy than arresting the Yakuza criminals.

Paolo: and if the... lawyer: 23 days

Wow. I am a law abiding citizen, but this is so extreme I will not visit Japan. It is not worth the risk of this treatment. This is a shame on Japan.

Useful. Thanks.

Misleading title? Should be: “What happen’s if You face the law in Japan?” The title suggest that Japanese Police is rounding up foreigners

Finally, I've found the Japanese side to understanding Ace Attorney. No wonder the game is so ridiculous about arresting people and immediately declaring them guilty.

Conclusion: stay cool in Japan. Good philosophy.

7:44 "especially those sight seeing tourists..." *eyeroll* can't hide that contempt for the baka gaijin i love it

Very scary justice system, especially if you are innocent.

READ THIS: I got arrested in Japan in 2018. Went to Tower records in Shinjuku, Tower Records is set over 3 levels of a 9 story building, top floor books/magazines, mid level CD’s/records, lower level Electrics. There are cashiers on every level. I wanted to buy a disc-man & c.d. (yeah i'm old school) I picked a Beatles C.D. & took the escalator to go down to the next level to the electronics dept where the disc-mans were. Halfway down the escalator an undercover lady calls out “Shoplifter" & grabbed my arm, I laughed thinking she's made a mistake, I hadn't stolen anything. Well unfortunately I cannot speak Japanese and her English was poor. I tried to explained "No I am going to also get a disc-man and pay for it + the CD I had in my hand" (PLEASE KEEP IN MIND I HAD NOT AND DID NOT ATTEMPT TO LEAVE THE STORE OR GO ANYWHERE NEAR AN EXIT) I was simply riding the Escalator down to the next level of Tower Records tri-livel store (the same store). The security lady asked me to go into some room to check my backpack, I said no problem, my bag only has a jumper, bottle of water and my camera, once she see's that I would be let go, well once in the room the store manager came in & within another 3 minutes "7 police-men" arrived & also came into the room. I attempted to stand up from the chair I was sitting in to do the polite Japanese thing of bow and say Hello to the Police, that didn't go down so well, this young punk Cop pushed me backwards and I fell over the chair onto the ground. I was like WTF this is getting real, next thing the cops pinned me up to the wall, handcuffed me and then lead me out onto the street in front of hundreds of other shoppers, many taking cell phone photos of me, 7 dam cops leading me to the police car, we then drove with sirens on back to Shinjuku Police head-quarters. I am not a thief and have never been in trouble with the police. I had over $ 1,000 usd in my wallet as I wished to go shopping & buy gifts for my family & friends that day. I was trying to explain that I had not even attempted to exit the store although no one could speak English & they didn't care about what I was trying to say. I was put in a cell, I asked to speak to someone in English or to the U.S. embassy, they totally ignored me. After 2 hours I was taken to a room, finger and foot printed, photos taken & even mouth swabbed to check my DNA, they also photographed & scanned the soles of my Adidas shoes (I believe to see if such shoes have been used in a crime?) I was never told I had a choice of refusing the fingerprinting etc. (it all happened just like it does in the movies) Had to hold a signboard with my name, date & location on it - the same one i am sure murderers have held. Back in the cell for another 5 hours, they then asked me for my hotel details & took me back to my hotel room. Once inside my hotel room 1 police guy pulled out a video camera & recorded, they searched my whole room, under the bed, pulled my suitcase apart, inside my clothes, pockets, dirty laundry, literrally everywhere (I guess looking for stolen goods) and found nothing. I didn't have my passport on me so the cops also took my passport from my room. I was extremely embarrassing as they led me pass hotel staff and guests while I was still handcuffed. After that we returned to the police station. Finally at 3 am a policeman arrived who could speak English, we went to a room with another older Japanese Detective. I explained what had happened and he just shook his head and said sorry, he told me that even if a store is set over several floors & run / owned by the same company in japan it is custom & the law is you are required to pay for whatever you get from that floor before going to the stores next level/floor. Meaning even if you are buying multiple things you will get multiple bags & receipts for each item you have purchased. I learned the Japanese system is different to EVERY other country i have ever visited. (and I've been to 20 plus different countries) After another 30 minutes I was given a letter written in Japanese saying “The Tokyo Metropolitan Police apologise for falsely arresting you, you have not been charged with any offence and you are welcome to continue your holiday in Japan.” I was then asked to say something in Japanese 10 times, I have no idea what I was asked to say & was finally released. I was concerned the staff at my hotel would think I was a criminal so the policeman called my hotel spoke to the manager and told him I was falsely arrested and I was not in trouble. After that the same policeman who could speak English walked me out of the Police headquarters onto the street. He told me he was very worried with the Olympics coming up and that in the Shinjuku Police Station there were over 1,000 cops and only 8 could speak fluent English. Be careful in Japan. Link: picture of tower records shijuku tokyo www.reddit.com/r/vinyl/comments/akkgz8/got_to_visit_tower_records_while_in_tokyo_such_an/

Big respect to this lady!

Lived there for 4 years. Made sure I knew the customs and never had a problem.

If a Japanese lawyer says that the detainment is outrageous, it IS outrageous.

When I was in highschool, my friend and I went to Japan and were walking through Akihabara but got stopped by two cops as we were crossing the road asking for ID like a passport or something. Apparently they got a call because "trouble" and we fit the description? Thankfully I had my foreign student ID and they recognised "High School" and let us go but kept staring at us. Weirdest experience of my life and we still don't know what we did.

After living in Japan for 2 years, I can confirm that Japan is better to visit than live in.

Even though I live in Korea, which has a similar judicial system to Japan, this is quite a shocking story. There doesn't seem to be any similarity in this area. What is the reason for prohibiting the presence of lawyers during the investigation stage? And why is unlimited detention not socially controversial?

Foreigner: *Gets arrested* Deadman Wonderland: *Allow me to introduce myself*

Doing graffiti in a foreign country is just rude.

あの、犯行現場に警察が来て、罪を否定し叫んだり暴れたりすればどうにかなると思っている海外の人が多く、 暴れるのを抑え込んでいるのを外国人だけにしている差別だと海外で話題になってるみたいですが、 そこの誤解も説いて広めて欲しいです。

Well being foreigner seems a reason good enough to arrest someone to me. I really hope other countries follow this example. This among other things should help to eliminate tourism.

The title makes it sound like foreigners get arrested for being a foreigner lol....

Imagine losing your Job because you're 1 month in Japanese Prison cause some Japanese guy thought you stole a Candy bar.

I was walking to where I was staying late at night... Having a drink, I emptied the can.. And shook out the can over the creek. Then put it back in the bag... Then the police car turned it's head lights on in front of me. They gave me the stink eye but drove off... They knew I wasn't going to be trouble.

Wow. It would be a nightmare say if some local teen puts a stolen object on your purse or something. You'll end up jailed for minimum 23 days, and 1-2 years for a crime you did not do. Horrible country - never going to Japan then.

That lawyer speaks better English than most americans lol

Confess even tho you're innocent. Ok japan is kinda scary

To be fair; dont commit crimes abroad! Whoever does that are criminals anyway ,so lock them up

Paolo you should make a follow up video of what life for the accused is like in jail for an accused criminal.

The fact that even a local trial lawyer speaks out about how terrible Japan's legal system on a worldwide platform should speak volumes. Never plan on traveling there due to that system alone.

I knew of a foreigner(English teacher on a working visa in Japan) who was shopping at a 100yen shop. This shop had multiple floors in the same building and theft detectors on each escalator. I think he was supposed to have paid at the cashier per floor before descending to the next floor(which is actually rather rare as usually stores with multiple floors tend to have cashiers on the bottom floor near the exit). Anyways a beeper went off as he was holding goods from one floor and a staff caught him and called the cops. This part I cannot vouch for but he says he was just going to another floor to continue shopping - or if he was actually planning to shoplift - no idea. In any case I am sure he wasn't the only one and most people(Japanese) would simply be advised to pay at the cashier first. Perhaps of his combative attitude to the shop staff, they decided to call the police. There was no evidence other than his word of mouth supporting his intentions so he was arrested. Detained and for weeks no one knew where he was. A few weeks later he confessed and was let out. By that time his company hard terminated his contract, he was behind on the bills, he couldn't continue his employment so therefore his visa had no more guarantor and basically he was forced to leave the country over a simple mistake.

You just talked me right out of ever visiting Japan.

What if they never did it. This kind of false accusation is sickening.

- You’ve been detained, see you in 23 days. - Your detainment is up, time to go to jail. - You’ve served your sentence, time to go to immigration office. - Welcome to immigration office, you’ve been detained. - Your detainment is up, time to fly to your country. - *Bonus round:* Oh you can’t afford plane ticket? Well in that case you’ve been detained until we can deport you.

so when i feel guilty when leaving a convenience store without buying anything in Japan....im going straight to jail?

Omg Japan needs reform. No lawyers allowed in the interrogation room? Yeah nothing will go wrong. ( we also need reform for... many reasons 😒)

Wholly crap, one year in jail for stealing a freaking rice bowl?! Are they completely nuts???

Summary: They can accuse you and put you in jail for 23 days without evidence, without a lawyer until you confess. Hostage justice. Good luck.

This Japanese lawyer speaks English so well wow

Unjust arrests occur even for Japanese people. It's not because I'm a foreigner.

72 hours is an insane amount of time to hold someone in custody without charge

This video title should be: “What Happens When You Get Arrested In Japan?”

I got arrested when I visited Japan! I was in Gas Panic, a club in Roppongi. Some other white guy hurt a girls foot with a cigarette. He fled right away but I had no idea what was even going on, I kept trying to get ice for her foot, but I was drunk and could only remember the word for water , there was a very confused bar man hahaha! When I realised I was no help I started to leave, when I was half way down the stairs I could see the bouncers already on their way for me, they took me by the arm and we walked down to see a whole host of police cars at the bottom! Everyone looked pissed off at me because they thought I'd hurt her. She was going absolutely ballistic by this point. They took me to the station and questioned me, it was a mad experience! It took hours and eventually they let me go as they realised it wasn't me. They gave me an umbrella and taxi money + train money, the taxi was already outside the station to take me to the subway. I didn't speak enough Japanese so I had one guy shouting at me in Japanese, a room full of cops just watching us and one guy politely translating everything to me. At the time I thought I was in some SERIOUS trouble!

Basically, if you don't want to be arrested in a foreign country, don't break the law in that country. Thanks for that, Einstein.