Why Japan Arrests Foreigners
Why Hacker News recommends it
Commenters mostly use it as a lead-in to recommending interviews with Japanese lawyers about detention and the justice system, and one says they learned from it.
What it is
Paolo fromTOKYO explains why foreign tourists get arrested in Japan, covering strict laws and the justice system's very high conviction rate.
Recommended by 3 HN commenters across 3 different months, 2020 to 2026.
What Hacker News said
Recommends olingern · 2020-01 · on “Japan’s 99% Conviction Rate [audio]”
Current resident of Tokyo. Can be a little scary when getting randomly searched. I could argue, but my Japanese is intermediate and the police are always right. A youtuber interviewed a trial lawyer [1] last year and I thought it was really good. I wasn't aware that the holding days could be extended for each crime that you "commit." There's an entire scheme to this: 3 days - initial detainment 10 days - judge determines whether you can be charged or not 10 days - possible extension. If you commit two crimes, that could be up to 46 days in detainment. Basically, don't come to Japan and do anything questionable and everything should be fine. In the unlikely event you're in the wrong place at
Recommends rramadass · 2021-07 · on “Carlos Ghosn: How I escaped Japan”
Here is a short interview with a Japanese lawyer on how the law screws over foreigners: [this video] After watching this, i could understand why Carlos Ghosn did what he did; it is an abhorrent "Hostage Justice" system.
Recommends nayuki · 2026-05 · on “Getting Arrested in Japan”
I enjoyed learning from this video years ago, which introduces the topic of how you are treated when arrested in Japan: * Paolo fromTOKYO - "Why Japan Arrests Foreigners" [this video] (14m23s) [2019-08-16]
Cites brigandish · 2021-12 · on “US returns $154M in bitcoins stolen by Sony employee”
Habeas corpus is not a thing in Japan, they basically hold you until you confess. There's also no bail. I like how the lawyer in this interview doesn't seem impressed by the system he has to work in. [this video]