Marietta was with some Filipino friends in their local station when they were approached by a group of men they didn't know. One took her arm, and asked to see her alien registration card and passport. His badge showed he was from the Immigration Office. "Now they are checking everybody," she says.
The government recently pledged to half the number of illegal aliens in Japan within 5 years. And foreigners are already feeling the heat -- particularly Japan's more than 200,000 Filipino residents.
Those in Tokyo tell of plain clothes immigration officials waiting in the capital's stations for anyone speaking Tagalog.