A s many non-Japanese are well aware, today is "G Day," or "F Day," or whatever cute name you'd like to assign to it: The day that the government begins fingerprinting virtually all foreigners — or "gaijin," or more appropriately "gaikokujin" — entering Japan. And those of us who will be subjected to this insult, this human rights abuse — particularly those of us with permanent resident status — are not happy. And Japanese should be ashamed that they have allowed their government to establish a law that will effectively lead to the bullying of a minority class — those without Japanese nationality.
However, should we non-Japanese really be all that upset that our fingerprints and faces are going to be digitized and freely shared with governments and law enforcement agencies around the world?
Certainly. But in context, it's like a victim of years of daily physical abuse being upset that the perpetrator yanked out a couple of hairs on one occasion as a keepsake.