Re: "Barred from Japan for a teenage pot conviction" (Hotline to Nagatacho, Feb. 1):
As others will no doubt have already pointed out, you should never have admitted to anyone, anywhere in the visa application process or at Narita, that you had a minor drug conviction. That was extremely naive. You yourself state that the marijuana conviction was no more serious than a traffic fine. Would you have ticked off that criminal history check box if the only blot on your record was a speeding ticket or two?
Japanese bureaucrats are notoriously inflexible; appealing to common sense or compassion will avail you nothing. The Japanese bureaucrat's default response is always "kisoku wa kisoku da" ("a rule is a rule"). Japanese are hierarchical creatures, and the thing the Japanese worker fears above all else is calling unfavorable attention to himself, thereby exposing himself to possible reprimand.