Visitors to Japan will be fingerprinted, photographed

The new rules will apply to all foreigners entering Japan except for children under the age of 16 and guests of the chief administrators of Japanese government agencies.

Also exempt are staff members of the Taipei-based East Asia Relations Commission (EARC), Taiwan’s de facto embassy that handles Tokyo-Taipei relations, and their family members.

The visiting Japanese officials said Japan is the second nation after the U.S. to adopt the practice.

The entire process, which includes taking a head shot and prints from both index fingers, will take only half a minute and in return, visitors will no longer be questioned by customs officers.

If an index finger is injured or otherwise without prints, the first available finger will be printed in the order of the middle finger, ring finger, little finger, and thumb. Visitors without such digits will be exempted from fingerprinting, the officials explained.

Taiwan travel agency executives anticipate few complaints from customers because the new entry policies will apply to all foreign visitors, although some expressed concern about possible added delays in customs.

Taiwan citizens make more than 1.35 million trips to Japan each year, second in the world only to South Koreans, who make 2.37 million visits annually.

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