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- Embed this notice@xianc78 @TerminalAutism Tourists would be carrying around passports, as there's no ID card for those.
Us citizens neither have to carry around a national ID, simply because there's no such system (yet), so when we need to identify we're generally asked to bring a drivers loysense or a passport or a certificate of residence (an A4 sheet printed by the city or ward office).
Foreigners have a residence card (在留カード), basically a visa that looks like a plastic card.
I'm not a foreigner, but I heard from foreigners that they have to carry it around at all times, or face a fine of up to 200,000 yen when caught without one.
But among them I hear different stories, one person said he was never stopped by police, so he just doesn't carry it around unless he knows he has to show it on that day (like when taking a phone subscription, renting a DVD, or selling stuff), while another person told me he gets stopped by police at random quite a lot, so he carries it around all the time.
But then again, the former lives and works in places with a very low crime rate, while the latter hangs out in just about the most shady places of Shinjuku quite a lot, so that alone explains a lot.
They're really pushing the MyNumber card soystem hard over here, that one is basically like the European ID card soystem which is valid in all the Schengen countries + Airstrip One + Turkey, and only for European citizens (so foreigners excluded).
The difference with MyNumber card is that it's only valid within Japan, and everyone can get it whether you're Japanese or a foreigner, as long as you have residence here.
Oh, and MyNumber card is currently "optional".