Japan Upholds Fingerprinting Law

An American missionary lost a 14-year legal battle Friday when Japan’s highest court struck down his challenge to a law that demands that foreigners be fingerprinted.

Ignoring Ron Fujiyoshi’s claim that forced fingerprinting is a violation of human rights, the Supreme Court upheld the law, saying that since the procedure involves only one finger, “that should not cause excessive psychological or physical pain.”

The law has long been a symbol of discrimination against ethnic Koreans, Chinese and other foreigners, including those whose families have lived here for generations but who cannot acquire citizenship.

Critics say it suggests a similarity between foreigners and criminals, the only other group whose fingerprints are required.

“It’s not just a matter of fingertips,” said Katsuyuki Kumano, Fujiyoshi’s lawyer. “The court ignored the human rights issue by turning it into a privacy issue. How can they not understand how much young Koreans living here are hurt by this system?”

Fujiyoshi, a Japanese American, was fined $100.

“By continuing to use fingerprinting . . . the Japanese government is still maintaining its system of discrimination against the long-term Asian residents in Japan,” Fujiyoshi said.