Forced Foreigner Fingerprinting

Far from fine say the protesters inflating a 10-foot high extended forefinger aimed at the Japanese Justice Ministry offices in Tokyo.

New immigration law requires all foreigners to be fingerprinted and photographed to gain entry into Japan and the policy has prompted human rights groups, labor unions and foreigners' representatives to demonstrate.

"It's an expression of Japanese xenophobia. Japan is using this system as a tool to control foreigners. For the past few years, the government has been associating foreigners with things like crime and terrorism," said Sonoko Kawakami, campaign coordinator for Amnesty International Japan, which organized Tuesday's demonstration.

Officials of the Justice Ministry and Immigration Bureau are unfazed by the protests, asserting that Japan's lawmakers approved the law based on necessity.

The new system is aimed at fighting terrorism and the information collected will be handled in accordance with the Private Information Protection Law, officials say.

According to MDN, Japan is the second country in the world to institute blanket fingerprinting of foreigners entering the country, following the United States.

The inflatable finger is interesting but, as a symbol of protest, I'm curious about why they didn't use a different finger.