Prison in Japan
 

I know this seems like a stupid question, but any help would be greatly appreciated guys.

What would happen if the police in Tokyo were to catch me with some weed on me, not much, maybe 2 dimes or something. How long would they put me in jail for? Would I be charged? Would they treat me like crap in the jail?
Also, im not sure if this would change the effect but I am Japanese and have dual citizenship, meaning both Japan and Canada.

Thanks guys.

nothing would happen...
Jail for 2 dimes = NoWay


u can smoke ur week in the public overthere and nothing happens... most peopels over there don't even know what weed is anyway.

Yeah... a 14 yearly old girl would come to you and trying to wake u up while saying Oni-Chan
and when u finally awake she whould say Ecchi...

thats the true penalty of a non-Japanese citizen found sleeping on a rooftop or in a doorway

they prob. take u to the imigration office and try to get u out from japan as fast as possible

It would be two months in jail followed by deportation for any amount. And yeah, the police do know what it is. How would I know? Some English teachers are idiots and I happen to know one or two.

Are you sure its 2 months followed by deportation?
I heard it was one month mandatory, then if you get charged it could be another 3-5 years. If not, then they send you on the next plane out to your home country.

The reason i'm asking this is because its actually happening to a friend of mine right now. He was supposed to come home (to canada) mid-march of this year. But apparently he was arrested last week or so for posession of drugs, im not even sure at this point which drug or how much. So I really want to know whats going to happen to him.

This news is really depressing and im hoping they just end up deporting him instead of charging him.

3-5 years sounds a bit harsh. Maybe that sort of sentencing has something to do with intent to distribute or something. Because if he is caught with the drugs he will definitely be charged with possession, but they would need evidence of him trying to sell it to make the case for intent to distribute.

I only know about the two months followed by deportation because it happened to a teacher in my area. I don't know all the details of drug laws in Japan, only what I have heard in the past.

Let me add a little bit of advice though to any and all reading this post. When you are charged with possession of illegal drugs in a foreign country, you are subject to their laws and many times your country has a policy that specifically states that they will not help you in this type of circumstance. Aside from torture and maybe the death penalty, they can probably lock you up for however long they choose to do so.

You`re joking right?

Japan LOVES to catch and charge people for drugs. I`ve heard of people being jailed for months, then deported just for having a single joint in their bag.

yeah well.. they can't tell weather weed is a drug or not lol :)
it would be obvious if i were sniffing white powder in the public of course :)

I think it´s like in other countries (expect the netherlands :D ) you go for some days in the jail and if there are to much drugs for the police to sniff you go to your home country :D ok a joke...^^ i think a month or two in the jail and if you have some policy record you may get expelled but 3-5 years? where are you living?

Here's What Actually Happens!
 

Well apparently Gerard has never been to Japan and is quite ignorant of Japanese law and how strict they are concerning the possession of any amount of an illegal substance. And for winds' friend I will explain what actually happens to you.

I am not proud of it, but I was unfortunate enough to be caught with an illegal substance 18 years ago while living in Japan and running my own English school. They were doing a crackdown of the bar I was frequenting and I guess it was my turn when they showed up at my place one morning with a search warrant. I was caught with 0.021 grams of hashish. I had planned on smoking it up the previous night, but wanted to save it for another day. If I had smoked it they never would've found anything, but I would probably still have been arrested because of paraphanelia or residue which is equivelant to possession.

I spent two weeks in a city jail while they did all the paperwork charging me and my wife spent a week. She was not charged with anything because they were convinced that it was only me. Even though she was completely innocent they still kept her for a week! In that time we were not allowed to make a single phone call to let anyone know where we were or what happend to us and I was questioned on a daily basis. Eventually I received a visit from representatives from the US Embassy who said my relatives were worried about me. They said they could not do anything to aid me and I was subject to Japanese law and any sentence handed down. I think the Japanese police can hold you for up to 28 days before charging you or releasing you.

After the two weeks of interrogation I was charged and allowed to post bail which was 300,000yen! 10% of the original 3 million yen bail!

In the end I received a sentence of 7 years hard labor suspended for 3 years. Read that again anyone who is doing drugs in Japan or even thinking about it! And I had such a miniscule amount! In Japan if you possess even 1/100th of a gram you will be arrested.

I won't go into detail here, but suffice it say it was not a pleasent experience. However, since I cooperated with them I was not deported, did not lose my school and my name never entered the papers. The Japanese police kept their word. In the two weeks I spent in jail I was never abused once and they were as polite as could be. Also, I was never forbidden to re-enter Japan once I left as I have been back every year since.

For me, it was such an eye opening experience that I have never touched the stuff to this day and never will as long as it remains illegal. I learned my lesson well and am grateful to the Japanese government not deporting me and to the police for keeping their word that if I cooperated they would keep my name out of the papers and that I would be able to keep my school since no one would know.

It seems that those who are married to a Japanese and have a spouse visa or permanent residence are not deported as there were also two other foreigners who were busted in that place and they had Japanese wives and were not deported. Since your friend is single he will probably be deported and forbidden re-entry back into Japan for a minimum of ten years I think. Depending on his cooperation he may not be sent to prison. It all depends on him. The Japanese are very lenient if you show true remorse.

And if you are Japanese as winds claims to be then you will be subject to Japanese law as any Japanese would be.

Therefore, take my advice all who are reading this: If you are doing drugs don't get caught and you'd be smart to stop, and if you are thinking about it don't even start because if you do get arrested it will be something you will never forget. And if you are unfortunate to get arrested for possession remember one thing, Japan is not America, or Europe or Austrailia where you have certain rights. Once arrested in Japan you have no rights. NONE! No phone call, no bail, no nothing until the police decide you can. So don't be a smartass to them, be cooperative, and things will go smoothly. If you are not and act arrogant and lie to them you may just find yourself in jail for 7 years.

Remember you are in Japan and you must abide by their laws whether you agree with them or not and that includes having your gaijin card on your person at all times.

I will also be glad to answer any other questions or concerns regarding this topic.