Saturday, December 15, 2007

Security warnings


I have always thought of Japan in general, and Tokyo in particular, as being one of the safest places to live in. A few days ago something interesting happened though. I think this was last Saturday... I heard a the doorbell ring and went to check thinking it was my colleagues from work for our trip to Asakusa. Instead I found a policeman with a form for me to fill out. Unfortunately he knew exactly two words of English, the form was just in Japanese, and my Japanese was not nearly adequate enough to even begin to try to fill out the form. Thankfully I thought of bringing him the "foreign resident" card and he was polite enough to fill out the form for me. Then he handed me the two pamphlets in the picture. Apparently he is going door to door, recording information about the residents and giving the warning pamphlets.


The first pamphlet warns people about locking their door which I guess goes to show you that at this day and age there are some people who still feel like they do not have to lock their doors. This, I think, is a good thing. At least we know things are not so bad that people need multiple locks on their doors a-la-some parts of the US.


The second pamphlet is about conman trying to pose as a policeman or other authorities and asking the family for money on the phone claiming that a loved one has committed some crime or is in some kind of trouble and money is needed for their release. I guess since I can not speak Japanese properly I am safe for now ;)

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