Korean woman in Kobe forced to show passport, refused accommodation, to file lawsuit (Kyodo News, May 13, 2025) – the article is summarized below.
A female university professor of third-generation Korean descent living in Kobe City says she was asked to show her passport and residence card at a hotel in Tokyo, and when she refused, she was denied accommodation. She has now announced her intention to file a lawsuit in the Kobe District Court seeking damages, claiming she suffered mental distress.
Under the Hotel and Inn Business Act, the obligation to present a passport is limited to “foreigners residing overseas,” and there is no legal obligation for foreigners residing in Japan. The woman was a special permanent resident and did not have any documents that she was required to present.
Across the country, there have been a series of cases where people have been inappropriately asked to show their residence cards because of their name or appearance, and Kagawa Prefecture has warned in 2023 that this is a “human rights issue.” The woman said, “This is discrimination, and I want to sue them as a social issue.”
There is an obligation to show it, and it is not enough to show either your passport or your residence card.
The statement that “Under the Inns and Hotels Act, the obligation to present a passport is limited to ‘foreigners residing overseas’, and there is no legal obligation for foreigners residing in Japan” is misleading.
According to Article 23 of the Immigration Control Act, foreigners residing in Japan must carry their passports or various permits and present them when requested by an authorized official. However, mid- to long-term residents are required to receive and carry a residence card, and if they carry a residence card, they are not required to carry their passports.
Therefore, the correct answer is, “Those who have been issued a residence card must carry their residence card, and those who have not been issued a residence card must carry their passport, and they must present them if requested by the police or immigration officers.”
I mentioned on my homepage that the Metropolitan Police Department’s website is misleading because it says, “When you go out, be sure to carry your passport or residence card.” I posted on the Metropolitan Police Department’s inquiry page asking them to change this statement, but it seems they have not responded.
You do not have to show it to hotel staff even if they ask, but if asked to do so by police officers or immigration control officers, mid- to long-term residents (those who have been granted a period of stay of more than three months and have been issued a residence card) are required to present their residence card, and non-mid- to long-term residents are required to present their passport. Violation of this rule may result in criminal penalties.