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No pix please

32 Comments

A policeman gestures at a photographer to stop taking pictures as he and other police officers block a protester shouting anti-China slogans in front of the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo on Friday.

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32 Comments
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On what grounds does this nutter get privacy, shouting hatred into a megaphone in a public street?

13 ( +18 / -5 )

Send him and his megaphone to 'those rocks' he shout to his hearts content and not annoy the public. By the way, did one of those cops just get his cap back from the cleaners ?

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Three cheers for wideangle lenses.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

No pix of police officers? No, they are civil servants, so they have no right to say "No pix!", when they are on duty. That's the law. If asked their names, they are required to give them as well.

8 ( +9 / -1 )

So taking photographs in a public place is illegal in Japan? If Japan prevents its journalists from covering what they choose, they are no better than the communist Chinese.

3 ( +10 / -7 )

So these guys get the walk of the streets while the anti-nuke power crowd gets blocked in, stations closed and zero publicity? Something's wrong in the state of Japan.

1 ( +5 / -4 )

The policemen look so young.....

-9 ( +1 / -10 )

Hatsoff, per person that is a whole lotta space the anti-nuke crowd isn't given. And indeed, why does this idiot get newspaper space but the anti-nukes get very little?

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

Why do "nationalists" (all over) always dress in what they percieve to be combat gear. We all know they are the rejects...

@Ewan Huzarmy Yep, if they love those worthless little rocks so much, send them over there with a megaphone and extra batteries and then leave them there. It's a win-win.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

I think they say "No photos" because the guy is just going to be cuffed. The plastic bag-like thing on the cop's cap is usually put there when the weather is sort of rainy.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

They are what we call "space cadets".

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

That's not a gesture for "no photographs". That demand is usually done with the hand pointing upwards and palm outwards.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

yeah.. I think the title is simply to fuel more arguing..

I have taken photo's and video of police arresting people and so on before..

While on public property they can't tell you not to.. its simple.. it isn't a communist state however its unfortunate that the people that are voted in are not of much use.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

no need to do that! he should just make a bunch of small waterproof stickers of the chinese flag and you know those targets the put in urinals to cut down the splash? well....you put them in every public toilet you can find and every time anybody takes a leak...

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I've been told not to take pictures in public places in Japan a few times, most recently in Yoyogi Park, because a Japanese "talent" was singing on that outdoor public stage.

It is quite common. The Lonely Planet forum had a fairly long thread made by foreign tourists in Japan reporting their own experiences of being told "no photos" while in public areas.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@Ronald F Stark

So taking photographs in a public place is illegal in Japan? If Japan prevents its journalists from covering what they choose, they are no better than the communist Chinese.

No, it's not illegal, when you are in a public place, you are fair game for any photo's.

There's NO expectation of Privacy when you are in PUBLIC.

If you don't want your picture taken, stay home.

That's why we have a SOFA Agreement, so stupid (or uninformed) people / police cannot make up their own laws and try to enforce them.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Difference between Japan and China.

The Chinese protestor would have been throwing rocks and molotov cocktail while the Japanese just use words.

Increadible the differences between an uncivilized nation and a civilized one.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

JoeBigs,

China and Japan - the differences are mainly in the programming.

Chinese people get different programming to Japanese.

And they don't have 10 plus years of the mind control that they call education here, where kids learn the trick of totally disregarding a teacher's monotone, but, curiously, being able to regurgitate it later, word for word in an exam.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Ch1n4SailorSep. 29, 2012 - 12:17PM JST

No, it's not illegal, when you are in a public place, you are fair game for any photo's.

There's NO expectation of Privacy when you are in PUBLIC.

If you don't want your picture taken, stay home.

The law is a bit less certain than that actually.

Japan tends to expect privacy even in public, even if you are causing a ruckus.

You cannot publish a person's photo without consent, not as a legal barrier in itself, rather the fact that they can sue you should your photograph bring ANY harm (financial, pride, legal, etc). For that reason, publishing photos of drunk people is a bad idea for YOUR wallet, as are photos of crime in progress or even idols talking on a stage. Yes, idols in public/street musicians/other "performers" can sue you since they have rights a photographer never gets. Hell, even the TV station that paid for the broadcast rights can sue you, and they weren't even in your photos!

Worse though, is crowd shots where you just happen to capture someone getting mugged, or two people having an affair, even if you were entirely clueless. There they can sue you for very large sums of money even if you had no knowledge, let alone intention to "attack" the standing of someone.

It's very true they can't ask you not to take photos (except in narrow line of cases usually involving the TV/music/film mafias), but you can't really publish either. Only grey area is taking in Japan and publishing in the US, in which case you deal with publication laws of the US and photo taking laws in Japan.

That's why we have a SOFA Agreement, so stupid (or uninformed) people / police cannot make up their own laws and try to enforce them.

I'm not sure what SOFA has to do here, since that is ONLY a defense in the case of servicemen that are on-duty or otherwise "official business". None of the parties involved here are American servicemen.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Truth is most of the protesters from Japan and China are unemployed. They have insecurity, frustration and resentment. Therefore they want to vent their anger on someone or something. Unemployment is a root cause of assertive for hatred and nationalism. Back in good old days, both Japanese and Chinese were too busy to take part in protest. The longer they are unemployed, there will be more protest from both sides. The reason is they have plenty of time to confront with someone.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Basroil...

I call BS on your various statements in this case.. I'm going to do some research but every free and reasonable country allows photos in public else there would be no google street map in Japan for a start..

I agree to point about decency and respect of peoples private business on a personal level.. but at the end of the day if your on public property tough luck...

And as for the quazi-celebs in Japanese public.. they should be happy for the publicity if they indeed get any..

0 ( +0 / -0 )

So.. there is no law against public taking of photography but it is true that someone can sue if you publish a photo that can defame, damage their character and so on without their permission..

So in this case I was somewhat incorrect... Im surprised.. Im not sure how this extends into everyday life.. but it would appear in the country that gives the most famous camera companies in the world perhaps you should be careful to a degree....

Very sad.. and so basroil... in it this case you appear to be correct as abhorrent as it is.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

NZ2011Sep. 29, 2012 - 10:15PM JST

Very sad.. and so basroil... in it this case you appear to be correct as abhorrent as it is.

As a photographer and former photojournalist, I find the laws of Japan in regards with public places and expectation of privacy even in the most public of places to be absurd. They were clearly written by the music and films industry to protect their "talent" from their own stupidity.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

I was there and the "photographer" wasn't being stopped from taking photos, merely being ushered away from the barriers to the left.

Behind the police, you can just see a man with a black photography bag who was also taking photos, no problem whatsoever.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

the police spoke with broken english so the photographer thought being driven away...LOL...

i was there too and didnt saw any photographer driven away..i myself took photos on my phone...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Japanese nationalists are not bright. China has been provoking you all Japanese.. Do not bite it. Stay calm.

What China wants to see is if Japan will send SDF to Senkaku to justify their position starting a war against Japan. Whoever makes a first wrong move is a loser. Again, stay calm and do not bite this Chinese bate.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Exciting day !!!!!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Could hear them about 1km away

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Even in the US a "talent" could lay claim to revenue of a performance that happened in public. I think the laws are a bit more complex in Japan. If you recall Google Street views got into hot water because it got photos of couples going in/out of love hotels.

Most news organizations have easier times dealing with it. And it's not like Japan doesn't have a paparazzi industry for the various tabloids.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Ahh, look. The nice copper bought a bottle of tea for him.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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