One day, a person claiming to be from the Narcotics Control Department of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare suddenly came to my home for a “voluntary on-site inspection.” I was willing to cooperate with the voluntary inspection itself. I had no problem with that. But the intercom suddenly rang in the morning, and when I answered, a masked middle-aged man told me to “let him in.” I could not confirm his face. He did not properly show identification. As a matter of course, I clearly told him: •Please remove your mask and show your face •Please clearly present your ID •Once I can confirm that, I will cooperate This was not refusal. It was “confirmation.” Ordinary safety confirmation. However, he refused that on the spot. While saying “cooperate voluntarily,” he refused to identify himself or confirm his status. At that point, it made no sense. The even bigger problem was the next day. I was ambushed at the supermarket near my home that I go to every day. There were about eight people. While I was shopping, they surrounded me, and what they said was essentially: “It is no longer voluntary. This is compulsory procedure.” From there it became truly abnormal. Not only did they force their way into my home, they also ran a video camera inside the supermarket. To people around us, it was indistinguishable from an arrest scene. Naturally the store’s customers and staff became unsettled. People stared. Rumors spread. I was just living my life, but they created an atmosphere in which I was treated as “someone who had done something.” As a result, from the next day I could no longer go to that supermarket. It interfered with my daily life. What I most want to say here is not about feelings, but about taxes and operations. For such a stupid operation, how many staff were mobilized, how many hours did they spend watching me, and how much tax money was burned? Is that really “high-priority work”? There should be things in society that are more urgent. Public safety, fraud, sex crimes, violence, harm to children, poverty, medical care, welfare. Manpower and budgets are limited, so is this really work worth doing even if it destroys a citizen’s life? And just then, news was also reporting that an artist had been arrested over cannabis-related matters. Even the plans and expectations of people looking forward to Budokan can be taken away in an instant. Is a society healthy when lives, work, events, and people’s time are blown away over something of that level? I want someone to seriously explain who is made happy by stopping thought at “because it is the law,” crushing people’s lives and credibility, and burning tax money. They call it voluntary, yet refuse identity confirmation. When I ask for confirmation, the next day a large group ambushes me and makes it compulsory. They film inside the store and create an atmosphere like a public example. Is this appropriate operation? Is this how a public institution should act? I have serious doubts. Has anyone been in a similar situation? And if anyone thinks this is “right,” please explain specifically what is right about it.
