<p>Japan officer patrolling Haneda Airport</p>
Japan officer patrolling Haneda Airport (Photo: AP Photo)

Fingerprinting at Japan Airports

Japan airports to introduce fingerprint terminals soon

Japan officer patrolling Haneda Airport (Photo: AP Photo)
Jerome Lee   - 1 min read

As an answer to Japan's increasing foreign tourist numbers, the Justice Ministry aims to start introducing mobile terminals that will capture the photos and fingerprints of foreign visitors.

This move came in a bid to aid the increasing time taken to process foreign tourists in Japan. All incoming passenger information is currently processed at the immigration desks, and with the introduction of these new mobile terminals called 'biocarts', which sends visitors’ images and fingerprints to the desk along with their passport information - this is expected to reduce the workload of immigration officers.

The Ministry plans to install the 'biocarts' at airports carrying international flights, has requested money for the equipment in the fiscal 2016 budget, which will take effect next April.

Jerome Lee

Jerome Lee @jerome.lee

Singaporean who lived in Melbourne, Australia for 3 years, and undertook a journalism degree. A lover of soul, funk music (Motown especially), and many other forms of music. Love meeting new people, and creative things (art, fashion, photography, design, films...). Currently working at JapanTrave...