Anxiety about carrying passport everywhere?

Hi,

I understand that it's required by law to have some form of identification with you at all times, but carrying my passport while exploring a massive city like Tokyo is causing me anxiety. Going solo makes it even worse, especially when I'm out at night drinking and having fun. (Will definitely bring it on shopping days)

Will a picture of my passport suffice?

Would my online e-visa/Visit Japan website which all have the information of my stay and type of visa be enough? What if I'm stopped? How severe would it be?

Can I simply take them to my hotel and show it to them? I realize this question may sound silly, but I'm genuinely anxious about it.

Thanks, everyone.

Tens of millions do it every year without issue. You can too.

I carry mine in the cargo pants (or shorts in summer) pocket with a Velcro (or zipper) closure lid and don’t even think about it.

A photocopy isn’t a valid passport. So no, you need to bring your passport

If anything, your passport is safer being on you at all times rather than left in a hotel room!

Keep it in a zippered location in something you will carry everyday. I either keep mine in the inner zippered pocket of my coat (in cold weather) or in an interior zippered pocket in the bag I carry every day. Neither of these pockets contains anything else, and I will only open that zipper to retrieve my passport, so I know I won't lose the passport due to it falling out of the pocket.

You MUST keep the ACTUAL passport on you at all times. You might never be asked to show it, but you are required to carry it. And you never miss out on tax-free shopping - you might find an unexpected opportunity outside of your scheduled shopping days!

ID or a copy is not sufficient. You must carry your actual passport. Simple reason is that it contains the visitor permit/visa showing you are legally in the country and a photo copy does not do that.
Carry your passport.

Japan is an incredible safe and respectful country.

Do not stress about carrying your passport with you.

I have an RFID XBody travel bag, and do not even think about having my passport and a considerable amount of cash inside it.

Relax, do not over think it, and use common sense.

Leaving your passport (and other valuables) at your hotel is as dangerous and as safe as carrying it around. To me, it causes the same kind of anxiety whether I carry it or not, in any country including my home country Japan. I make sure I have insurance and that I know who to contact in case I lose them (such as my embassy or credit card companies for cards).

That said, way back in the days when Japanese passports were huge, I hardly carried it around. In the U.S., I had a slight problem buying beer, but all I had was to go to a bunch of police patrol officers and get oral permission while being laughed at when (I was being honest by) telling them I was 28 (Japanese people seem to look so younger for our ages). Thanks to our government, we now have passports that are much more portable.

So, I don't really think you'd encounter huge problems by not carrying your passport. But I feel there is no reason it would be safer to leave it behind. And if you still find it uncomfortable, maybe you should be telling that to your own government.

I hope things would turn out for the better, at least in the future.

Uco-san,

Here what is at issue is the “requirement” for foreign visitors to Japan to carry their passports with them “at all times” while they are in Japan. (For foreign residents, there is this requirement that they need to carry their “resident card” instead of passport.)

AK-san,

Thank you and, yes, that's how I interpreted the question. I'm sorry if I didn't sound like it.

For what it's worth, in more than 20 years of living in Japan, and about 10 trips to the country before I moved here, I've been stopped and asked to show my passport or ID at a random on-the-street check exactly one time. Yes, it does happen, but it's not as common as some horror stories you hear online mak it sound like.

At the same time, in all those years I've never been pickpocketed or had my possessions stolen in any other way while out and about in Japan. So my worry would be more accidentally dropping/losing my passport if I'm carrying it around with me, not someone stealing it from me.

As others have said, though, if you do get stopped for a random check, a photo copy, website screenshot, or other substitute probably isn't going to work. You'll need to show the actual document.

「Can I simply take them to my hotel and show it to them? I realize this question may sound silly, but I'm genuinely anxious about it.」

This would, eventually, be what you'd need to do. However, I don't know if it would be as simple as you saying "OK, please go with me to my hotel right now." They might first take you to a police box/station for questioning and holding, then have to dispatch an officer to your hotel and need the officer talk to the staff to retrieve the passport without your direct involvement, which could take a lot of time.

If you're worried that you'll be arrested and given a prison sentence, or fined a large amount of money, for not having your passport on you when checked, those aren't going to happen. It's also unlikely that they'd deport you and make you go home earlier from your planned trip. Having to sort everything out could easily eat up a few hours or a whole day, though.

What about getting a Passport card? it's the same size as a driver's license and has all the info on it that your passport has. However, you'd need to get it before you go to Japan. Check online for the cost and how to get it.

If you're really that worried about carrying your passport around, just make sure you keep it on you at all times in a safe spot. There are specific bags/zippers you can purchase to hold valuable items like that on you at all times. No one is going to steal it from you. Japan is a very safe country and you'll be fine.

As others have mentioned, you can't take a photo copy of it and carry that instead. Doesn't work that way. Just carry the document with you.

Only a few countries provide passport cards. I hope the OP belongs to one of them.

Passport card - you have not read the thread and what the actual requirement is. You need to be able to show proof you are in the country legally, and for most visitors that is the temporary visitor sticker placed in the actual passport (or visa for those travelling under that. A card is as useless as a photocopy.

As JapanCustomTours says, the purpose of carrying your passport is so you can prove you have permission to be in Japan at that time. A passport card doesn't show the details of your visa/status in Japan.