An
Alien Registration Card (or "Gaikoku-jin Touroku Shoumei Sho, 外国人登録証明証) is a form of identification issued by
Japanese local governments to persons of foreign nationality who reside in
Japan. Anyone who plans to stay more than 90 days in Japan must apply for an alien registration card, but those with
Temporary Visitor visas may also apply for the cards.
To apply for an alien registration card, you must present your passport, and submit 2 passport sized photographs and an application form to the office of the city, town, village, or ward in which you reside. Two weeks later, you'll be asked to return to pick up your card. There is no fee to have a card issued.
The alien registration card carries your name, date and place of birth, passport information, occupation, status of residency, and address in Japan. Until 1999, a fingerprint was also required for non-permanent residents, but the law has since been revised, and the card now has your signature (except for temporary visitors, whose cards have neither.) There is also a unique alien registration number at the top of the card consisting of an alphabet letter followed by a nine digit number. Changes to any of the information on the card are written on the reverse side of the card.
A lot of foreigners in Japan call them "
gaijin cards", and see them as another form of discrimination, and it did feel like your were being treated like a
criminal when they took your
thumbprint, but since that has changed, I don't think its so bad. A lot of things in Japan (like buying a mobile phone) require such forms of ID, and without it, I think things would be a lot more inconvenient for foreigners. Although the police can technically stop you and ask for your card, it has only happened once to someone I know in my five years here. Don't forget to take it when you go out though: some clubs and bars require you to show a
gaijin card if you are a foreigner, and will refuse you entry if you don't have one. This is to keep
American soldiers, who are not issued the cards, out of the clubs.