My first trip overseas in 1993 was to Japan (on Business of course) and the Customs official at Tokyo asked me if I had anything to declare. I wasn’t sure what that meant so I said I don’t know. He rolled his eyes and showed me a picture of a Joint and a hypodermic needle and asked if I was carrying these. I said no. Then he showed me a picture of a gun and a gernade and asked if I was carying those and I said no. He rolled his eyes again and waved me on. As I was walking away he said something very quickly to another Customs agent and they both laughed.
I asked him politely “Yukuri Kadasai?” (slowly please) and he laughed again and waved me on.
The salary-man assigned to escort me to their office kindly informed me that when someone asks me if I have anything to declare then my answer should be NO!!. I thanked him for his guidance and then asked him to translate what the customs agent had said. I repeated it back to him phonetically (and apparently I did a good job of mimicing the agent). The salary-man informed me that he said to his friend “He looks too stupid to be a smuggler!”.
So the reason I recount this tale is to ask if anyone out there knows why they even ask. How many people are going to knowingly admit to carrying contraband? I would think that question would get one affirmative answer a year at most (even in a crowded airport like Narita).
My first trip overseas in 1993 was to Japan (on Business of course) and the Customs official at Tokyo asked me if I had anything to declare. I wasn’t sure what that meant so I said I don’t know. He rolled his eyes and showed me a picture of a Joint and a hypodermic needle and asked if I was carrying these. I said no. Then he showed me a picture of a gun and a gernade and asked if I was carying those and I said no. He rolled his eyes again and waved me on. As I was walking away he said something very quickly to another Customs agent and they both laughed. I asked him politely “Yukuri Kadasai?” (slowly please) and he laughed again and waved me on.
The salary-man assigned to escort me to their office kindly informed me that when someone asks me if I have anything to declare then my answer should be NO!!. I thanked him for his guidance and then asked him to translate what the customs agent had said. I repeated it back to him phonetically (and apparently I did a good job of mimicing the agent). The salary-man informed me that he said to his friend “He looks too stupid to be a smuggler!”.
So the reason I recount this tale is to ask if anyone out there knows why they even ask. How many people are going to knowingly admit to carrying contraband? I would think that question would get one affirmative answer a year at most (even in a crowded airport like Narita).