The old school is going kicking and screaming, but the government is pushing for the My Number national ID card to replace the old health insurance cards for their medical DX initiative.
Yes, digital IDs are being sold to the sheeple for all the reasons you cite; but many see digital IDs as a civil rights issue, viewing their current form as the pot of hot water in which the frogs are to be boiled, the camel's nose under the tent, a slippery slope towards total technocratic control and, in effect, digital slavery through digital currency, censorship and social credit scores.
"Not vaccinated? Critical of the government? Sorry, no entry. No shopping. No driving. No flying."
I know you believe that government is benevolent; but others see it very differently - the people now being jailed in UK for their social media posts, for example. And it's not as though our rulers are keeping their intentions a secret:
Thank you for reading and sharing your opinion on the matter with lots of colorful metaphors. We'll just have to disagree on this point, because I see more advantages than disadvantages in using the MyNumber Card. I guess that makes me a member of the "sheeple" herd, but I have chosen to place my allegiance with digital encryption technology over inefficient, old analog systems prone to human error.
Thank you, Mark. There is no question that digital technology offers convenience and efficiency; but unfortunately there is another side to it, which plays into the totalitarian tip-toe and the authoritarian - and very un-American - tendencies that are clearly emerging everywhere these days. Once the tip-toe is complete and the trap is sprung, there will be no going back to the Bill of Rights and Constitutional liberties.
Given the way so-called democracies around the world abused their powers during the pandemic, I believe the danger is that My Number will eventually become a form of digital ID that will encompass all of your personal data, which will make it easy for the government to monitor and control every aspect of your life.
Thank you for reading and sharing your perspective. While the MyNumber Card may help streamline and consolidate the disparate systems used to manage health insurance, driver's license eligibility, taxes, etc., it may be a bit of a stretch to conclude that the MyNumber Card will someday be used to "control every aspect of (one's) life." Japan has a large bureaucracy that could benefit from a major "kaizen" event to improve efficiency. The use of such a national ID would go a long way toward eliminating waste. However, I can see that we may have to agree to disagree on this matter. It's always good to have constructive discourse on any controversial issue.
I'm just about to get my gold driver's license. So I guess I have almost the maximum amount of time for them to figure out the bugs in the system before I get trapped in it.
First of all, congratulations on continuing to qualify for a gold license. A policeman in Fukuoka took that away from me by giving me a ticket for using my cell phone for road navigation. While I tried to argue my way out of it, he wasn't having any of it!
Anyway, yes, all the bugs should be out of the system by the time you retire your new gold license and just switch to your MyNumber card. No need to hold your breath!
Losing the gold seems to often happen for annoying reasons. A Japanese friend of ours in Hiroshima lost hers because she ended up being trapped in a mess of closed-off streets and one-way the other way ones for the Kishida G7 summit. Since there ware also about 7zillion cops with nothing to do, one pulled her over and gave her a ticket as she tried to reverse out of her predicament.
I can tell you that is one lady who didn't vote for the LDP this time around!
I know I'm old fashioned, but generally speaking, I always choose analog over digital. I also agree with those readers who are worried about how the new system could be used in "un-democratic," Big Brother-like ways. I may be over-pessimistic, but I've learned to always expect the worst from governments - especially an LDP-led government.
I'm also worried about how efficiently they are going to store and manage that information. As you know, more than once in the last few years we heard about local authorities and bureaucrats mismanaging electronic information, or data leaks.
As for the comparison with India: "If a developing nation as large and diverse as India can do this effectively, Japan can certainly follow suit and take this important step toward medical DX."
You mean like getting rid of fax machines and floppy discs?
Thank you for reading and sharing your perspective. While you certainly have a valid point about how old technology can persist indefinitely in Japan, I feel that the recent political turmoil in the Diet is a symptom of a growing awareness that many facets of life in Japan are causing the country to fall behind the times and that change is needed. As a fellow long-time resident of the country, I know as well as you that I should not hold my breath. A truly cynical view would be that real change in Japan only occurs in the midst of or after a crisis. That may be true, but it seems that a growing segment of the population is fed up with the slow pace of change and the enormous cost of supporting a massive, inefficient bureaucratic state. The medical DX initiatives are just one example of proactive steps to do something about it.
Very informative! I always thought the お薬手帳 was for the patient to make sure they were not prescribed something that didn’t work with an existing prescription.
You and me both. The only problem is that it's essentially "scout's honor" on the part of the patient to make sure all medications are dutifully and correctly listed in this document. Pharmacists are supposed to use this record to make ensure that multiple prescriptions don't conflict. While it's not quite "ready for prime time" nationwide, the planned upgrade to the system, which is expected to be fully operational next year, is supposed to do this automatically in real time (no lag). We'll see if that actually happens. However, the system already seems to be working quite well where I was able to use it a few weeks ago.
I don't currently have a problem with using My Number for health information. As you say, there are a lot of potential benefits.
But my experience so far is that every time I want to use it at a hospital or pharmacy, I have to go through the registration process again, giving permission to use my personal information etc.
This is madness. I now lie and say I don't have the card on me, as it saves me several minutes per visit. I hope they streamline this process soon.
Also, the process for getting a replacement card needs to be improved. If cards become important (health insurance, driving license) they need to be reissued on the spot, not take several weeks/months to process.
Thank you for reading and sharing your experiences.
As I mentioned in the article, I have had absolutely no problem using my MyNumber card at both a hospital and a pharmacy. However, I can empathize with you. Perhaps what you experienced can simply be chalked up to growing pains.
I agree that it should be relatively easy to get a replacement card issued in a reasonable amount of time -- ideally on the spot, as you suggest. However, you are correct that it can take a while to get a replacement card at this point. As a representative example, Setagaya-ku in Tokyo has issued the following statement (translated by me): "If you lose your MyNumber Card, you will need to go through the reissuance process. The time it takes to reissue a card will vary depending on the city, ward, town or village you live in and the time of year you apply, but in general it will take about 2 to 3 months." Perhaps this process will be shortened in the future. In the meantime, take good care of your MyNumber card!
Yes, digital IDs are being sold to the sheeple for all the reasons you cite; but many see digital IDs as a civil rights issue, viewing their current form as the pot of hot water in which the frogs are to be boiled, the camel's nose under the tent, a slippery slope towards total technocratic control and, in effect, digital slavery through digital currency, censorship and social credit scores.
"Not vaccinated? Critical of the government? Sorry, no entry. No shopping. No driving. No flying."
I know you believe that government is benevolent; but others see it very differently - the people now being jailed in UK for their social media posts, for example. And it's not as though our rulers are keeping their intentions a secret:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpNnTuK5JJU&pp=ygURY2Fyc3RlbnMgYmlzIGNiZGM%3D
They want total control and digital IDs are the keystone to achieving it. To imagine that Japan is not included in the globalists' plan is mistaken.
Thank you for reading and sharing your opinion on the matter with lots of colorful metaphors. We'll just have to disagree on this point, because I see more advantages than disadvantages in using the MyNumber Card. I guess that makes me a member of the "sheeple" herd, but I have chosen to place my allegiance with digital encryption technology over inefficient, old analog systems prone to human error.
Thank you, Mark. There is no question that digital technology offers convenience and efficiency; but unfortunately there is another side to it, which plays into the totalitarian tip-toe and the authoritarian - and very un-American - tendencies that are clearly emerging everywhere these days. Once the tip-toe is complete and the trap is sprung, there will be no going back to the Bill of Rights and Constitutional liberties.
Totally agree. Governments are doing this everywhere in their own cultural way. With Japan it's the My Number I control and track you card.
Thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts. I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one.
There is something far more sinister at work here in the long run.
Like what?
If I might suggest, a good place to start would be Patrick Wood's work on technocracy:
https://search.brave.com/search?q=technocracy+patrick+wood&source=web&summary=1&summary_og=e29e04e1422794a406de14
Digital IDs:
https://www.technocracy.news/?s=digital+ID
Given the way so-called democracies around the world abused their powers during the pandemic, I believe the danger is that My Number will eventually become a form of digital ID that will encompass all of your personal data, which will make it easy for the government to monitor and control every aspect of your life.
Thank you for reading and sharing your perspective. While the MyNumber Card may help streamline and consolidate the disparate systems used to manage health insurance, driver's license eligibility, taxes, etc., it may be a bit of a stretch to conclude that the MyNumber Card will someday be used to "control every aspect of (one's) life." Japan has a large bureaucracy that could benefit from a major "kaizen" event to improve efficiency. The use of such a national ID would go a long way toward eliminating waste. However, I can see that we may have to agree to disagree on this matter. It's always good to have constructive discourse on any controversial issue.
I hope you're right!
I'm just about to get my gold driver's license. So I guess I have almost the maximum amount of time for them to figure out the bugs in the system before I get trapped in it.
First of all, congratulations on continuing to qualify for a gold license. A policeman in Fukuoka took that away from me by giving me a ticket for using my cell phone for road navigation. While I tried to argue my way out of it, he wasn't having any of it!
Anyway, yes, all the bugs should be out of the system by the time you retire your new gold license and just switch to your MyNumber card. No need to hold your breath!
Losing the gold seems to often happen for annoying reasons. A Japanese friend of ours in Hiroshima lost hers because she ended up being trapped in a mess of closed-off streets and one-way the other way ones for the Kishida G7 summit. Since there ware also about 7zillion cops with nothing to do, one pulled her over and gave her a ticket as she tried to reverse out of her predicament.
I can tell you that is one lady who didn't vote for the LDP this time around!
I know I'm old fashioned, but generally speaking, I always choose analog over digital. I also agree with those readers who are worried about how the new system could be used in "un-democratic," Big Brother-like ways. I may be over-pessimistic, but I've learned to always expect the worst from governments - especially an LDP-led government.
I'm also worried about how efficiently they are going to store and manage that information. As you know, more than once in the last few years we heard about local authorities and bureaucrats mismanaging electronic information, or data leaks.
As for the comparison with India: "If a developing nation as large and diverse as India can do this effectively, Japan can certainly follow suit and take this important step toward medical DX."
You mean like getting rid of fax machines and floppy discs?
Thank you for reading and sharing your perspective. While you certainly have a valid point about how old technology can persist indefinitely in Japan, I feel that the recent political turmoil in the Diet is a symptom of a growing awareness that many facets of life in Japan are causing the country to fall behind the times and that change is needed. As a fellow long-time resident of the country, I know as well as you that I should not hold my breath. A truly cynical view would be that real change in Japan only occurs in the midst of or after a crisis. That may be true, but it seems that a growing segment of the population is fed up with the slow pace of change and the enormous cost of supporting a massive, inefficient bureaucratic state. The medical DX initiatives are just one example of proactive steps to do something about it.
Very informative! I always thought the お薬手帳 was for the patient to make sure they were not prescribed something that didn’t work with an existing prescription.
You and me both. The only problem is that it's essentially "scout's honor" on the part of the patient to make sure all medications are dutifully and correctly listed in this document. Pharmacists are supposed to use this record to make ensure that multiple prescriptions don't conflict. While it's not quite "ready for prime time" nationwide, the planned upgrade to the system, which is expected to be fully operational next year, is supposed to do this automatically in real time (no lag). We'll see if that actually happens. However, the system already seems to be working quite well where I was able to use it a few weeks ago.
Interesting isn’t it… how the new card comes out AT THE SAME TIME Japan is rolling out the new self replicating ‘vaccine’.
Hmmm. Maybe there is something there, but the Japanese government has been at this for almost a decade. If anything, it seems to be dragging on.
My card became unreadable and I had to go to Kyoto MyNumber center to order a replacement for 1000 yen.
About a week and a half.
Thanks for your quick response. That's a lot faster than the 2 ~ 3 months stated by the town office of Setagaya-ku in Tokyo.
It's interesting that you were charged for this service. How long did it take for your replacement card to be issued?
I don't currently have a problem with using My Number for health information. As you say, there are a lot of potential benefits.
But my experience so far is that every time I want to use it at a hospital or pharmacy, I have to go through the registration process again, giving permission to use my personal information etc.
This is madness. I now lie and say I don't have the card on me, as it saves me several minutes per visit. I hope they streamline this process soon.
Also, the process for getting a replacement card needs to be improved. If cards become important (health insurance, driving license) they need to be reissued on the spot, not take several weeks/months to process.
That won't be a problem any more when they require us all to be chipped.
Thank you for reading and sharing your experiences.
As I mentioned in the article, I have had absolutely no problem using my MyNumber card at both a hospital and a pharmacy. However, I can empathize with you. Perhaps what you experienced can simply be chalked up to growing pains.
I agree that it should be relatively easy to get a replacement card issued in a reasonable amount of time -- ideally on the spot, as you suggest. However, you are correct that it can take a while to get a replacement card at this point. As a representative example, Setagaya-ku in Tokyo has issued the following statement (translated by me): "If you lose your MyNumber Card, you will need to go through the reissuance process. The time it takes to reissue a card will vary depending on the city, ward, town or village you live in and the time of year you apply, but in general it will take about 2 to 3 months." Perhaps this process will be shortened in the future. In the meantime, take good care of your MyNumber card!