Delia Kalia learnt the hard way that while in Japan you must obey the rules.
The 25-year-old New Zealander said she was overpowered by 15 policemen, bound hand and foot and thrown into jail for a week after a run-in with the police over parking her car in someone else's spot got out of hand.
Hundreds of foreigners have been arrested here for misdemeanors to which authorities in other countries would likely turn a blind eye, such as shaking a vending machine or selling a friend's unwanted football ticket.
The police insist arrested foreigners and Japanese are treated alike, but some lawyers and human rights groups argue that in practice, when handling relatively minor offences, people from overseas receive a rougher deal.
Kalia, a dental nurse, left her car in a private space while visiting a friend in Aoyama, an upperclass part of Tokyo, one afternoon last month.
Upon her return she found the owner of the parking spot had come back, blocked her in with his van and called the police.
"I told him I was really sorry and if he moved his van I would get out of the way," Kalia recalled in an interview.
But the man refused and a police officer who had arrived at the scene demanded to see her passport.
"They could not speak English, I could not speak Japanese, we weren't getting anywhere and I started to get annoyed," admitted the young woman.
Fighting back
After a heated exchange, Kalia said she jumped into her car to escape, but the policeman forcefully grabbed her arm "so I slapped him two times across the face."
In an instant more officers arrived, bundled her into their car and whisked her off to the police station.
Kalia spent a week in detention while the incident was investigated. Confined to a small cell with seven other women, she had only one shower the whole time and was handcuffed and led by a rope when taken anywhere.
Her experience was made more confusing because hardly anyone spoke English, no one immediately explained her assault charges and police wanted her to sign a statement in Japanese that she could not read.
"Some [foreign] suspects are detained for a long time and it is quite hard for lawyers to gain access," said Makoto Teranaka, Secretary General for Amnesty International Japan.
There "is some sort of grounds for suspecting ill-treatment in police custody ... we have a problem with this system," he said in an interview.
Police have 48 hours after making an arrest to decide whether they want to investigate a case, press charges or release the suspect.
A judge must give police permission to hold someone for up to 10 days, this period can be extended another 10 days and on exceptional cases a further five until a charge is brought.
John Jones, 43, a jeweller from London was held in solitary confinement for 20 days before being fined ?150,000 (US$1,280) for trying to sell a World Cup football ticket on behalf of a friend.
"He admitted to the offence [of touting] so should have been allowed to pay a fine and then be released within two days," said his lawyer, Akira Takashima.
"At big events there are a lot of ticket touts, and Japanese people frequently do it in front of the police but are not arrested," he said.
"I think there is often a violation of human rights when foreigners are arrested."
No distinction
A spokesman from the National Police Agency said no distinction was made between Japanese and foreign culprits.
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