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Writer's pictureTim Odagiri

Is Japan’s Mercari a Secret Government Entity?

Is Japan’s Mercari a Secret Government Entity?

Mercari (メルカリ) is a Japanese e-commerce powerhouse, managing online sales and auctions valued at over 100 billion yen annually. Despite being founded just over a decade ago, it already competes in the same shopping and payments space as global leaders like Amazon and Rakuten. Given its visibility, I’m surprised at how difficult it is to find out which of the Japanese government’s many ministries Mercari is a part of.


There’s no way that the reverse could be true, that part of the government reports to Japan’s version of eBay, even taking into account the great deal I just found on a Pokémon collectable. But there must be a connection. How else do you explain why Mercari is acting as an enforcement arm of the nation’s immigration bureau?


This all came up when I was trying to list some furniture through the site. Over the past two years, I’ve bought and sold around two dozen items through Mercari’s sales portal, and maintained a perfect five-star rating thanks to my being a normal human being who doesn’t arouse anger in others. Unbeknownst to me, Mercari enhanced its security practices recently, limiting some features to just those customers who have verified their true identities. One such feature is the use of shipping services managed outside of Mercari’s oversight, something required when selling a furniture set with many pieces.


Fortunately, Mercari says that identity checks through its “Simple App-based Verification” (アプリでかんたん本人確認) service take just a few minutes if you have your My Number card handy, which I did. But when I brought up the app and started the verification process, I encountered this bleak warning.


Warnings from Mercari's Identity Verification Page

「日本国籍をお持ちでない場合、在留カードまたは特別永住者証明書の提出をお願いしております」
“For those who do not hold Japanese citizenship, please submit your Residence Card or Special Permanent Resident Certificate.”

And by “please,” they mean, “do it, punk,” as shown by the big red “X” through the other identification options. Even before you reach that warning, you must assert that (1) you have resided in Japan at least six months, and (2) do not have a residency status of either “Student” or “Dependent.” Add to that the rule that any Residence Card that expires in the next two months can’t be used.


In short, Mercari, under the guise of confirming your identity, has crafted a system that instead tries to validate your immigration status. If you have already obtained your My Number card, you know that it is steeped in security procedures that, while lacking the body cavity search, are nonetheless extensive. If you acquired this card, the Japanese government absolutely, positively knows that it handed that card to the person named on it. And given the various passwords and biometric elements associated with that card, if you can validate your identity through the My Number interface, there is every reason to believe that you are you.


Any resident can apply for a My Number card, and its validation process for foreign residents is just as rigorous as it is for citizens. There is no reason to exclude foreigners from a My Number identification check since the card is just as authoritative for them as it is for the native population.


If Mercari is excluding legitimate holders of My Number cards from its authentication process, I can only assume that it has some other purpose in mind beyond confirming the name and address of its customers. And since the instructions single out the Residence Card, issued by the Ministry of Justice’s Immigration Services Agency, there appears to be an immigration-control aspect to its procedures.


In all likelihood, Mercari is not a wholly owned unit of the Japanese government. Instead, I expect the issue is MerPay, the payment platform that comes along for the ride when you pass through the validation process. Despite MerPay not being a true bank, they might be treating it as such, and we already know from earlier investigations that Japanese banks are overzealous when dealing with foreign residents.


Mercari, I implore you to come clean about your own identity. If your ranks are filled with civil servants keeping an eye on immigration matters, then come right out and say it. Why all the subterfuge? But if you are just an online marketplace that wants to confirm the legal identity of those who buy and sell their wares, I recommend simplifying the process for everyone, citizen or not, and accepting any valid My Number card as proof of name and location. And if you need a lovely five-piece dining set, please send me your shipping address.


[Image Credits: Wikimedia Commons]

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