Special Visa to visit Japan?

Hello,

I have been to Japan many times and have a lot of friends there. I am from Germany, but lived in Los Angeles the last year.
When I wanted to return to LA, my phone was searched at the airport, as well as my diary on it and they found an old entry about Cannabis and that I took it. (They initally suspected that I want to stay illegally because my GF lived in LA. Now ex)

Since my visa at that time was a tourist visa and I admitted to taking Cannabis in the past, the USA didn't allow me entry, denied my visa at the border, flew me back and fingerprinted me + photo. Also banned me from re-entry for lifetime unless I pay for a waiver. I requested the files they have about me in the meantime and it says "ESTA Tourist Visa refused because of violation". I wasn't charged any penalty or didn't have to go to court or anything.

From the japanese Immigration Act:
(v)　A person who has been convicted of a violation of any law or regulation of Japan or of any other country relating to the control of narcotics, marijuana, opium, stimulants or psychotropic substances, and has been sentenced to a penalty.

Well, now after talking to the japanese embassy and the border, they said that they cannot tell me, if this info will be shared between the USA and Japan and if I will be stopped from entering Japan, but only the border officer can make the decision. So I can only know if a tourist visa works, if I buy a flight and travel there. But there is one catch, if they do share the info and they decide to refuse me entry, it comes with a 5 year bar.
Still traumatized from the USA event, I prefer to do anything I can in advance, to find other ways.


Since I do not want to risk it and since I do not want to simply give up from ever seeing my friends in Japan again, I want to find out if there are any special visas, waivers or anything like that.
I asked the embassy and they told me to ask the Ministry of Justice. Until I wait for an answer from them, I would like to ask here, if someone maybe was in a similar situation or knows more and can help me.

Did anyone of you travel to Japan with being denied entry into another country before?
Did anyone ever travel with a drug conviction (still not sure, if my case would count as one, since there was no court and no penalty).
Do you know of any special visas to Japan? There are waivers for the USA for example, so I assume Japn has some, but I couldn't find anything online.

What would you do in my case and who would you approach apart from the embassy and lawyers?

I would appreciate any help.
Also recommendations of good immigration lawyers who might be able to help me, are very welcome.

Thank you in advance for the help!

Wait a minute.. you say your phone was searched at LAX and they read your personal diary on your phone and discovered that you had used cannabis at some point in the past, then refused you entry and banned you for life from revisiting the US because of that?

This blows my mind. How do they have the right to search and read your phone for goodness' sake?? Why did you agree to that? This is unbelievable and further proof, if it was needed in these times, that the US is about as far from the 'land of the free' as is possible.

As for Japan, I would caution you against mentioning this to anyone in any position of authority as if you do so, you are almost guaranteed to be refused entry. In this case, I don't think that honesty is your best policy. You have NOT been convicted of anything; they simply refused you entry based on accessing personal information on your phone. Of course, IANAL and you should probably check with an immigration lawyer rather than this forum but man, this whole story sucks and I really feel for you.

This blows my mind. How do they have the right to search and read your phone for goodness' sake?? Why did you agree to that? This is unbelievable and further proof, if it was needed in these times, that the US is about as far from the 'land of the free' as is possible.

They have every right to search everything you have in your possession at the time you are crossing into the US. It's their country, they decide who can enter.

The US is well known for not allowing people entry who admit to past drug use....even if it was legal in your home country at the time you did it.

by Saru Bob

Yeah, the secondary officer threw a little information paper through the window and then said "Hand me your phone and your laptop and give me your laptop".
I was hesistant and he said, if I don't do, they will plug it into the pc or send it to somewhere, where they will try to crack it, I will have to be in detention until they figure it out.
So I handed it to them. He made very clear that if I want to see my girlfriend, I have to give him everything he wants..
Anyways. Thank you for the help so far. I am still searching for a good immigration lawyer in Japan to be 100% on the safe side.