I think there is a lot of fraud with passports. Maybe this doesn't seem to help, but it makes it slightly harder to cheat and makes it more likely fraud would be detected by insisting on the 本人 to be present, I imagine. They allow the application part to be done by a parent without the kid there. It's just the picking up of the actual passport which requires the kid. Must be to also ensure the photo matches the kid's actual appearance. Some people are also lazy and don't use a photo taken within 3 months etc., so it would also help flag that. A pain I know but there are good reasons for the rule, I'm sure. Anyway, I don't imagine this particular one is unique to Japan, is it?
Discussion
Fair enough. But I wanted them to tell me. Honestly I thought he was required at application time, because we had him with us last week. That’s when you give the photo, so that’s when they should reject the photo if it doesn’t match. Once it’s applied for, picking it up shouldn’t be a problem. I don’t think it solves much. But regardless, my frustration was the inability to have a conversation with the passport control person.