German customs demand $475,000 for Japanese musician's violin

German customs seized a $1.2 million violin from a Japanese professional musician and are demanding she pay almost $475,000 to get it back, reports said on Wednesday. Belgium-based Yuzuko Horigome was transiting through Frankfurt Airport last week after performing in Japan, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper said. When she tried to walk through the green gate for travelers arriving in the EU with nothing to declare, customs officers stopped her and said she needed to pay 190,000 euros in duty on her 1741 Guarnerius violin. On top of this were fines, taking the total cost to an eye-popping 380,000 euros ($475,000), the Tokyo Shimbun said. Customs confiscated the valuable fiddle because she could not provide the documents for her 1986 purchase, the Yomiuri said. http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/german-customs-demand-475000-for-japanese-musicians-violin

VOCABULARY

1.      Customs - the place where your bags are checked for illegal goods when you go into a country [↪ immigration]

2.      Seized - to take hold of something suddenly and violently

3.      Transiting - To pass over, across, or through

4.      Declare - to tell a customs official that you are carrying goods on which you should pay tax when you enter a country

5.      eye-popping - so amazing or astonishing as to make one's eyes protrude

6.      confiscated - to officially take private property away from someone, usually as a punishment

7.      fiddle – a violin

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1.      What can you say about the news?

2.      Would you take the violin back if you were this Japanese musician? Why? Why not?

3.      What items should be declared in customs?

4.      Talk about immigration policies and penalties of your country.