Category: Japan
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Preliminary Training Session
Yesterday, there was a preliminary training session for the eighth Kawasaki Representative Assembly for Foreign Residents. As one of the new representatives, I naturally went along. The session was held in Kawasaki City Hall, in a meeting room on the fifteenth floor, which had quite a good view of the city. There were name badges…
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Cherry Blossoms
The cherry blossoms are out in Tokyo. Unfortunately, the weather is really not very good. It’s raining this morning, and the forecast is for it to continue doing so for much of the day. Yesterday was grey, and rather cold. Nevertheless, we went out to see the cherry blossoms. We went to our local graveyard.…
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Back to Immigration
I went to the immigration office again today, to submit some more papers. A couple of days ago, the office called me in the morning, to ask about our move. I don’t know whether the ward office tells them automatically, or whether they had asked, but in any case, they had found out before I’d…
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Nature-Asia Publishing Index
Nature Asia-Pacific has just launched the Nature-Asia Publishing Index, which analyses the papers published in all of the Nature group of journals by researchers working at institutions in the Asia-Pacific region, including India and Australasia. The data is interesting, because the Nature journals are very important primary research journals, so they give some idea of…
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Kanazawa, Day One
So, last weekend we went to Kanazawa, and had a really good time. Mayuki was good, and apparently enjoying herself, for most of it, with only one tantrum, and that on the last day. Kanazawa is a lovely city, well worth a visit. In particular, Yuriko and I both thought that my mother would really…
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First Rabbit Festival
Today was this year’s First Rabbit Festival at Shirahata-san. Because it is held on the first day of the rabbit in March, I always have to ask when it is. (I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before, but the animals of the Chinese zodiac are used for days as well as years.) Fortunately, I could attend…
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Becoming a Civil Servant
Yesterday I received a letter from the mayor of Kawasaki, informing me that I had been selected to serve as a representative on the eighth session of the Kawasaki Representative Assembly for Foreign Residents. My term of office starts in April, and runs for two years, until March 2012. Apparently, while I am a representative,…
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New Immigration System
Japan is changing its immigration system (probably). The law was passed last July, and within three years of that it will be brought into force by cabinet order. There is an article on the Japanese Immigration website about it, which is my source for what I’m writing here. That article is in Japanese, and has…
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Shrine Shinto Confronts Internationalisation, Part One
Last Sunday (February 21st, just in case this draft takes longer than anticipated and I forget to edit the beginning) I attended a small symposium at Kokugakuin University on the subject “Shrine Shinto Confronts Internationalisation”. I found out about it because Professor Havens, one of the participants, posted about it on the English-language Shinto mailing…
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Mortgage
Today I signed the contract for my mortgage. Apart from well and truly confirming that I am now middle-aged, why is this significant? Well, I got it from a big Japanese bank (Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (MUFG), one of the three megabanks), I’m foreign, and I don’t have permanent residence. According to received wisdom in…