Hi everyone, sorry for a long delay in writing but I guess I have had other priorities recently. I just got back from a month long `vacation` in England and I have also moved house to a place near Shibuya - a very lively and young area of Tokyo. Living here will be so much more convenient than before, especially as it means I am closer to my work and closer to `things going on`, as we say.

When I was in England I visited the office where my Mum works and I was happy to meet her colleagues, all of whom I know and have heard a lot about, and I had also heard that they have a big interest in my journal and often feel sad when they show up to work and there is nothing new for them to read - so Ann, Diane and Lindsey (I hope I got the spellings right!) - if you are reading this, a big `KONNICHIWA` from Tokyo. You know, if you were willing to pay me to write on a daily basis, I am sure we could come to some kind of arrangement, with an optional extra for photographs too. Anyway, please enjoy this entry. It may be a while until the next one!

Anyway, yesterday was such a busy day but I managed to achieve quite a lot. I managed to visit Shibuya City Office, Shibuya Tax Office, Shibuya Police Station and a bank (no, it wasn`t a sightseeing trip!) and amazingly managed to do everything I wanted to do in the space of about three hours. I was pretty surprised considering recent ventures into the world of the Japanese administration system.

As a foreigner in Japan, when you move house, or change any important personal details, you need to go to the city hall of the area you moved to (within about two weeks of moving) to register your new details and have them written on the back of your Foriegner Registration Card (or `Alien Card` as it sometimes goes by). You basically need this card to be able to do just about anything in Japan as a foreigner - hopefully I will never lose mine (I can`t imagine the hassle involved in getting a new one) and it acts as the only form of ID. I was once aksed to show this card to a particularly rude bouncer of a bar whol wouldn`t let me in unless I could prove that I wasn`t a US Marine - I mean come on, do I look like a US Marine?!

The lady at the City Hall was very kind to me (as most people in Japan usually are) and I managed to do the necessaries without using any English, but she did seem worried about the fact that I only had enough space on the back for one more entry - as I have moved house about six times since I came to Japan that I have almost run out of space for changes - anyway, she said not to worry and gave me an understanding smile.

With that completed, I then asked her about my driving licence, which was still registered to my previous address but one, and after a few phonecalls and rummaging, she told me I needed to go to the police station and they would be able to change it for me. Again, amending the details buy writing the new address on the back. So off I went, and after trying to work out how to fill in the form by guessing some of the Chinese characters, I handed it to the desk clerk who with a couple of raised eyebrows proceeded to fill out the changes. My last venture to a police station hadn`t been so straightforward, so I was happy to leave there as soon as possible.

Next on the list was the Tax Office. Now, after having just spent six days teaching a group of tax officers speacialized tax language regarding foreigners in Japan, I knew exactly what I wanted to do and what I had to do - file my income tax return for 2004 - something I need to do as I have multiple sources of income due to working for many different schools). The only problem I had was finding the right floor and office within what is a fairly large building. A complete lack of any signage in English was difficult to contend with (but why should there be, I mean it`s not an English speaking country afterall), however, I had gone armed with a copy of the form I needed to complete, so waving it at a few people and saying `I`m here to file my tax return` in Japanese seemed to help. First up, I walked into what I thought was a reception office, but it turned out to be some kind of test room and people were rushing around waving papers and shouting `test people over here quickly`! Hence, I quickly left that room. The next room I tried was a very quiet office with lots of old people who seemed to reading so again I made a quick exit and then asked a random stranger who said `7th floor, second on the left`. Great, I thought! At last!

On entering the room, I was asked in very fast Japanese if I could understand Japanese and my period of hesitation suggested I couldn`t so I was escorted to a table and asked to produce my documents summarising my income. The previous evening I had read a longish document explaining in English how to complete the necessary forms and I was therefore expecting a pretty grim process of cross-referencing and carefully checking I had written the numbers in the correct boxes. However, I was guided to an electronic panel and the man basically told me what numbers to enter where and the whole thing was over in about fifteen minutes, although I was disappointed to learn that I need to pay an extra 20,000 yen (about 100 pounds) in tax, by the deadline of March 15th. And there I was thinking that I might get a refund! Not too worry, I was just happy to have got it out of the way.

Lastly, I needed to go the bank to transfer money to my landlord who had said transferring money on an ATM machine is pretty easy. Well, it is if you have done it before. I knew the Chinese character for `transfer` but then there were other screens I couldn`t figure out, so I sadly resigned myself to asking for an explanation and walkthrough from a customer services clerk. Compared to England, Japanese banks seem to have so many people working in them, and there are always greeters and helpers, and well as counter staff and people behind the scenes. Anyway, she was very happy to help me altohugh she did race me through it, so I hope I can remember which buttons to press next time. Direct debits or standing orders don`t seem to be popular here, but I was issued with a transfer card so when I do it again next month I guess I just have to slot in the card and the whole thing will be automatic. Come to think of it, I never did ask her what I should do if I need to change the amount of the transfer - the first payment was larger than normal. Anyway, I am sure it will sort itself out.

Wow, I wrote quite a lot today - but I do have one funny story to tell you about. The other day while I was walking home late at night, a man ran out of a nearby building, jumped on his scooter and proceeded to speed off. However, he was accelerating far too fast to be able to make a U-turn in the road, that he fell off, and his scooter crashed into a small vegatable stall. He was OK, but his friends, who weren`t far behind him leaving the building, were helpless with laughter on seeing the unlucky guy picking himself up from among the vegetables. Although I couldn`t stop laughing myself, I did feel sorry for the guy as he had obviously been trying to get away fast for some reason - and not bring any attention to himself. Anyway, you kind of had to be there, but maybe you can appreciate the story. The vegetable stall seemed to be OK, luckily, as normal service had been resumed when I walked past it the next day.

Anyway, I must go now as I have some new classes today. Ann, if you got this far, how was it? Please let me know - my email, for anyone interested, is: japaneseadventure@gmail.com

Take care and have a good day,
Kevin