Life in Japan - How to Get Permanent Residence
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A permanent resident visa (aka "PR") is the Mr. Miagi black belt of visas in Japan. Why? Well, I'll tell you why:
* Almost all work visas in Japan require some kind of sponsor, usually a company or a spouse. The problem here is that if something happens to your sponsor--e.g. your company suffers a financial crisis, or sweet love turns sour--then your visa could go bye-bye. PR does not have this problem. You're your own sponsor.
* You don't have to renew it every 1~3 years.
* You can get stuff like credit cards and home loans. While it's not impossible to get these without PR, you can enjoy more options and higher credit limits closer to what Japanese citizens enjoy.
* You can work in any industry. Company-sponsored visas usually lock you to a particular industry, but with PR you're free to do whatever you want.
* It's about as close to becoming a Japanese citizen without actually becoming a citizen.
* PR makes you instantly awesome.
As you'd expect, getting something as all-powerful as a permanent residence visa in Japan isn't easy. Unfortunately, it's made even more difficult since the Immigration Bureau's website (esp. the English one) provides very little information as to what's required. Having gone through the process myself, I thought I'd outline it--potentially saving you a headache or two.
稲川素子事務所での経験談
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２００９年の夏にITの仕事から解雇された後、次の仕事を探すまでの期間、少しでも収入を得ようと稲川素子事務所と契約することにした。リーマン ショックの影響で正社員の仕事を見つけるのは非常に困難な渦中、日本に住む外国人にとってエンターテインメントの仕事は安定していると聞いたから である。困難で、かつ莫大な時間を要する就職活動中、長期の安定した仕事を得られるまではエンターテインメントの仕事をして低迷していた収入の埋 め合わせをできれば、と思ったのだ。ちょうど自由の身だった私は、与えられたどんな仕事でも引き受けることができた。
初めてもらった仕事は、外国人がよく出る歴史劇のテレビでの仕事だった。撮影中、この業界で仕事をしている他の外国人に会った。彼らに、これは私 の最初の仕事で自分は稲川素子事務所に入ったばかりだ、と言ったところ、１人の友好的なアメリカ人の男性が、気を付けるようにとアドバイスをくれ た。彼は私よりも日本のエンターテインメント業界での経験があったので、詳しいことを聞いてみた。すると彼は、“給料をもらうのはいつだと言われ た？”と私に聞いた。“２か月後と言われた”と私は答えた。彼は“６か月くらい見たほうがいい。給料をもらうために、何度も電話をかけて催促し た”と言った。それを言われて心配になり、英語の教師の仕事を探そうかとも考えた。
How You Know You've Been in Japan Too Long
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- You bow when talking on the phone.
- You've figured out kanji for your name.
- You have a personal inkan and a koseki, and you know what those are.
- You've accidentally said 「お疲れ様です」 to a friend from your native country.
- You take your shoes off when visiting your native country.
- You get upset when having to use a toilet without a heated seat and butt spray.
- You forget to tip when visiting your native country.
- You've gotten stuck in the door when rushing for the train on multiple occasions
- You've been scolded by train station staff for rushing into the train on multiple occasions.
- The first thing that
Living in Japan - How to Get Rid of Coins
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Anyone living in or visiting Japan is no stranger to walking around with a bucketful of coins in their pants/purse. The excitement before your first Tokyo subway ride soon quells as you're greeted by a flurry of coins spraying from the ticket machine like a Las Vegas slot hitting the jackpot. Tourism stamina wanes as you really start feeling that 10-pound metal load clinking in your pocket.
I don't know why Japan loves coins, but the reason rests in the fact their paper money starts at 1000 yen, roughly a $10 bill back in better economic times. During my years living here, I've developed a few techniques for coping with coin overload.
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