Racial profiling by Japanese Police

For those not aware, Japan is surprisingly xenophobic, despite being known as a county that is surprisingly polite. But this article beings to light a lot of racial profiling coming from police, people who should be protecting and serving all who live or visit Japan.

On the one hand, it is good that attention is being brought to this issue. On the other hand, it doesn't seem to be taken seriously by the people who are in a position to rectify this. Not sure if it's a translation issue, but in the above article the National Police Agency (NPA) issued an advisory to not question foreigners in a way that would be perceived as racial profiling. Notice the wording - almost like they're saying it's OK to do so, but don't make it so obvious. Why not just say "don't racially profile people" or "don't be pulling up foreigners unless you have reasonable cause to do so" ?

Fortunately, my run ins with the police have been very few, with probably only two encounters ever. The first of which was when I was travelling to Tokyo with a friend for a holiday, and an undercover police officer flashed his badge, and wanted to see our passports, and then asking questions to the purpose of our visit to Japan (hint: it was travel).
The other time was a bit more irritating. In preparation for starting my ALT job back in mid-2016, I decided to go to Kyoto and spend a week with my gf before heading to Mito. As soon as I got out of the arrival gate at Kansai international airport, I was approached by an undercover officer, who wanted to see some ID. Again, I showed my passport. Hadn't even got out of the airport, and already being I was being hassled. Probably didn't help I was wearing a black leather jacket in the middle of a hot August day. 
Since I had been living in rural parts of Ibaraki for the past 5 years, I have had no run ins with the police. Though, now that I'm in Saitama, I hope I not to have any encounters with police, as I have heard stories from foreigners being frequently harassed by police, for ... being foreign, more or less. 

I won't deny I don't have the answer to this, but unless Japan wants more foreigners to work in Japan, and for tourists to come back in numbers again, the government and police need to start taking this problem seriously. 

ようやく引っ越した――――！！

After the past two days of stress, including 12 hours of driving to  move much of mine and my girlfriend's things, last minute tidying up and packing, I have finally moved in to my new city. Well, technically, I'm in a hotel right now, as electricity hasn't been set up in my new apartment yet - though it should be done by tomorrow. 

As for where I have moved to, I will not specify the city, but I will specify the prefecture, as I am no longer in Ibaraki prefecture anymore:

I also need to set up my water and gas utilities tomorrow, but electricity is more of a priority. Of course after that, I need to go to city hall and register my new address. 

Searching for a (temporary) new gym

With the number of cases of the Wuhan virus escalating around the country, the city I'm in is not immune to all this. Numerous prefectures, including Ibaraki, have implemented their own states of emergency. Again. Businesses and have shortened their hours. Again. The gym I usually go to, however, has decided against shortening their business hours and, instead opted to close up for the month - much to my annoyance.

Fortunately, there is another place I can go that isn't far from where I live. It is nearly double the cost of my usual gym, though there aren't many options around at the moment. All the other gyms around here require you to enter in to a contract, and my usual gym and this alternative one are the only I ones I know of that allow you to pay as you go. My friend mentioned he had gone there before and said that there was a smith machine available to use, so I can at least work on my bench and squats. 

Aside from that, I was able to get a little bit of extra work for the past two weeks. I won't go in to details of the work so my employer (and myself) won't get identified as usual, but I will say it was a good experience. Not to mention getting some extra money that will go a bit of a way to helping me get by until the payday after this one - which will be in  later October. 

Getting a Japanese Driver's License

After over an hour's drive to Mito from Chikusei, and a five hour wait between submitting all my documents to getting my photo taken and some final details, I have finally received my Japanese driver's license. The best part of it, is that I don't need to renew my license until 2020. However, with all the patting myself on the back and jerking myself off over such a tremendous feat in the history of gaijin...

You know what? I will just skip to the part of the general process of transferring your home country's license in to a Japanese license, should you ever need to drive in Japan beyond one year.

Before you even go to a Licensing Center, you will need the following documents:

- Your home country's driver's license * (more on this after)
- A translated copy of your driver's license (which has to be done by the Japanese Automobile Federation, or JAF)
- Your passport
- Your residence card
- Your certificate of residency, which shows your current address and your nationality (you can get this from City Hall - it cost 250 yen when I asked for one in Chikusei)
- Passport size photo, though you can do this at the licensing center. The one at the Mito licensing center can do it for 800 yen, though 8 photos, so it's handy if you need extra photos in the future.
- Decent Japanese language proficiency. If you're not that confident in handling this on your own, I would recommend you bring someone with decent proficiency, or if you are lucky, bring a native speaking friend along.
- Also, I would recommend bringing a book, or something to help pass the time (I brought my 3ds), as you will be waiting around for long periods of time

In truth, I tried to apply two weeks ago, and found out that I needed the certificate of residency. From various material I had been reading online, the information regarding the required documents led me to believe that my residence card alone would have been sufficient, but that wasn't the case. It's called a juuminhyou (住民票), literally certificate of residence. As I mentioned above, you will need to go to your city hall and request for one. They will want you to tick a number of boxes which indicate what information you want displayed on this certificate. I was not too sure what specifically the licensing center wanted, so I just checked all the boxes to include all the information just in case. It costs 250 yen, so this won't hurt your wallet at all.

Next, you will need to head to the Driver's Licensing Center in your prefecture. Depending on where you live, this could be a fairly short trip, or it can be a long one. The licensing center for Ibaraki prefecture is located in Mito, and it takes a little over an hour from Chikusei city. Besides bringing money to pay for your license, I would recommend either bringing food and drink along, or have some money to buy some food and drink, as this can take up most of your day. In addition the booth for applying to transfer your home country's license to a Japanese one is only open for a very short time - for the center in Mito, it is only open from 9:00am - 10:00am weekdays, so you may have to take a day off to do this. I was lucky this time around, as due to schedule changes for my schools, I had today off, so I did not have to worry for applying for time off.

Once you arrive at the Licensing center, you will need to head to the booth for transferring international licenses in to Japanese licenses. It should be marked in English as well as Japanese, otherwise, just look for 外国. They will give you some forms to fill out, and they will point out which fields you need to fill in, and you will receive a separate form to check some boxes. In Mito, they also gave a separate English form for this on top of the Japanese one, so you know what the questions mean. Basically it's asking whether you've driven under the influence of alcohol, ever passed out due to medical conditions, and so on. Once you have filled that out, you return to the booth, and they will ask for all your required documents.
With regards to your home country's license, they will want to know when your license was first issued. If your driver's license does not contain that information, you will need to obtain that from your country's department of transport, or equivalent for that, otherwise you will not get any further. I have also read that some people who renewed their license before coming to Japan have also encountered difficulty, as you are required to have stayed at least 3 months in your home country after receiving your driver's license (hence, why they want your passport). I had actually renewed my license a month before arriving in Japan, so I was concerned I would not get approval, though my driver's license had the date of when I first received my license, which was over 10 years ago. Apparently this was fine for me, but I have heard other stories where this is not the case, so it is possible this could vary from prefecture to prefecture. I asked the JAF at the time I had my license translated, though they said I would be fine. In any case, just be aware of this. Oddly enough, they asked me about the nature of the driving lessons I took in Australia, such as how often I had lessons, how often I practiced, and whether I took some form of test. Since it had been over ten years, I couldn't remember the specifics, so I ended up giving general answers, which they seemed to be satisfied with.

If all goes well, you will end up in one of two situations. Japan appears to have some sort of agreement with the following countries:
Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, The United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Taiwan, South Korea, or USA (only Maryland or Washington)
If you happen to be from any of these countries, congratulations!  You do not need to take a written or driving test. In fact all you need to do is take a very simple eye test which only takes less than 2 minutes.
If you are not fortunate enough to be from any of the above countries - you will need to take a ten question true/false test before doing a driving test. I don't know much about this section, as I fall under the former category and only had to take the eye test.

After my eye test, they took me to another room to get my photo taken. Since I went there in casual, my photo does make me look a bit scruffy, but compared to other photos for licenses/passports, it is not actually that bad. Anyway, after some more waiting, I finally received my license, and some instructions about instances on if I move or change my name due to marriage. They also gave me a small leaflet explaining in greater detail those things. By the time I was ready to leave, it was already 3:00pm - over my half of my day gone right there, add to that the drive back to Chikusei, and I didn't get home until just before 4:30pm.
I have to admit, compared to the system of getting a license in Australia, Japan's system is a bit of a pain to go through. If not for the fact I live an hour away from the licensing center, I would have gone home in between waiting periods. I don't remember having to spend an entire day at a licensing center in Australia just to get my driver's license, though I suspect things have changed since I first got my license over ten years ago. All in all, it certainly was an interesting experience - and while there plenty of pages online that highlight this process, I felt like adding my two cents on my experiences going though the system in Japan.

Before Work: Visiting the Schools

Today I went with my coordinators to visit the schools that I will be working at starting from tomorrow. For confidentiality purposes, I won't name the schools I will be working at, but I will describe my experiences from today's visit.

The first school we went to wasn't all that far from where I live. Maybe 10 minutes or so by car. We were greeted by one of the teachers who explained how things run at school, including my lesson plans, and the weekly schedule, and where and who I would be working with on Friday. We also had a tour of the school, which I noticed was a very wide school. Along the way I was introduced to the various teachers. I found them to be rather friendly people, and they all seemed to be surprised when I spoke to them in Japanese. I also had to introduce myself to everyone in the teacher's room in Japanese. One thing I noticed was that they're mostly young people (though the teacher who had been giving us a tour of the school and giving me the explanation really wanted to know my age, and told everyone my age *laughs*). My coordinator commented after that I probably be able to get along with them more easily because they're closer to my age.

The second school we went to is a bit further away compared to the first school - possibly 20 minutes. The visit was fairly brief, with an introduction to one of the teachers, along with the vice principal, and again, another self introduction in Japanese to everyone in the teacher's room. They also explained that while I will have no classes tomorrow, there will be a ceremony for the new semester, where I will have to introduce myself to all the children at school. Since it's the entire school, I can't really use flash cards to reinforce what I say. However, I plan to print out the Australian flag at least.

After school tomorrow, I plan to do my lesson plan for the first school on Friday. Fortunately, there were notes left from the previous ALT, so I do have something to work from. I also do not have class until 2 period, so I will have a bit more time to prepare.

Considering I have to wake up early tomorrow for an 8am start, I should probably go to sleep now. I will be sure to post about my first day experiences tomorrow.

Kamisu City - Initial Thoughts

After about an hour and a half of driving from Mito city, I finally arrived in Kamisu city yesterday afternoon. I had heard, and also read up about how you would need a car to get around. Man, they were not kidding. Since the driving system in Japan is pretty much the same in Australia (left hand drive, right hand steering wheel, etc), it was pretty easy to get to the hang of things. One thing I will say though: I'm not sure if this is just a Kamisu thing, or Japanese people in general, but for a country that is really hung up on following rules, nobody around Kamisu even tries to do the speed limit. On the major roads, I think it's about 50 km/h (which for me is pretty slow, since the average on most roads in my home city is 70 km/h), but it's not uncommon for people to be going faster. On top of that, I hardly saw any pedestrians out and about - at most I probably saw 10 people, with the majority getting around by car. When even the convenient stores have a sizeable car park, it's definitely a sign that Kamisu is car-dominated city.

Anyway, my apartment upon arrival was completely bare - no fridge, no washer, no microwave, not even any curtains. However, I was advised that the fridge/washer/microwave would be arriving on monday afternoon. On the other hand, I had to go out and buy everything else, and I also spent today purchasing the remainder of my necessities. Learning from my times as an international student, I've stuck to purchasing cheap things, including a cheap mattress, a cheap fold up table, and a cheap stool. As I'm not going to start getting paid until late October, I've been putting together goals, and keeping a closer eye on  my purchases so I can keep my expenditure as low as possible. As I also want to travel to Kyoto for Christmas for the 2 week winter break to visit my girlfriend, it's even more important that I try to get on top this now while I'm in the settling period. Fortunately, most of the necessities I've purchased are the sorts of things I can use in future accommodation, so it's short term pain for long term gain.

I will be starting my first day of work on Thursday. I am a bit nervous, especially because I did so-so on my demo lessons during the training, though I was told in feedback that my lesson plan is technically sound; I just need the confidence to be able to perform in front of a classroom of students, and I am hoping this will become easier after the first few days of work.

Day 2 in Mito: Odd feelings of homesickness?

For the first time in since my travels to Japan, I've surprisingly started to feel homesick... not sure if homesick is the right term in this case. As I mentioned in my previous post, it's the first time that I've felt so alone.
I oddly never felt like this at all when I did my studies in Kyoto for a year, but looking back on it, I suspect it might be because I was living in a shared dormitory, where there was support available not only from my dormitory tutors, but also from the convenience store across the street from the dormitory, who helped us out whenever we had any problems Japan related. Furthermore, there were also people from my home university that were staying in the same dormitory, so I didn't feel lonely during those times. I did feel frustrated at times initially, though that was more to do with classes, and having to meet the requirements of my home university to graduate, something other international students didn't have to worry about.

This time around, while waiting for my training to begin on Tuesday, I don't have any of that support. I haven't even met my recruiter in person yet, or any of the other ALTs, but that will happen on Tuesday anyway.

I decided to call my parents in the afternoon, and sure enough, they knew why I was calling. I know Mum was trying to reassure me that I can go back home at any time, but I feel like all of this would be for nothing if I did so, and I also think Mum understands that. She also gave some advice that I should try to be productive, and keep my mind busy, so I don't pick up any bad habits.
Taking her advice, I decided to go out and have a look around Mito station. I ended up going to Bic Camera to get a charging cable for my 3DS, and USB flash drive, which I planned to use for work related matters, and I also went to the 100 yen store to get some notepads, a folder, and some chopsticks. I also decided to check out the game center afterwards. However, while I wanted to play Groove Coaster, both machines were occupied, so I settled for a game of Time Crisis 4 before I returned to the hotel.

Other than practicing my presentation for training, I've been searching around for how to get to and from Mito if needed, and about the bus service to Tokyo that I read about. In addition, I've been checking in to accommodation in Kyoto during the Christmas/New Year period. My girlfriend and I briefly talked about how to spend Christmas/New year together (whether it be in Kamisu or in Kyoto), but we hadn't reached a decision yet - we'll most likely decide once I get an idea on the exact dates.

Tomorrow, aside from practicing the presentation (again), I might take another look around the area, and maybe go to the northern side of Mito.

First evening in Mito City

After spending 1 week in Kyoto, I have finally arrived in Mito city in the Ibaraki prefecture. As I thought, it finally sank in during my time in Kyoto that I would be not only starting a new job, but a new job in a different country - where the rules are different from what I am used to. I feel like I've been putting a lot of pressure on myself to not mess this up, as I know that there is nothing back in my home country if this doesn't work out. Maybe in a few years time I might go back to work, but for the moment, I want to get experience in Japan, not only for work, but to also improve my Japanese, and finally get N2 and N1 certifications.

At the moment I'm staying in a hotel not too far from Mito train station. It's a good location, though I have to fork out of my own pocket until I move to Kamisu city. I also realise that unlike my time as an international student in Japan, there's much less support this time round in getting set up - specifically, I have to set up my own phone account, my own bank account, and my own internet service provider. This will be an interesting experience, though my girlfriend has reassured me that I will get a lot more out of it by doing these things on my own. Depending on the distance of the schools from where I will live in Kamisu, I'm also contemplating buying a bicycle as opposed to renting the company car, as the costs will pile up with the car ($200 a month, plus petrol costs out of my own pocket...); the bicycle will not only cut costs, but will serve to help me lose weight, which I gained a little while I was in Kyoto (laughs). I've also read that there is a cheap gym in a government-funded community center, which I want to look in to more once I move to Kamisu.

In the meantime, I have training next week, and I need to finish preparing my self introduction, which I will need to do for the training sessions, and for my first day at school as an English teacher.

Unlike my time as an international student, where I spent money on any and everything (gunpla, candy, game centers, other toys, etc), I want to be more conscious of my spending habits. A blog entry I found recently has inspired me to save, and from the looks of things, It's doable - especially if I put a lid on my spending habits, and try and cook at home more often. If I can pull this off, I can finally start paying off my student debt, and probably pay off the rest of my car, which I left in the care of my sister back home.