Import Duties on Taxable Goods

Thinking of buying something from abroad? There's a good chance you won't be charged any import duties if it's a small item, but if the value is declared and the object isn't a gift, be prepared to shell out some cash for the privilege.



Here's the smallprint of the customs duty arrangement, but the key point is this:

In 2007, the average applied rate for all goods is 1.8 percent. Specifically, 10.1 percent for agricultural products, 4.6 percent for fish and fish products, and 1.7 percent for wood, pulp, paper and furniture.

Also, some things (such as watersports equipment properly labelled as such) don't have to pay fees. A full list of what does and doesn't require payment is available here (current as of 2011). When I say full, I mean it. Everything from ash to spacecraft.

But anyway, if you've bought something small from eBay you won't have much to worry about. Even if you get charged it will be a pretty small amount. I recently spent 150,000 on diving products from America, and was charged 3,200yen on arrival. Not a bad percentage, despite the fact that it should have been free according to the website.

ETC Personal Card: ETC Without a Credit Card

Japanese highways have tolls. You either pay in cash, or use a fancy ETC reader installed in your car, paired with an ETC card, which electronically tracks your highway usage and charges your credit card as appropriate.

However, getting hold of one was not as easy as it sounded... until today!!!!!!!!!!

Read on for a full description and a guide to filling out the application.

The benefits of ETC are obvious: saving money through ETC's multifaceted discount system. The snag for most foreigners in Japan is that almost all ETC cards are tied to domestic credit cards. And getting a credit card tends to be difficult for many foreigners. (Though it's not impossible! Check out our guide.)

Anyway, the exception to the rule among ETC cards is...

The ETC Personal Card. It's independent of a credit card, any resident of Japan can apply, and the approval process is lenient. If you have an alien registration card, you'll almost certainly be approved. The tradeoff is that the card requires a financial deposit.

Interested? Read on for our guide on how to apply!

• Getting an Application

Applications are available from the personnel on duty at ETC-equipped highway tollbooths or from the Information or Concierge desks at Service Areas along the national highways. It's ironic, since this means you need to ride on the toll road in order to get a card for it. Furthermore, Concierge desks at Service Areas are often only open during certain business hours, such as 8:00-16:00, though usually 7 days a week. (Info about Service Area hours can be found here, but you may have to follow links to the SA's own homepage to find the Concierge's hours.)

You'll need to ask for it. This will do the trick:

"ETC paasonaru kaado no panfuretto wa arimasen ka?"

The alternative, which lets you stay at home, is to call up the ETC Personal Card Issuing Office (ETCパーソナルカード事務局) and ask for an application to be sent to you. You'll need enough Japanese to ask for the application and provide your name and address. The office is open 9:00-17:00 on weekdays only. The number is 044-870-7333.

• Filling out the Application

The application is in Japanese, but filling it out will be easy thanks to AccessJ!

First, you'll need to make a photocopy of your alien registration card to cut out and paste in a space provided on the application. Don't bother sending them your driver's license instead, because the ETC Personal Card Office won't accept it as proof of identification for a foreigner. They'll just call you a week later when they process the application and ask you to fax a copy of your alien registration card separately anyway, making the application process take even longer.

By the way, you can use a fancy 7-11 convenience store printer to easily make a clean copy of the front and back of your ID on one page. Unenlarged copies are fine, as is folding your copy to fit into the space provided on the application--it probably won't fit otherwise, since you need to copy both the front and the back. Paste it in a way that it can be unfolded while still attached to the application.

Phew. Copy done, right? Now just fill out the rest of the form. If you can't get a Japanese person to help you do it, then here is a high-quality, annotated scan made by us. Beware: this may feel like the most ridiculous form in the history of paper. (Unless you've ever filed US taxes.)

Things that need further explanation:

• When you are asked for your name in kanji, you may write it in English alphabet letters. Just follow however your name is written on your alien registration card. Always make sure the form matches your ID. Above your name, just use furigana you normally use in Japan, even though it probably isn't recorded anywhere on your ARC.


• Date of birth. This section asks for your DOB in Japanese years. You must also circle the era in which you were born. The Japanese date system is based on the length of a given Emperor's reign, so it doesn't follow the usual Gregorian calendar system. The main modern eras are Showa (昭和) and Heisei (平成). (If you're reading this application guide, you probably weren't born in Taisho (大正). More like somewhere between Showa 50 and like, uh, Heisei 2.) Anyway, check the converter here for exact date conversions. For example, if you were born in 1984 you'd circle 昭和 and write 59.


• Types of job categories are 1. self-employed, 2. company employee, 3. civil servant, 4. student, 5. housewife, 6. part-time, 7. unemployed, 8. other


• The deposit (Part 2)


• As you can see from the annotations, once you've estimated your average costs you must choose a yellow box with an amount in. These amounts are the required deposit you must pay.  If you only want to pay the minimum deposit (40,000 yen), then just adjust your average cost calculations to fall into the lowest categories. The deposit will not be used to pay tolls when you get the card. Rather, it acts as a guarantee on the charges you rack up on the highway. So, your deposit, for most users 40,000 yen, will be held by the ETC Personal Card Center until you choose to relinquish your ETC card to them. Your actual highway charges will be billed once a month to the bank account you fill our later in the application. However, your deposit amount is relevant, because if the total of your tolls over any 2 month period exceeds 80% of your deposit, your ETC card will be locked, unusable, and the ETC Personal Card center will contact you asking you to increase your deposit amount.


• Bank types from Part 3:


• 銀行 ginkou- bank


• 信用金庫 shinyou kinko- this one is tricky. Often times its written as “credit union” or “co-operative bank” in English, or simply “local bank” or “shinyo bank.” Basically it’s a local financial intuition that is dedicated to serving local clients and small to medium sized business


• 信用組合- shinyou kumai- this is quite literally a “credit union,” usually associated with a labor or business group. I have seen it written as “credit association” to distinguish it from the above


• 農協 noukyou- agriculture coop bank, like JA


• 漁協 gyokyou- fishermen coop bank


• 労金 roukin- labor bank or labor union bank


• Branch types from Part 3:


• 本店 main branch/hq


• 支店 branch office


• 出張所 extension/mini-branch


• Other options from Part 3 ask who's bank account the details belong to:


• 本人 self 


• 配偶者 spouse 


• 親・子 parent/child
  

The application pack also comes with an explanatory copy of the form. If you want to battle through it in Japanese, here it is:

And here is the application without annotations, if you want that.

• Paying the Deposit

After you send in the application, you should get a call from the ETC Personal Card center. If they have any inquiries about your application, such as "Please send us your alien registration card, not your driver's license." or "Your name is too long and you have too many middle names, which is causing general panic at our offices. How do you want your name truncated to fit on the card?", they'll ask those now.

Then they'll explain that they are sending out a bill for the deposit. This bill is similar to ones you may have received when paying for utilities the first time. You can take it to a bank, post office, or any convenience store and pay there. The funds will reach the ETC Personal Card office on the next business day, after which they'll continue processing your application.

• How Long Will This Take?

Time wise, be aware that the receipt of your ETC Personal Card will be about two to three weeks after you first send in the application. In our experiences, the bill for the deposit arrived almost exactly a week after application, and the card itself arrived another week after the deposit was made.


By the way, here are some maintenance issues you might wonder about after getting the card:

• Changing Address: The ETC Personal Card office sends out its mail in an obnoxious 転送不可 (tensou fuka) fashion, which means if you change addresses in Japan any mail pertaining to the ETC Personal Card will not be forwarded to you, even if you requested at the post office to have all your mail redirected to your new address. So, if you change residences after getting the ETC Personal Card, you need to call them ( 044-870-7333 ) and ask for them to update your file. ("Jyuusho henkou no tetsuzuki wo shitai desu ga.")


• Relinquishing the Card and Reclaiming Your Deposit: After you get your flashy ETC Personal Card in the mail and use it for a few years in your fancy ETC card reader, you may someday decide that you want to get rid of it and lay claim to that hefty deposit you paid on application. The process for this is simple but lengthy: Again, call the ETC Personal Card Center ( 044-870-7333 ) and tell them you're done using the card. They will guide you through the process and the deposit will be furikomied into your bank account about one month after you make the request. Be sure to time this correctly. It'd suck to have that money appear in your account after you've left Japan or bounce because you've already closed your bank account.

For frequent drivers, the benefits outweigh the snags. ETC cards qualify you for big discounts when driving on expressways around Japan. So, good luck with the application process, and let us know how it goes.

How Japanese Addresses Work

Today I StumbledUpon a video so clear and accurate that there was nothing I could do but post it, unedited, on AccessJ. Many thanks to Derek Sivers for this informative and entertaining creation.

Mobile Phone Guide #2: Important Paperwork

One of the most common mistakes that foreigners make is waltzing into a phone shop and expecting to get a phone only a few days after their arrival. Until recently, this was theoretically possible, but thanks to the Improper Mobile Phone Usage Prevention Law (携帯電話不正利用防止法 keitai denwa fusei riyo boshiho)—another law passed with the excuse of cracking down on all those terrorists just waiting to get their filthy hands on phones in Japan—you have to present valid ID to prove you are who you say you are.

According to the Telecommunication Carriers Association (TCA), there are several generally acceptable IDs which I will list below:

a)      A Japanese driver’s license (international licenses aren’t valid in this case)

b)      A Japanese passport

c)      A Japanese health insurance certificate plus one of the following:

I.                 a copy of your address register (住民票 jyuminhyo) or Certificate of Registered Matters if you are a foreigner (外国人登録原票記載事項証明書 gaikokujin toroku genpyo jisai jiko shomeisho),

II.               a public utility receipt in your name and with your address,

III.            an official printed document with your name and address (tax form, etc).
All of the above must be no older the 3 months.

d)      A credit card and a health insurance certificate

e)      A school ID card (from a domestic university or vocational school) and a Japanese health insurance certificate

f)        A mentally or physically disabled person passbook (障害者手帳 shogaisha techo)

g)      An alien registration card (外国人登録証明書 gaikokujin toroku shomiesho) and foreign passport

Keep in mind the legal age for signing a contract is 20, so if you are younger then you may find yourself in a bind as your parents have to co-sign and present one of the above ID combinations. If your parents aren’t Japanese then you had better start begging and/or giving sad gaijin eyes. Despite the basic ID requirements some less scrupulous shops have been known to bend this rule or simply forge signatures, although this is certainly not a regular practice.

The biggest problem with this is that after application the alien registration card generally take 2 weeks to get printed, although you can get a Certificate of Registered Maters for about 300 yen the day of your registration. So unless you are good at smooth talking or find a shop willing to bend the rules (a difficult proposition since the shop usually has to ask the main company for approval), then you are out of luck. Also, if you are here for only a few months, chances are you don’t have a visa and don’t have an alien card. Although tourists who are here for 90 days or more are obliged to get a card, it is all but worthless unless you have a status of residence (在留資格 zairyu shikaku) such as worker, spouse, etc. However, it is possible to rent a cell phone at major airports. These short-term agreements will be handled in a future entry.

The law makes no distinction between pre and post paid phones but in practice it is much easier to get a prepaid phone with a passport and a receipt that shows where you are staying. Since prepaid service is a lot less risky for the phone company if you choose to skip out on your bill and head back home, many shops will be less strict with the ID process, although different shops and different areas often yield vastly different results.

Now that you know what you need to buy yourself a nice shiny phone stay tuned for our next feature on the pre-paid versus post-paid mobile phone breakdown!

Other posts in this series:

Part #1: The Basics

Part #2: Important Paperwork

Part #3: Pre-Paid Phones
Part #4: Post-Paid Phones 
Part #5: Paying Your Bills

Part #6: Mobile E-mail Guide

Part #7: Multi-Lingual Phones

Part #8: Renting and Roaming

Abbreviations in Furikomi

Take a deep breath... this is dry but useful information.

When making a bank transfer (振込, furikomi) in Japan, information regarding the transfer can only be sent using single-bit (half-width) katakana characters, Latin alphabet letters, numbers, or a small subset of punctuation. When you make a furikomi at a bank or ATM, the system will properly annotate information about the bank and branch you want to transfer to. However, properly entering the beneficiary's name is up to you.

(By the way, spaces are also valid in furikomi data. They count as one character.)

Usually, this is an obvious step: You enter in the name of the beneficiary exactly as he or she has directed you. The katakana used must match the katakana they used for the name on their account exactly, or the furikomi won't go through.

What you may not have known is that there are special abbreviation codes used to accommodate long company names so they fit inside the ATM/furikomi slip's character limit. (In my experience, the limit is often 15 characters.)

For example, if you were in charge of sending a furikomi out to the toy company Bandai, the formal name of the company, 株式会社バンダイ, wouldn't fit within a 15 character limit: ｶﾌﾞｼｷｶﾞｲｼｬﾊﾞﾝﾀﾞｲ

Sixteen characters. Damn. What to do?

The wrong way to handle this situation is to enter as much of the name as you can and truncate the end.

The right way to handle this situation is to use designated account abbreviation codes to eliminate common, long titles, such as 株式会社 (publicly traded stock company). A full list of such abbreviations is available here (Japanese).

In the case of our example, the correct abbreviation for 株式会社 is a simple ｶ. But, the next part of the process is also important. You need to use appropriate delineation to indicate how the abbreviation fits into the title. Because 株式会社 comes at the beginning of Bandai's formal company name, you'd start the name on the transfer out with a ｶ, follow it with an ending parenthesis, then add the rest of the company name, like so: ｶ)ﾊﾞﾝﾀﾞｲ

Similarly, if the 株式会社 bit came at the end of the company name, like in music company Yamaha's name, ヤマハ株式会社, you'd use a beginning parenthesis and a ｶ at the end of the name: ﾔﾏﾊ(ｶ

But, what if the 株式会社 bit comes somewhere in the middle of the name you need to send to? Maybe, in a much more likely example, you're not sending to the company's name as a whole but to a specific department: The account name you're sending to is the general affairs department at Yamaha, ヤマハ株式会社総務部. The answer is fortunately unsurprising: You get to put a parenthesis on each end of the ｶ, to end up with a fantastic ﾔﾏﾊ(ｶ)ｿｳﾑﾌﾞ

OK, so what about when you've used all the reasonable abbreviations for your name, and you still end up with something too long, like this (fictional) general affairs department name at Takeda Pharmaceuticals: 武田薬品工業株式会社総務部. Even after abbreviation, it's still a whopping twenty-two characters: ﾀｹﾀﾞﾔｸﾋﾝｺｳｷﾞｮｳ(ｶ)ｿｳﾑﾌﾞ

In this situation, truncation is the rule of thumb. The bank will match up as much of the beneficiary name you could enter to the actual name on the account and make a decision about whether the transfer is legitimate. If that answer still leaves you feeling queasy, there's a simple but time-consuming way to double check yourself: ATMs at some banks will display the account holder name on their confirmation screens when you try to initiate a furikomi. The account holder name is displayed in single-byte katakana, up to a certain number of characters, just like you'd need to write it in to make a successful transfer. Simply go to such an ATM, start making a cash transfer (where you put money into the ATM to send rather than sending from your bank account), and fill out the beneficiary details up to the confirmation screen. Once you've seen how the name should be written, take a memo, and hit "Cancel" on the ATM so your experimental transfer doesn't actually go through.

Vehicle Registration and License Plates in Japan

Registration of cars in Japan is handled by the District Transport Bureaus, or 地方運輸局 (ちほううんゆきょく). These bureaus were previously known as 陸運局 (りくうんきょく) before a restructuring of the Ministry of Transport* and are still colloquially referred to as such. In conversation, or within the scope of this guide, the names are interchangeable.

Today we'll learn about what exactly the District Transport Bureaus handle, what they don't handle, and, down there at the bottom of the article, how to find your nearest branch.

*Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism
Doesn't it realize how obnoxiously long its chosen English name is? This is the same country, mind you, that has gobs and gobs of application forms that don't accommodate anyone with a full name longer than 6 characters, including plenty of online forms that return a "your name is too long" error.




Anyway, when you buy a car, the District Transport Bureau is the place where you take said car to have its registered name changed (if you bought from an individual) or to have it newly registered in your name (if it is a new car from a dealer or if the dealer removed the previous owner's name and plates from the car before selling). This is the authority that issues the coveted 車検証 (しゃけんしょう) and Japan's vehicle registration plates (a.k.a. license plates, registration plates, ナンバープレート).

However, the bureau only issues these items for full-sized vehicles. Yellow-plate Kei cars report to a different authority: The Light Motor Vehicle Inspection Organization, or 軽自動車検査協会 (けいじどうしゃけんさきょうかい). In most areas, the Light Vehicle Organization will have it's offices located nearby the larger District Transport Bureau, so effectively the place you need to go to is the same, just the desks you wait at and the paperwork you fill out differs. Registering a Kei car is also, I hear, a quicker process than that of a full sized auto.

By the way, if you buy a car from a dealer and ask them to take care of the plates for you, this is exactly the same place that the dealer must bring the car. In fact, the vast majority of people waiting in lines and sitting on benches at these offices are car dealer employees. When you ask a dealer to do it for you, you pay for the employee's time and transport, whereas if you change plates yourself, the processing fees usually don't exceed the 2500-3000 yen range. (Of course, it also costs you your time.)

Unlike the DMV in the U.S., the issuance of driver's licenses and vehicle registration plates are handled by separate authorities in Japan. A driver's license in Japan comes from the Driver's License Center, 運転免許センター (うんてんめんきょせんたー). In regions without a Driver's License Center, some procedures (renewal, change of name, change of address, etc.) may be handled by a local police station, but the initial license is always issued by the Driver's License Center.

If you want to try your hand at "self-shaken," the District Transport Bureau is also the place to go for that. One of the buildings in the bureau will have a large auto pit where cars can be taken for shaken inspection. Garages and mechanics that offer shaken services are licensed by this bureau and perform the same set of inspections on each vehicle. The difference in price between hired shaken and self-shaken is a matter of knowledge and convenience. To do a self-shaken you don't need to know a terrible amount about cars, but you do need to know how to go through the procedures at the bureau. More importantly, you will need the time (during weekdays, usually applications are accepted from about 9:00-16:00) to take your car to the bureau and have the inspections done yourself. A garage or a mechanic, on the other hand, may do it on a weekend and hang on to your car until it's convenient for you to pick it up.
Has anyone else noticed a trending in Japan for people to pay to have something done rather than learn how to do it themselves?

The region a District Transport Bureau or a Light Motor Vehicle Inspection Organization administers isn't exactly proportionate to a prefectural government (as it would be in, say, the U.S.). That's why there are more types of vehicle plates in Japan than prefectures; if you live in the right area you can have your vehicle plate say something cool like 富士山, 六本木, or 鈴鹿.

Usually there will be several bureaus in a prefecture based around its centers of population. If you live in the boonies, unfortunately this could mean that the bureau that administers your area is a two or three hour drive away. Check out these handy websites for a complete listing of all branches of the District Transport Bureau and all branches of the Light Motor Vehicle Inspection Organization, including access maps and operating hours.

Taspo Cards - How to Get ID for Buying Cigarettes

Back in 2008, the Tobacco Industry of Japan discovered, via a shock report, that having cigarette vending machines in the street meant that under-age people could buy them.

Anyway, since that revelation they have introduced the ID-check system of Taspo cards.

In order to buy cigarettes (from Taspo-enabled machines) you must swipe your card over the sensor (or press your wallet against it), and in order to have that card you need to have applied and been approved for one.

Here are the details of how to do that.

Any idiot can get a Taspo; you just need to be 20 or over.


Apply
The application is free. Here's the application form (Japanese only, but not complicated).
You must complete and return that form, along with

• A copy of one of your forms of Japan-issued photo ID: your driver's licence, health insurance card, gaijin card, pension book, welfare cetificate or residency certificate,
• One photobooth photo.

Send to the address printed on the application.

Two weeks later, your card should have arrived. YAY!


Credit
Of course you can pay by cash in vending machines, but you can also credit money to your Taspo card (for some reason referred to as "pidel"). You can charge the card and use your pidel at machines where you see the icon to the right.


Alternatives:

• Convenience stores/supermarkets/tobacconists.
• You may well find some machines without the Taspo sensor (apparently 2%). Go nuts.

Happy smoking.

GoLloyds: 2000yen International Bank Transfers

...is with GoLloyds Japan (see below for more options). It's also the cheapest I've seen at 2,000yen a time.



GoLloyds is a go-between from Japan to your home-country bank account. You transfer money domestically from your Japanese account to GL, who will then send it to your chosen target. Because it's a domestic transfer initially, it shouldn't cost you anything other than the GL surcharge.

Step-by-step

1. Go to this GoLlyods webpage and download the application form,
2. Send GL a printed copy of the form, along with 
1. a copy of your passport  
2. AND a copy of one of the following (showing your address). Don't forget to copy both sides.
1. your gaijin card
2. health insurance card
3. driving licence
4. inhabitant certificate
3. Write Dominic Beverley as your referrer!

The address is

GoLloyds Registrations
Lloyds TSB Bank plc.
ATT, New Tower (5F)
2-11-7 Akasaka
Minato-ku
Tokyo 107-0052

or

〒１０７-００５２ 東京都港区赤坂２-１１-７ 赤坂ツインタワー新館　５F
ロイズTSB銀行東京支店

It might be worth checking all this information on their website before applying.

Transfering Money

1. GL will send you a letter, in English, with the instructions for how to send money,
2. Take the letter to your bank (any branch is ok) ATM
3. On the ATM, choose the 振込 option (furikomi/bank transfer)
4. Follow the letter's instructions for number input etc
1. Remember that sending after 3pm will use the next day's exchange rates
5. Save your bank details to the ATM when prompted (if you want)
6. Wait 24-36 hours and check your foreign bank

As all banks will, GL skims a little off your money through their exchange rate. It's pretty much the same as anywhere else, but if you're sending a vast amount of cash then you might want to shop around to be sure you're getting the best rate.

More

• Currency website xe.com used to have a good service for this, but it no longer serves Japan.
• CitiBank also offers this service with almost immediate transfer. You don't even need to have an account with them. The charge is 3,500 yen. More info on their site.
• Some people have also reported being able to use a PayPal account linked to two personal bank accounts in different countries; paying into one and withdrawing from another.

Convenience Store Printers: Everything Short of Transforming into Robots

I love the all-in-one copiers in Japanese convenience stores. It's great to have access to a copier any time of the day or night for those of us who are bastions of non-procrastination and deadline management. But not only that, I love these all-in-one copiers because of all the other amazing things they do for me.

Here are five features that, if you haven't already tried them, you need to check out on your local convenience store* printer:

(7-11 happens to be the closest convenience store to my home, and so far they have the most extensive feature set I've encountered among convenience store copiers. Some features and images I post here pertain specifically to the all-in-one machines kept at most 7-11s in Japan, so keep that in mind if you want to try this out.)

1) Advanced Copy Features
Those of you who have worked in an office may not be so surprised about this one. High-end copiers have a lot of fancy features like 2-sided copying and copying "thumbnails" of multiple pages to a single sheet. Convenience store copiers have these functions, too, though they're buried a little way down in the menus. One special feature here is meant for people who just need a copy of their ID for an application: The machine takes a scan of the front and back of your license, etc., then enlarges and prints both scans out onto one side of a single sheet of paper. (On a 7-11 machine, this is under the いろいろコピー menu.)

2) Faxes
If you ever need to send a fax on the go (or at home, because who buys a personal fax machine anymore?), convenience stores are your best friend. Just pop in the coins, dial the phone number, and run the document through. Easy stuff.

3) Scanning
Convenience store printers are all generally equipped with flash card and USB readers to print off digital pictures. But, they also offer the reverse service. You can place documents into the machine and have them scanned back into digital images (PDF, JPG, TIFF, and more) which are saved onto the USB memory stick you plug in. It's not cheap to scan like this (around 50 yen per scan!), but if you need something digitized in a hurry, this is a great option to have.

4) Document Printing
This is my second-favorite feature on a 7-11 printer, and one that I haven't yet found in other convenience store chains. Not only is it possible to print off digital photos at these printers, but you can print off documents too. Just save it to your SD card, USB reader, etc. and print away. It's as cheap as copying: 10 yen per page in greyscale. 7-11 handles PDF, XPS, and XDW files. The only tricky thing here is that you can't play around with page size. The printers seem to only want to print PDFs that are of A4 size (or near A4 size, like 8 1/2" x 11") pages. I saved a B5-sized document and took it to one of these machines once, only to find I had to drive back home and do it over again.

5) Net Print
This is my favorite feature, hands down. In fact, it is so good, it needs a separate article. It does everything that document printing can (as explained above), plus more, and the only reason I list document printing separately is because Net Print costs a little more. But yeah, if you haven't heard of or made use of Net Print, you need to check it out.

Net Print: Fuji Xerox + 7-11 = Miracle

One day Fuji Xerox Japan and Seven & I Holdings got together and decided they would make the best service the world has ever seen: Upload documents to a website, then go to any 7-11 in Japan (in Japanese that means "anywhere") and have them printed out at your convenience. The service is called Net Print and I do not know why the companies have not made a bigger deal about this, because it is a miracle for every apartment-dwelling, printerless single adult in the nation (of which there are many).

If you've ever needed to print something out while on the road, or needed to meet a deadline when no printer was in sight, or took your USB thumbdrive to work to print out your resume so you could apply for another job, Net Print is for you.



It's easy to use, but you'll have to fumble around a bit if you aren't used to reading Japanese:

1) Make an Account
To start out, you'll have to make an account at the Net Print website. Click on the big pink button that says ユーザー登録(ゆーざーとうろく). After agreeing with the license terms by clicking 同意する(どういする) and the privacy terms by clicking 承諾します(しょうだくします).

On the following page, fill in your name (氏名), kana for your name (ふりがな), telephone number (電話番号), and e-mail address (メールアドレス). You'll enter the e-mail address again to confirm (確認入力), choose a login ID (ユーザーID). The final two options are a survey (アンケート) and an opportunity to sign up for the Net Print e-mail magazine (メール配信).

The survey asks "how you heard about this site" and you must choose one option. The final option, その他, is fine, unless you want to assert that you heard about it from our nameless website with その他インターネットサイト. The default selection on the e-mail magazine is set to not subscribe (希望しない).

Click the bottom button, 登録する, to complete your application! You should receive an e-mail at the account you used to sign up. Click on the link in the e-mail to activate your account and sign in for the first time.

2) Upload a Document
When you log into your account, you'll be greeted with this screen:

(Click to Enlarge)

Click on the green button to upload a file.
The upload screen looks like this:

(Click to Enlarge, Read on for Explanation)

You can select files up to 2 MB in size from the following formats:
Word (doc, docx, rtf), Excel (xls, xlsx), PowerPoint (ppt, pptx), image files (jpg, png, tif), Microsoft XPS files, and Adobe PDFs.

You'll also need to set the paper size and color settings. The upload will generate a reservation number, which you'll type into the copy machine at 7-11 to retrieve your document from the Internet. You can set a password (4 digits) so that others can't see or print your documents without it. You can have an e-mail sent to your computer, cell phone, etc. that shows the name of the document and its reservation number. (See the above image for details.)

When you've uploaded the window, it will appear on your home screen along with its reservation number:

(Click to Enlarge)

3) Go to a 7-11 and Print!
Uploaded documents will stay on the server for one week. You can print it out at the multicopy machine in any 7-11 in Japan. From the main menu on the copier, select "Net Print" and then type in your reservation number. Black and white prints cost 20 yen (on B5, A4, B4, and A3 size paper), and from 60 to 100 yen per sheet for color prints, depending on paper size.

Ta da!

Example of a Japan Visa

If you come to Japan and intend to stay for a long time, you will almost certainly have a "Japan Visa" in your passport. It is big and shiny and takes up a whole page, and at the top in block letters are the words 日本国査証.

We explained the difference between this Visa and the much more important Landing Permission (上陸許可) before, but for your reference, here is an example of a Japan Visa and explanation of its important points:

1. In the top-left corner of this example, you can see the stamp "USED." This is important, and I'll explain more about it in number 5.
2. Place of Issue: This is the Japanese consulate or embassy at which the visa was issued. Remember, a 日本国査証 is always issued outside of Japan, and it is only meant to help you get into the country. Once you are in Japan, the 日本国査証 has very little to do with your eligibility to stay.
3. Date of Issue: This is the day you received the visa. You can only use this 査証 to enter Japan after the written date.
4. Date of Expiry: This is the expiration date of the 日本国査証. It has nothing to do with the length of time you are allowed to stay in Japan. The "Date of Issue" and "Date of Expiry" written here form a window of time during which you can enter Japan and receive a proper Landing Permission. If the Date of Expiry passes, this document becomes invalid. Just this document. That is all.
5. No. of Entries: For most people, this field reads "Single." However, occasionally a student or some other special class of visitor will receive a "Multiple" entry visa. If your visa is a "Single," you can use it to enter Japan once, at which time it will be stamped "USED" and you will receive a Landing Permission. If you want to exit and enter Japan after that time without losing your Landing Permission, you will use a different (and almost defunct) document called a "Re-Entry Permit." If your number of entries here is "Multiple," you could use your visa to enter Japan multiple times (up until the Date of Expiry) and receive a new Landing Permission each time. However, even if your No. of Entries here is "Multiple," you will probably want to use a Re-Entry Permit to go in and out of Japan. This is because each time you leave Japan without a Re-Entry Permit, you have to surrender your Alien Registration Card, which in turn means you will have to re-register at your local City Hall each time you return to the country.
6. For Stays Of: This field usually reads "1 year" or, more recently, "3 years." This field determines the 在留期間 (zairyuu kikan), or "Period of Stay," on your initial Landing Permission stamp. If you have "1 year" written here, you will start out with a 1-year Period of Stay. But, the next year, when you apply to extend your Period of Stay, you may be granted a 3- or 5-year extension.
7. Category: Most English teachers in Japan will have "Instructor" or "Specialist in Humanities" written here. But, actually there are many categories of residence in Japan. This category will determine the 在留資格 (zairyuu shikaku), or "Status of Residence," on your Landing Permission stamp.

Getting a Re-Entry Permit (Going on Holiday)

In addition to other items in our growing visa guide, you will probably sometimes find yourself in need of a re-entry permit. This is required if you want to leave the country for a holiday, etc. and then return. Why you need one with a valid visa is anyone's guess, but if you don't bother getting one, your hard-won working or student visa will be voided when you return.

They come in two formats - single re-entry and multiple re-entry. The former is 3,000yen whilst the latter will set you back 6,000. I'd recommend the multiple even if you aren't sure about a second trip - you never know when an emergency will come up and having to go to the prefectural office at short notice may be valuable time wasted.

Anyway, here's how you get one:

1. Take your passport and gaijin card to your prefectural office (most likely the capital of your prefecture, and/or in Tokyo). Get there early. Although the wait is nothing like for the visa (it's a different desk), it feels great to get it done quickly and sucks to have to wait until after lunch.
2. Like with so many things, you have to exchange the cash payment for stamps before sticking it to the forms. there will be a little window, machine or a cafe in the office building where you can do this.
3. Fill out the form. Here is an electronic version you can print (A4 only) and take with you. Hand it in with your passport, gaijin card and stamps. (NB may need to take a ticket and wait for your number to be called. For the re-entry permit, press the 再入国許可 (sainyuukoku kyoka), "Re-entry Permit" button).
   
4. Wait. Usually takes 15-minutes to an hour.
   They may then give you an disembarkation/arrival card for when you leave and return to the country. It's just a simple two-part form for the airport staff. If they don't give you one, you'll get one at the airport.
5. Go home/on holiday!

There you are, much easier than the visa extension an all done in one trip!

Both types will last for the same duration as your visa (never longer) from the time when you apply. In other words, if you get a 3-year visa and re-entry permit in July but your old visa runs out in August, whilst the visa will be valid for three years from August, the permit will be valid for three years from July (starts immediately).

Office hours are 9am-noon, 1pm-5pm weekdays.

Contact information and the location of your prefecture's office can be found at the Immigration Bureau website.