Rakugo

I don't know if anyone else had the experience of storytellers coming to their elementary schools. But my school had a fair amount of them. The majority of them were native American stories. With puppet shows, and shadow shows or acting it out, or even just vocal performances.

Japan too, has a great many of these kinds of performances. They are called rakugo. They are a story that displays some sort of moral in the end, though not always. They are more known for being amusing. Though it is an odd sort of humor, where it is not really funny as in hilarious, but funny in a pitying sort of way meanwhile, making your life also feel better. I know it is strange to say.
Recently, I had the honor of meeting a rakugo artist and listening to him practice his tale. He was a Japanese man performing in English for an event to be put on at the Kyoto multi-cultural center September 29th. This man's story was one of death, and making deals with death. And of some poor sod who had a terrible life any way you shaped it and so he made a deal with a shinigami(god of death - in Japan there are multiple shinigamis). The man of course got greedy, almost like in Aseops tales, and tricked a poor shinigami. And well I won't ruin the story for you!
But here are a few examples of other rakugos preformed in English.

Identity Crisis!

Some people just know how to plan nothing!

And I am apparently one of them. 

So here is a story about getting your new identity card as well as what to do when renewing a visa in Japan while simultaneously being outside of Japan when your visa expires. 

Let me preface this that two days before I took an amazing European backpackers tour, I realized that my visa would expire while I was gone. Actually, that is not entirely correct. Two weeks before is when I realized that, but when I went to immigration to inquire about it, the man thought I wanted a re-entry permit so I to tell him that no I had one of those, so then he asked when I got it and I told him last December. Well he told me that I would be fine since those permits last a year. No, in fact they do not. Not if your visa expires before the re-entry permit does. In that case, your permit expires the same times as your visa does. 

For example, in my situation, my visa for Japan was validated August 19th 2011 (the day I moved to Japan). I got my re-entry permit in December (sometime near Christmas). These things are good for a year or until your visa expires. So in my case, it was good until August 19th of 2012. I had a one year visa because I had a teaching contract that was for ...well actually it was for 7 months at the time, but since I renewed, it was extended, allowing me to extend my visa in turn. Regardless~! They give you a one year visa, and they don't really give you ones longer than that unless your contract expressly says that you will work for multiple years. I suppose they don't really want us gaijins running amuck in their country. Understandably so!

Ok moving on now that you have the background information! So then looking at my passport days before departure, I realize that the immigration person must have been wrong (he never saw my passport or I am sure he wouldn't have told me such)! My re-entry permit expired when I was away. So THE DAY, that I left Japan, I went to immigration again to try to get a new visa or at least to do what must be done to enable myself to re-enter the country on an expired visa. 

So here is what happened, I went there first with a few documents and explained my situation. I had to use baby words, because despite what you might think, the Kyoto immigration officers speak English at a very minimal amount. I think my students are more knowledgeable...Well after discussing it and looking online and then in the end, calling my company and seeing what I had to do, I figured out I needed, 

• passport
• alien registration card
• tax slip (OR your the last 3 pay stubs you received - it should show that you are paying tax on them)
• a signed version of the contract with your company 
• visa application form
• 
  

Keep in mind that I am renewing for the first time. I heard that it is a bit different the second time, with residency taxes and all...

So I raced home and frantically searched for all of these things. Bare in mind, I had just moved out of Leopalace, so my new abode was looked like the unloading of a wharf in a port city in the 1800's.

Documents in hand, I biked back to the Kyoto immigration office (also note, there is a center in Osaka but that is hella far away from me, but they do speak more English there, I know because I got my re-entry permit there, but this would also not be at all feasible if I were going back and forth between my home and the Osaka office). I got everything turned in no problem. 

What they did was stamp my passport with a sign that said application in process and gave me a slip of paper that looks like a regular arrival card that you see on airplanes except it said for special re-entry permission and also read departure card instead of arrival. Later that same day, when I was going through immigration at the airport, they ripped the card n half, stapled it to my passport, and stamped it returning the passport to me and allowing me to re-enter the country upon my return. 

pretty much just like the one here. And on the back smaller featured part
 is where they put their little special stamp.

So what happened when I got back?

Well at immigration when I got back, I got lead to the side room by an official, where they proceeded to stamp my passport as per usual, or at least something of a similar nature (They had me sit on a sofa while they did big boy job stuff, so I did not really see what they did). They ripped out the little stamped departure slip and sent me on my way. The whole process perhaps took all of 2 minutes. 

When I got back to Kyoto to my storage unit apartment, both in size and current nature, I went to immigration to get my new visa. I thought that they were supposed to send me something in the mail, but I also thought that about getting my ARC card the first time and lets face it, THAT never happened. Well this time there could have been a different reason about not receiving any mail, so if they mailed me of not, I could not tell you (new addresses and having to confirm that yes, you are living there and all, I missed that while being abroad and they only keep the mail for so long before they send it back). Apparently they were not able to tell me whether they mailed me or not either when I asked them...

Regardless, I got my new visa, which turns out is not a visa at all. It is a new alien registration card. This card is supposedly very similar to the Japanese version and will act as a visa and allow a gaijin for multiple re-entries. It also is supposed to make contractual agreements (as in for cell phones and apartments) much easier to acquire. I would not know that. Not yet at least. Also it is supposed to allow for a longer term between renewals (3 years or something)...well mine only lasts for a year, so, so much for thinking that. But it makes me wonder how the renewal process for this will go, since no one has had to renew theirs yet, as they have implemented this ID card as of July, they might change the renewal requirements for gaijins as well...
In addition to my lovely new card, an extra special stamp for me was my cancellation stamp. They stamped my passport atop my original multiple re-entry stamp, which was expired, and added a mark of their own reading CANCELED. A bit over the top considering it was already expired, but on the other hand I like getting my passport stamped. 

Other things they told me about the new identity card was that they were supposed to mail it to me (that is what my company said...really...-___-). "You don't have to worry about it, they will just grandfather you into the clause." That is actually what someone else's company told them. They do not need to renew their visa but were asking about re-entry permits and their company pretty much told them, that they did not need a permit because the new ARC said you don't need one. And if you don't have the new card, well since you got your other one so recently, it should count anyways. I don't think you need me to comment on this logic.

Or that you just do not have to get one, which is true, you don't have to get one right away at least. But getting a new ID card is actually cheaper than buying a multiple re-entry permit. 

A re-entry permit costs 6,000 yen whereas a new ARC card and everything will run 4,000 yen, plus whatever you pay to get your photos, for me it was 700 yen at a machine just outside the building. So if you are looking to go out of the country on your old visa, it might be worth your while to hassle your company to provide you with the necessary documents to upgrade your ID card.

All Gaijins Look the Same

This is such a hilarious statement of reversed roles that I practically snorted when I heard it.

But this is true enough. I have talked to several Japanese people about it and whereas some seem to think along the lines of 'pffft that is ridiculous', others who have less interactions with us gaijins profess its truth. Indeed it is a true opinion of some people in Asia. I asked my Korean co-teacher the same question and she said of course not! We were all so different! My South-African co-teacher at the same school and I both had blonde hair and fair skin. She has bright sky blue eyes and mine are green. She is also perhaps six inches taller. And though my Korean teacher said this, she would very often get us mixed up for one another in the classes.

I must admit, to myself it sounds like the strangest thing. We have different colors of eyes and hair and even different colors of skin, pale, olive, tan. And yet perhaps to them maybe it isn't that we all look the same but that we are unrecognizable to them in any unfamiliar setting. Perhaps it is really not that they cannot recognize us apart from on another but that the possibilities are so great that we could easily be someone else they refuse to recognize us for who we are. Or then again we all really do look alike and I just completely am missing it.
It is interesting to see our roles in reverse. Where in America, less cultured people will always tell you how Asians all look the same. And indeed, not that I couldn't tell people apart, but their hair color and style, as well as their skin color, and sometimes height are largely similar and therefore from a distance you might easily mistake them for someone else.
But now living in Korea and Japan I see the differences more clearly than ever before. Their faces are all so different to me as different breeds of dogs are to a dog lover. Their jaw lines. Their complexion. Their hair. The shape of their eyes (YES IT'S DIFFERENT). Perhaps it is not as drastic as blonde and browns of the hair color of western cultures, but I suppose when you live here long enough you see that there is different quality to each persons hair or their facial features are excessively prominent that how could you possibly mistake them for anyone other than themselves?

Borrowed Cars

An extremely interesting option for those who do not have a car, borrowing a car. This is like a car rental service minus all the people. 

This is a really nifty feature of Japan society. Since the majority of people do not have cars as there is simply no space to have a car (most houses do not come with garages or anywhere to park your car), and the fact that owning a car can get pretty expensive, with the parking fees (if you do not have a personal parking lot, you must pay some company for the use of their garage to permanently store your car when it is not in use) and the parking fees (when you go somewhere) and the insurance for the car, and the fuel it eats. You get the picture. It all adds up. So unless you are pretty well off, you most likely don't have a car. But that does not mean you don't have to not have a drivers license. You can still get one of these without registering the car for which you need it. Therefore this little invention of Times Plus, basically a rental car, can be extremely handy for people who need to get somewhere out of the way of buses and trains (or possibly you just have a lot of baggage that can't properly be handled on a train or bus). 

From a designated spot, and for a certain fee you get to rent out this car for a an undesignated amount of time. You pay a pretty low initial fee something like 2 or 3 hundred yen (I am not sure the exact amount here) to be able to use this car. Of course you must have a drivers license, with which at some computer you will register your use of the vehicle before you can use it. Clearly this is for their own security purposes, so if any damage comes to the car, your identity is on file. Now what is to stop you from stealing someones drivers license and identity... your good heart? I don't exactly know. But I do know that the computer at which you register has a camera so that if any inaccuracies or identity thefts occur, it can be easily checked. 

After you check out the car you also must pay by the hour as per use. I can't tell you the fee for that simply because I have never done it (I also don't have a Japanese license). And if you need more gas you have to pay for that too. You also have to pay for the parking of anywhere you park, and in Japan, parking is hardly ever free. 

When you are done with the car, you simply return it from whence it came paying for the hours for which it was absent from its parking spot. Nice and simple right?

Origami presents

Not that my kids are especially talented at it or anything, but they really love to make origami.

Origami has always been a significant aspect of Japan with their paper cranes and incredible delicate paper work done with fancied paper to make the observer a touch in awe with the delicacy and preciseness of the degree at which the paper is folded. In particular, cranes are most notable. This is because the crane is a significant bird in Japan. There is a particular Japanese crane with a red crested head. These birds are one of the few species that are entirely monogamous throughout their entire life. The crane that is thought to bring good fortune and thus if you fold a thousand of them, a crane is said to grant your wish. What is so significant about the art of paper folding is that for the longest time, centuries even, paper folding was passed along singularly by word of mouth and demonstration. There were no books on the matter for decades to come. Thus it is more or less a traditional art for, an intangible heritage of Japan.

I feel like my kids (ES) have endless supplies of origami paper and they are endlessly making me little paper presents. I have little lanterns and paper men and a samurai shirt and bunnies, frogs, and cats and hearts and this awesome necklace. Their gifts are endless. Sometimes neither I nor they have any idea what they made, but they folded the paper into some neat creation to gift me with. Other times they will have me sign a paper and fold it into something and then sign another paper themselves and fold it and give that one to me so we would be like an origami secret couple. 

But occasionally, this origami can be frightening stuff. When they get older (my JHS) they have a significantly decreased interest in the origami art, but later, perhaps high school, their interest in not so much increased as are the myths that come with it. There is an old voodoo like charm for origami paper people in which curses are involved. The belief is that you would take one of these paper people with a name of the intended scrawled upon it into a select haunted or otherwise creepy forest at night and nail them to a tree. I think that there are different reasons or beliefs surrounding this, but one is to curse people and another might be for love?

who needs a hair cut? Meeeeee