We all know that Japanese are sticklers for process & procedure. Everything's gotta be done by the book, or they send you back to Go.  So, how many visits does it take to get things done when dealing with Japanese bureaucrats?

I'll start... I use a Japanese bank account to pay my utilities. I have a bank book with which to make deposits at their funky ATM each month.  After nearly 3 years, I finally lost the bank book.  How many visits does it take to replace the bank book?

1)  Initial trip.  Bring my ID, passport & basic info.  I figure they'll either make the passbook on the spot, or take my info & I"ll come back later to pick it up.  Wrong!  They say I need a Certification Letter from the housing office.

2)  The next day, I go to housing.  They are very nice.  After about a 30 minute wait, I walk out with my certification letter. 

3)  The next day, I go back to the bank with my prized letter, passport, ID, etc.  Everyone smiles & bows; they remember me.  They take my letter.  They say come back in 30 minutes.  They have to look up my account number in a book.  Yes, there is an actual bookshelf full of big, fat printed books with all their customer account info.  They have to find mine.

4)  I go on base to run some errands & come back after lunch.  They have me fill out some lengthy application forms and pay the Lost Passbook fee.  The guy collects everything, fills out his own paperwork, then he gives it to The Boss.  The Boss rejects the entire package.  Reason?  My Certification Letter has spots for name, address, reporting date, ID number, phone number -- where it says "ID Number" it has my SSN.  They caught by examining my ID card which says SSN.  Therefore, the letter is rejected; I'm told to go back to housing to redo the letter, changing the words "ID number" with the words "SSN."  I stringently appeal that in the U.S. military, ID number IS your SSN.  They are not sympathetic.  I make them give me back my fee.  Time wasted: 60 minutes.

Now it's Friday afternoon, no new bank book.  This started on Wednesday.  Looking ahead to Monday, I foresee:

5)  Another visit to housing to (very apologetically) ask them to redo my letter, changing the words "ID Card" to "SSN." 

6)  Another visit to the bank.  One of two things will happen on this next visit.
      (a)  I'll get a new passbook
      (b)  I'll close my account, and from now on pay my utilities at 7/11. 

I'll continue to post updates until this is resolved.

So, any more horror stories out there dealing with Japanese paper-pushers?

   

So...my fiancee is about to give birth to our first child. She has her Japanese insurance, since she is a Filipino here on a work visa. When she first began going to her appointments, I asked about how the birth will be paid for (money, the thing we guys are always worried about). I looked through the book that they gave us, and estimated that the birth would cost 650,000 yen, and it says that the insurance should cover 420,000, then I owe the balance. Alright, I can handle this....but..just in case...

I have her go by Minato Ward office(where her insurance is based) and they tell her that we have to pay the total out of pocket, then they will pay us back 3 to 4 months later....

So now we are told we have to pay 650,000 yen out of pocket. With yen rates at the time, that was about $9,200. Not easy to come up with as an E-5, but I resolved to save it up over the course of the 7 months or so I had at the time.

And now we wait for our precious bundle of joy to get here so I can figure out how broke I will be when it comes time to move us all stateside in July. Isn't childbirth amazing.

Just to clarify, I am greatly looking forward to the birth of my daughter. I merely focused on the monetary aspect for the post. Hopefully I don't get any hate posts now.

That's not true. I gave birth off base. They will give you choices if you want them to pay it directly or you want to pay it first and get a refund later. And your bill is very expensive. We only paid 50000 yen as a down payment a month before I gave birth and the insurance covered everything else. If you are not married yet as well she is also entitled to the jido teate,(child care allowance) and a lot of other stuff.

It's because she is going to a hospital in Tokyo. We couldn't find anyone closer that would take her because she doesn't speak Japanese. We even had someone at one of the agencies on base try, and the closest doctor she could find was Atsugi.

Where do you live? There's one in kita kurihama. That's where I was admitted. I don't speak a single Japanese word either but I survived. Big hospitals means more expensive. Try a clinic. They're cheaper and you shouldn't pay the entire amount. They're gonna make her sign the paper that she wants the hospital to collect the money from the insurance directly. She probably have Filipino friends that speaks Japanese she should ask for a tabor and make them go. If you cant speak Japanese it'll be harder to process to get the money back. Just a suggestion.

Posted By Evan on 04-06-2012 10:01 PM
It's because she is going to a hospital in Tokyo. We couldn't find anyone closer that would take her because she doesn't speak Japanese. We even had someone at one of the agencies on base try, and the closest doctor she could find was Atsugi.

Not that this hasn't gotten WAY OFF TOPIC, but Imai Clinic in Hayashi (Yokosuka) accepts English speakers and the doctor speaks English well enough.  He is also one of the most experienced OB/GYN's in Kanagawa.

Now...back on Topic...

Thaiguy, I have never had that bad of an experience with the Japanese banking system (I have four accounts).  The worst thing I ever had to deal with was they wouldn't let me pay a bill at the bank (where I didn't have an account, but the party being paid had an account) and their reason was  "We don't accept Military ID cards".

I did; however, try to get my son a PASSMO/SUICA card and the machine stated "you need proof of child's age" so since my son (7 years old at the time) was with me...I hit the "I'm ready" button and the guy asked for my son's proof...so I pointed to my son and in Japanese told him that it was clear he was under 18.  He said...I needed proof.  Go for the Japanese closed mindedness (I still love this country though)

Evan here is a website who help ppl with any medical concern .. they are voluntary .. so no cost for Nothing and if you request in plenty time ..
Someone from there can to go with you at your app as interpreter

http://amda-imic.com/lng_eng/

And the answer is... Six! Fortunately, one more trip to housing to get a new letter, and back to the bank for another ream of paperwork yielded me a new passbook. It only took 2 weeks. o_O

Moving to Sasebo on July 15. I should stop reading in this forum to keep from getting depressed! haha

..........PASSMO/SUICA card and the machine stated "you need proof of child's age" so since my son (7 years old at the time) was with me...I hit the "I'm ready" button and the guy asked for my son's proof...

Are you saying there is a SUICA card for children?  Where do you get those from?

......... and what is required for age validation?

When we got our children's suica cards we only had to show their passport to prove they are under 12 since child fares are half price under 12. The card itself has all their info so if lost they know where to return it. It also automatically adjusts to adult fair once the child reaches the age of 12 as it did for when my son turned 12. You get it at the stations just go up to the desk by the ticket machines.

You can also get this kind of card straight from the machine. That is what I did. I pushed the "I am ready" button and the man came and did an ID check. I am glad that is automatically adjusts to the adult fare as I was wondering if I had to get a new one.

Hello.  You have to take the child with his passport to a JR counter for the Suica card.  They will print the child's name it.  Once the child turns 12 the card will stop working and you will need to go back to a JR counter to have the card adjusted.  

How in the world did we get to child birth, passmo, and moving to Sasebo on this thread?? Folks, please stay on topic or start your own discussion.

Thaiguy are there any risks of someone steeling your personal info or money?

I don't understand the question. There are always such risks, but what is your context?

Bad wording lol. Will the bank close your account temporarily while you are sorting things out since your bank book was lost? Can you still get access to your money during this time

Ok, thanks. It's an interesting question since there is no PIN on Japanese ATMs. You just put in your bank book & do your transaction. But everything is in Japanese. I had to memorize the sequence of keystrokes to deposit money & that's all I know how to do. I don't even know if you can take OUT money or not; I've never tried. I only use it to deposit to pay my utilities.

You can check out my video on how to do this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3yujJ0DuEo You can't hear my narrative too well, but I get a big kick out of the little animated Japanese lady who bows every time you enter a keystroke command.

Lol checking I out now!!!

Posted By ThaiGuy on 04-20-2012 7:31 AM
How in the world did we get to child birth, passmo, and moving to Sasebo on this thread?? Folks, please stay on topic or start your own discussion.

This is true even though I cant help but answer about the child birth but after reading and people is already talking about spasmodic and Shiva I got kinda confused. The Japan post bank has an English menu btw. Its a great help.