New Visa!

Two weeks after The Artist and I went to the Immigration Office I have a shiny new visa!  They changed the Foreign Resident Registration System in July so I got a new "gaijin card" to boot.  It looks like this:

I love that there's less personal info on this card - the old one had my passport number and The Artist's name as my "householder", ick.  The new system makes it easier for them to keep track of people than the convoluted old way, which is fine by me.

I also love that I'm now the "spouse of a Japanese national"!  (We registered our marriage legally but are having the ceremonies next year.)  The line next to that is priceless - "no work restrictions".  I'm no longer stuck working as an English teacher, the only thing I could do under my last visa.  The world of work is open to me, and my employer will have no immigration paperwork to do, huzzah!

My walk back to the train station was a little giggly, I have to admit.

There are only two flavors of spouse visa - three year, the one I got, and one year.  Japan doesn't recognize duel citizenship (the bastards) so this is it unless I spring for Permanent Residence when I become eligible in lessee... three to six years.

It's not all roses though.  I'm required to carry my residence card at all times.  A policeman can stop me at any time and ask to see it, and hold me in detention if I don't have it.  It's kinda like Arizona asking to see people's immigration papers.

As bad as that is at the moment that pales to what happened when I went through the train turnstile - my smart fare card wouldn't register.  It turns out my new residence card has an IC chip in it, messing things up.  I guess it's time to play with some tin foil!

Today in the Paper - Coal Mine Edition

Welcome to my newest blog feature - Today in the Paper!  The title is admittedly lame but I'm open to suggestions.  Rejected: Picture in the Paper, Picture the Crazy.  See?  I need help.

Anyway....

Japanese news outlets have their own graphic design sensibility, doing things I would never expect to find in a national paper in the states.  Things like, say, pasting heads of public figures on cartoon bodies.   Today's illustration is a case in point, as they milked the term "fiscal cliff" for all it's worth:

 

The title is "If Japan and America fall off the fiscal cliff..." and outlines of a possible outcome are below.  The US side below President Obama reads "Democrats and Republicans are unable to come to a compromise ->  Tax cuts expire, the budget is cut -> American economy fails, striking a blow to the world economy".  The Japanese side by Prime Minister Noda ends with confusion in the bond market affecting local economies.

Cliff in a coal mine, that's where it's at!