Loading ...FEEDBACK, ADVICE, COMMENTS ON “HANDBOOK”
If you’d like to leave advice, comments, feedback on your copy of HANDBOOK FOR NEWCOMERS, MIGRANTS, AND IMMIGRANTS TO JAPAN, please do! In the comments section below.
With your help, we hope to make corrections and produce an even better book in future!
Thanks very much! Arudou Debito and Higuchi Akira.
March 19th, 2008 at 11:22 am
Follow-up Information/Table of Errata
Chapter 1 – Page 30/31 – Requirements for “Investor/Business Manager”
- Independent office or business establishment
- Investment of over 5 million yen
- 2 full-time employees (Japanese citizens or Non-Japanese with Group 3 SOR status)
↓
- Independent office or business establishment
- Investment of 5 million yen OR 2 full-time employees (Japanese citizens or Non-Japanese with Group 3 SOR status)
Chapter 4 – Page 160/161 – Five documents to buy a car
- Name change (meigi henkou 名義変更)
↓
- Application Form for Transfer Registration (iten touroku shinsei sho 移転登録申請書)
March 19th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
One suggestion for the next edition, if desired: create a “what to do if…”-type section that goes over the step-by-step instructions you need at regular steps during your residency when, for example:
- you first arrive (bank account forms, cell phone contracts, deciding on insurance beforehand, getting your gaijin card, finding your international center, signing up for internet – NNT English help lines and Yahoo! Broadband, etc)
- already a resident, but moving to a new area (e.g. changing the address on your gaijin card, informing the 国民健康保険 of the new address, etc)
- leaving Japan for good (handing in your gaijin card at departure, settling all bills, filling out the paperwork for the lump sum pension, appointing someone to act as your legal representative to receive the pension refund, ending your cell phone/internet/other contracts prematurely, etc).
You definitely included most of the information essential to do this, but not all in one place as a guide to follow at specific times. Personally, I think it’s more beneficial to learn it on your own, but I prefer learning through suffering.
March 27th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Dear Debito,
Thank you for the good work you’re highlighting. Problems comes in different shapes wherever human beings thrive. It’s truly more than fun to have someone like you who runs the race for human perfection but don’t worry too much; nature will forceJapan to open up especially in opportunity seeking because Japanese are also mortals.
Rgds.
Hancy
March 27th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
I got the book because I’ve been reading Mr Arudou’s webpage regularly for the last year, and find his view of Japan interesting, and entertaining. The book is written by people who do not merely wish to describe Japan, but who wish to be part of it and to help others do so. It provides insights that a guidebook never would. I think it would be interesting to those just wishing to know more of Japan, not just those who want to live there.
April 9th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
On Apr 9, 2008, Turner wrote:
Arudou-san,
お疲れ様です。
Here’s one I was curious about that I didn’t see addressed in the handbook:
I’m aware that for companies to bring a foreigner into Japan by sponsoring their visa and obtaining the COE, there is a significant cost involved; is the same true once someone is already in Japan, and wishes to extend their period of stay by signing with a new company? Is there a financial burden?
ANSWER FROM AKIRA:
about the official cost (revenue stame fee, shunyu inshi);
-COE for any types of visa: no charge
-Extension or change for any types of visa : 4,000 yen
So if you do all of the paperwork by yourself to “bring in” your family, there will be no charge by the immigration.
You have to pay 4,000 yen to extend your or your family’s visa.
All info and forms are available form the immigration web site;
http://www.immi-moj.go.jp/english/tetuduki/kanri/hituyou_syorui.html
ENDS
April 9th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
Another question from Turner:
ありがとうございます。 I’m aware of the individual fees, but I was referring to whether the Japanese employers are charged anything for being the reason for the extension of the period of stay. Sometimes I see employers stating they will not be visa sponsors, but I was curious as to whether that condition has any merit for people already in Japan who merely need a new employer’s name to put on the extension form (i.e. is the Japanese employer charged more for being a visa sponsor, or for being the name on the extension of stay form?).
Answer from Akira:
Turner san,
The immigration does not charge anything to the employer for being a sponsor.
akira
April 13th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
I am also having trouble finding the earlier post by the person who went (or who was a friend of another person who went) to see an American psychiatrist. He wrote asking where it was, you pointed him in the right direction, and now I can find neither the original post nor the place where he asks where it was and you pointed him to it. (I thought it was here, since he proposed it for future publication).
paul
——————————
Here: http://www.debito.org/index.php/?p=1419#comment-139358
April 17th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
I really enjoyed your talk at Good Day Books in Tokyo. It was well worth trekking all the way there with the new hip. (The exercise was good for me!)
Great book!
re: financial support for expensive medical treatment:
I got it from our local government (Sanmu-shi) (山武市）using an application like this, which may vary from municipality to municipality.
健康保険限度額適用認定申請書
Ask at your local city office.
This can be applied for before or after surgery. If you do it before, you don’t have to come up with the total payment and wait for a refund – you just pay the reduced amount.
I got my application in before the hip joint replacement surgery and took the document to the hospital with me. The surgeon signed it before I got the bill, which reduced it from ¥2,490,385 to ¥222,443.
Of course I have National Health insurance (健康保険).
I’m not sure if it matters whether the patient is a permanent resident, as I am, or just an insured person. City Hall will know.
Re carrying your gaijin card everywhere: I wasn’t allowed (by the hospital staff) to carry it in to the “clean room” OR – so I left in it the lock-box in my room, with my housemate holding onto the key until I got wheeled back into the room. Not a cop in sight, so no problem.
I also don’t carry it when I’m in the pool at our local 元気館 – living dangerously, huh?
Re credit cards:
When I first came to Japan, I got a credit card from Marui (OIOI) department store without much hassle.
Later, I opened a postal savings account, put money in it (of course) then applied for a postal-based credit card. I now have two that feed off my postal savings account – my original CF Mastercard, which also functions as an ATAM card, and a United Airlines Mileage Plus Visa card. Apparently there are two types of postal credit cards available (or there were when I got mine) – one type usable only in Japan, and an international type. Of course I requested the international type.
I got all of these cards BEFORE becoming a permanent resident.
I also still have two Canadian-based credit cards, Amex and Visa,
Re bank accounts:
Before I came to Japan I opened an account with Bank of Tokyo in Canada, then transferred money from there to a Bank of Tokyo account in Tokyo. Nowadays the Canadian branch of Bank of Tokyo/Mitsubishi, or whatever their name is this week, is not interested in private accounts – they only want to handle corporate accounts. Their Tokyo branches, however, still handle private accounts, and I was able to open one using my signature, no inkan.
Same with Chiba-Gin (the only real bank out here in the boonies of Chiba-ken) – they’re internationalized enough to accept a signature to open an account.
Keep up the good work!
Kathy
–Thanks very much, Kathy. Comments like yours make writing and blogging all worth it!
April 19th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Yo Dave this stuff with the Filipina let you know the situation is out of hand. You guys need to take to the streets. Stop protesting in silence it is not working.
–Not quite protesting in silence, as we’re protesting here. And you too can be one of “you guys” protesting elsewhere, feel free.
April 21st, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Thanks for a very useful book, Debito.
I think it would be even better if the people who need the book could find it easily in the bookshops and Amazon JP.
Currently, it is only shelved/listed under Japanese books and not in the foreign sections. I told a friend about it, so he went off to Kinokuniya in Umeda and after a long search in the Foreign book section, the staff found it in with Japanese books. I bought mine from Amazon JP under 和書. Searching for the title or your name in English comes up with 0 results. I have contacted Amazon JP and they said that they will send my suggestion to the relevant department, but still no change 3 weeks later.
Talking to a librarian friend, who I also suggest buy the book, she said that since the Japanese title is bigger and more prominent on the front page, it gets shelved with the Japanese books in libraries, bookshops, etc. NOT the 洋書 sections, according to the rules.
Hence, I feel that most people in the target audience are missing out on the valuable information in your book. Something to consider when reprinting later–make the English title bigger than the Japanese title to get it shelved in the right place.
Also, reading the section on Employment, you mention that all full-time employees _should_ get paid overtime, but not everyone does. I, and others at my current employ, are apparently not entitled to it, due to certain laws on which our employment contracts are based. (We are not in a managerial positions.) I’ve had it explained to me, but it has gone right over my head and it would be helpful having this information in English. Are there any exceptions where companies do not need to pay overtime?
Thanks again for all your hard work.
George
–Thanks for the feedback, George. As for whether the book is classified as an English or a Japanese book, classifying it as an English book would have caused us to go through the exploitative foreign-book distribution monopoly in Japan, as in Yohan. If we don’t (and we, despite classifying it as an English book, didn’t go through Yohan for the English version of JAPANESE ONLY), the book was actually *removed* from shelves by Yohan in the foreign language book sections. The only way for us to really get it properly on more bookshelves in Japan is to classifly it as a Japanese book, sorry. It’s not a matter of the size of the title.
As for Amazon Japan, their inability to make the book title searchable in English is an enormous problem, thanks for letting us know and nudging Amazon (and other places as well). I’ll have my publisher nudge Amazon as well.
As for the section on Employment, the law is as it is written in HANDBOOK. Your contracts are defying the labor laws if they do not pay you overtime if you work more than the maximum hours specified. Get in touch with a labor union and have them negotiate on your behalf. Details in HANDBOOK. Debito in Sapporo
April 22nd, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Oh well, I, Kaiji, am a Japanese! It’s Debito is a Japanese?! He’s good guy!
May 28th, 2008 at 10:25 am
Dear Debito,
I wanted to write and let you know that I have finally purchased a copy of your book. Very nice!
It was readily available at Maruzen, the main shop, in the Marunouchi area, near Tokyo station.
One thing I noted though, is that it was not in the section where one would normally find foreign books,
which seemed a little strange. That particular shop has perhaps the best selection of foreign books in Tokyo, and a particularly large section of books to assist foreigners with Japanese culture, language etc.
However, your book was on a different floor, where only books in Japanese were kept. Not sure about the placement, but it seems that having it in both places might be good. I was able to eventually find it, but only after seeking assistance from the staff, and even then being taken to the proper section. The section that it was in seemed to have a lot of reference type books, which made sense, but finding it could be a challenge for those who perhaps need it most.
I’ve been unsuccessful so far in my research regarding the koshinryou, and am wondering if there are any particular passages in your book that deal with those kinds of issues. I’ve read a lot of it, but haven’t found any particular info about my areas of concern, namely the koshinryou and retainment of deposit, etc.
In any event, I’m happy to have it on my bookshelf and will certainly be recommending it to others.
–Whoops, looks like we didn’t really cover that. That’s remiss of us, sorry. Next edition, then. Thanks very much for the update on how it’s selling, and please do recommend this book to others. Debito
AKIRA ADDS:
Some more links on this issue:
If the contract says you agree to pay koshinryo, “basically” you have to pay the koushinryo;
http://www.homelawyers.info/individual/leased/case_m_rent.html
But there are some other cases;
http://www.ocn.ne.jp/house/houritsu/column_08.html
Unfortunately, the sites are only in Japanese. We’ll work on this issue in the next edition.
akira
June 2nd, 2008 at 8:35 am
FEEDBACK:
By the way, this Saturday last of May,
I received the “Handbook for Newcomers, …”
from the bookstore in JUSCO in XXXXmura,
where I had ordered it before.
So it is possible to get your book evening in quite small villages,
even if the bookstores don’t have any other English books at all.
Then on Saturday, while wife and kids had a sleep in the afternoon,
I started reading.
In total I found 3 points, where maybe a correction is necessary:
Page 186: last paragraph
“… seem artificial or unnecessary because you the victim here, …”
(probably “are” is missing)
=>
“… seem artificial or unnecessary because you are the victim here, …”
Page 214 under point 2) Visit all …
“… so police action will be of limited because there are few laws …”
(probably “use” is missing)
=>
“… so police action will be of limited use, because there are few laws
…”
Page 298: Inheritance
“(your Japanese spouse. for example)”
(change “.” to “,”)
“(your Japanese spouse, for example)”
Please check.
ENDS
Thanks!
June 10th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Higuchi-san, Debito-san:
Good day. As a 16-year resident in Japan, your great book would have been useful for me in many situations in the pst, and I am glad to own it and have read it. I had never read Debito-san in the Times, as I read the Daily Yomiuri, and I learned about this book through the Daijob.com weekly column. I found reading the book interesting and illuminating, and I appreciate the positive advise as well as the great effort put in the contents as well as the format. Having the Japaese and English versions side-by-side is so good an idea, and the chapter marking at the
side of the pages is wonderful.
I had quite a laugh with the joke of the inheritance from the deceased to the spouse getting all the money and the sons getting the rose bushes. It kept me laughing alone on the train to the astonishment of the other passengers.
Since you encourage comments, I have found some typos. Not being a native English speaker myself they may not be typos at all, but my misunderstanding, but here I put them forward, hoping you find this interesting or useful.
Rgds.
Alfredo Quintero
Yokohama
Page 306 (middle of the page) says:
“Just sensitive about how…”
I think it should say: “Just be sensitive about…”
Page 246 says:
“… to demostrate that you are working for work…”
Should this not say?
“… to demosntrate that yu are looking for work…”
Page 214 says:
“… so police action will be of limited because…”
Should this not say:
“… so police action will be of limited effect because…”
or maybe…
“… so police action will be of limited consequence because…”
June 20th, 2008 at 9:38 pm
Thanks for making this book. I just got it for information about setting up a business but found other areas to be quite useful too.
I do have a quick question. I have lived in Japan for almost 7 years and have been married for just over 1 year. Do you think it is worth trying to apply for Permanent Residence or should I go the spouse route?
–Go for the spouse route. Thanks for buying!
June 30th, 2008 at 7:30 am
thank you for giving and sharing this useful information..it helps a lot…can you please give me advise regarding to my problem to my status here in japan…i am married now to a special resident visa and i have a 3 years visa now,but the problem is this sir,5 years ago i entred japan with a fake passport and work in japan for almost 4 years without a proper visa and then caught by the immigration and deported back to my country.my wife follow me there and we got married there..after 1 year i apply visa with my true name,age and everything is true now.lucky for me they give me a visa and now residing here in japan for almost 2 years.i want to go home now and take a vacation together with my family.can i go back to japan,i know they will find out my past record beacuse they have this fingerprints system.please give me advise sir,what should i do now sir?please kindly send me a email for your advise sir…have a good day.yorushiku onengaishimasu…
–You broke the law by entering on a fake passport. There’s nothing we can do to advise you.
September 8th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
Hi Debito,
Tried to buy your book today in Roppongi, tried both stores of Aoyama Book Centre, Aoi bookstore and Tsutaya.You may want to follow them up next time your in Tokyo
Looking forward to reading it!
Peter
–Thanks for looking and notifying me!
September 28th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Hi Debito,
Still trying to buy your book in Tokyo. Tried at Book 1st in Shibuya today, book navi told me it was instore but couldn’t find it, imagine sold.
Think you may need a sales force to get this book in the shops and keep it in. Your book is a vital tool for foreigners and needs to be at the frontline.
Ps Tried ordering on amazon japan, can only find it when you type in the isbn, not the name of the book in english? Then can only get a damaged copy?
I will be launching my book, “Motorcycle Japan: A Rider’s Diary” early in the new year, maybe we could review each others books?
cheers Peter
–Thanks Peter, for the research and the reports. I’ll get on it. Debito
October 28th, 2008 at 11:58 am
FEEDBACK FROM CYBERSPACE:
I liked your book. I can be called a migrant but not a newcomer. So my experience is one of a person who has been here for a while.
I suggest that you add to the section about pensions a quick guide to the current lost record scandal. It affects people like me who have been paying into one of the systems for a while.
Newcomers should be advised to keep all of their pension payment records forever, and to be careful about the spelling of their names in pension records. Perhaps there is an advantage to using either romaji or katakana, I can’t say for sure. But I think one danger is inconsistency in the name leading to lost records. I currently am in need of advice on what to do if you think there might be a problem. I received a letter that was generated (I think) because their computer record check showed a situation that raised a red flag. (I have just started to deal with this and can let you know how it goes.)
Another useful data point would be an explanation of how the Japanese pension system and US Social Security interact. This has changed in the last few years. It is something else that will affect me personally. I am starting the process of getting this information as well.
January 21st, 2009 at 8:03 pm
I believe that many people would benefit from your sharing Japanese language resources regarding the issue of housing discrimination, as you do with the section on retrieving deposits. Specifically, I think it would help many NJ who have experienced this type of discrimination if you could provide Japanese language articles regarding the previous lawsuits and any laws (other than the UN treaty which you have already put up in Japanese) that apply. Ideally, the victim would have at least several pages of Japanese language information to scare the transgressor with.
January 22nd, 2009 at 7:36 am
couldn’t find where else to put this so I am posting it here….but I thought it was an interesting comparison to your work in Japan….time to blaze some old trails back home maybe?
http://observers.france24.com/en/content/20090113-nashville-silence-non-english-speakers-eric-crafton-22-january-referendum
– Thanks for this!
March 31st, 2009 at 8:05 am
Well produced with links to online content. Apropos this hybridization of hardcopy and (electronic) softcopy, how about putting all links from the book online in HTML so a person can conveniently click from webpage to webpage, arranged by Table of Contents order/heading, for example. I’m new to the QR graphic block codes people are using with cellphones around Sapporo now, but there may be a select URL or two for you to encode that way, as well, for readers in Japan wishing to jump from book to the online reference in one move!
June 29th, 2009 at 4:55 pm
CULTURAL ISSUE:
HOW TO FIGHT IN JAPAN:
THE POWER OF BULLIES.
I have a boss that once showed this attitude to an employee for their BS….I felt bad for the Japanese guy….but after living here for a while I have found that the only way to get justice is to be the squeaky wheel…and be LOUD when doing it. I had an issue with buying my first Shinsha. In the end after raising my voice and pounding my feet, I not only got the guy who tried to fraud me fired, but I got them to drop the price from 350-man-en to 300-man-en. I have been here since 1992, except for 3 years midway in the US and I learn that prejudices against both me and my wife are still prevalent. And I don’t like where the Japanese society is going either…but at least I feel safer here with my 2 girls than in the US.
Reading your article made me feel better about my actions. And to think I though you were just another American geek who forgot he is American….yeah, I see lots of those and they embarrass me sometimes.
July 12th, 2009 at 4:04 am
Hi Debito,
Thanks for putting together the book. It’s nice to have so much information in one place that has been verified by professionals, as opposed to the hearsay and opinions often encountered on various Japan-oriented message boards.
Anyhow, as much as the advice on those message boards should be taken with a grain of salt, I found something on one of them today that if true, might be a valuable addition to the Handbook.
Recently, I have been thinking about starting a business here in Japan, and was happy to see that you included some useful information on how to do this in the Handbook. What kind of got me down though, was the fact that starting a business for someone without permanent residency or a spousal visa SOR (neither of which I am close to attaining at the moment) requires the expensive and time-consuming application for an Investor’s Visa. (p.120) This is something that is financially out of reach for me (and many others) at the moment, and seems overblown for someone just interested in starting a small kojin jigyo.
However, if what I read on this GaijinPot thread http://forum.gaijinpot.com/showthread.php?t=67327
is true, it might be possible for someone on a working visa to start a small side business by applying to the immigration department for special permission (filling in a Shikakugai Katsudo Kyokasho form):
http://www.moj.go.jp/ONLINE/IMMIGRATION/16-8-1.pdf
I have heard that permission to run a small business may be granted provided the business is a side venture and does not replace or overly interfere with the applicant’s main employment.
I think it would be very useful for non-PR or spousal visa holding residents if you could check out the details of this visa loophole and include it in any future updates to the Manual.
Keep up the good work!
Cheers,
Mike Miller,
Nagoya
– Thanks Mike!
July 17th, 2009 at 10:18 am
BTW What happened to the Polls, a bit frivolous I know, but at least it meant when you were time poor you could at least touch base and make a comment, now I actually have to read an article to feel like I’m getting involved, which in reality means my visits are a bit less frequent.
– About a month ago I downloaded the latest version of WordPress, and it killed my Polls widget (as well as the WYSIWYG functions). There has been another update, but this issue still hasn’t been resolved. Sorry about that. Am waiting until WordPress gets its act together.
July 21st, 2009 at 10:55 am
I know what that feels like, I use Joomla, and for the same reasons am always reluctant to upgrade, on the other hand some hacker actually took over my whole website once, so patching has got to be done!
BTW Debito I didn’t realise I was posting these in the wrong section, because on the screen I was using “on “Handbook”" was on the next line, please feel free to move or delete these posts if you want to.
On the other hand if this post gets left here, let me just tell everyone how great the Handbook is – I purchased a copy direct from Debito last year. If I’d had it 10 years ago, I might have moved permanently to Japan a lot earlier!
July 23rd, 2009 at 11:30 am
Dave,
Although I haven’t gone through your website/blog completely, I have noted that your “divorce” segments seem slanted more toward the foreign man who is married to a Japanese woman. Understandable but there is a sizable number of foreign women who are married to Japanese men. Just like foreign men who have bad marriages or problems that lead to divorce, some of the foreign women are also “stuck” in bad situations or marriages who no idea as to their rights in regards to divorce settlements. Many are bullied into putting their “hanko” or fingerprint on a divorce decree at a shuyaksho and then kicked out of their dwelling with nothing and left to fend for themselves.
If you have any information that could be helpful to foreign women in this situation please let me know where I can go to get it. I know of several women who are either in the process of being messed over or were and I’d like to at least be able to point them in the right direction.
Thanks much,
Rick Early
– Bit unfair an assessment to say that the information on Debito.org is too slanted to be helpful to women. It is not gender specific, and I have no purposeful “slant” towards NJM. I was writing about my experiences as a male in the system, since that is what I can talk about as a primary source. But the lessons there span the genders.
NJF are welcome to talk about their experiences and offer their advice here or on sites of their own. They can get also get information from Handbook for Immigrants. Actually, since this is the section for commenting on that very book, haven’t you read it? Please consider doing so.
July 28th, 2009 at 9:59 am
Dave,
You’re absolutely right and you have my apologies. I jumped on the “Feedback, Advice and Comments part and didn’t focus on the “Handbook” part! One of my bad habits…(didn’t read the whole question before answering syndrome). I note that in reading further on about your handbook that you and Higuchi-san do indeed cover divorce and your advice is non-gender specific. I will buy your Handbook as it looks like I will be staying here awhile! Thanks for not biting my head completely off. Again, my apologies.
Rick
March 1st, 2010 at 2:20 pm
Hi Debito-
I ordered and received two copies of the handbook from amazon, and read it over the weekend (the other going to a friend). I found much of the information useful and convenient, and it will serve as a good reference in the future.
My suggestion for future additions is in regards to the “join a group” section. I would like to see this concept of “join a group” expanded into broader advice for softening the confrontational scenarios that seem to be so prevalent in your book and on this site.
To give an example, I live in southern Osaka, out of the main city but not in the rice fields either. As one of the few white faces around, I assumed that I would be stopped for a card check. Rather than wait for that day, I went to my local police box, introduced myself, showed my card, told them where I lived, and was on my way. After five years I have not been bothered once on foot, on bicycle, or while driving.
A second example is with the elementary schools and the bullying problem that you touch on. While my child is not yet school age, I have been active in the school helping in extra-curricular activities (through my festival group and daycare). This has taken the edge off any trepidation the staff has about me, and has exposed older kids to my presence. I am not longer “the gaijin” but am now known by name.
Does a Japanese person have to take these steps? No, but I am willing to accept that no matter my legal status, my presence, for the time being, will cause reaction. With some simple steps I think some of the situations that cause stress can be avoided. These are not necessarily the nuts and bolts of living in Japan like much of your book, but I think these experiences are important nonetheless. Obviously the debito community would be a good resource for this.
Cheers,
Trevor.
– Thanks Trevor!
May 13th, 2010 at 12:39 am
We are all evolving at our own pace. This book especially helpful. Excellent work!
A large experience archive organized by topic like on Erowid, in as many languages as possible, would be excellent as well!
August 1st, 2010 at 10:22 pm
Konichiwa, Debito-san!
Sadly, with that greeting, I’ve just about reached the limit to my Japanese. But my daughter is a Japanese major at Earlham College. She’s writing her senior thesis on how foreigners are treated in Japan, and while googling, I ran across “Racism, Part 1.” That led me eventually to you. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading about what life is life for you in Japan, and I think you could really add to my daughter’s senior project. Would it be possible for you to answer a few questions?
What is the best way for her to contact you? Her name is Alex Wolfe. (Actually, her name is Martha Alexandra Wolfe; you can see why she goes by Alex!)
Lastly, I want to commend you for making such a difference. You have really raised awareness of some people who, otherwise, would blithely go through life without thinking of what needs to change in Japan in a global economy where nowhere is monocultural anymore (if anyplace ever really was). Thanks for your courage.
Cheers, Ivonne Rovira
Louisville, Ky.
– Quite welcome. I can be reached at debito@debito.org. Thanks for the kind words.