Re-entry permits

I went to the immigration office yesterday to apply for my re-entry permits since I was going to be leaving the country during the winter holidays. You need this permit to be allowed back into Japan once you leave and they come in either single entry or multiple entries. I never really got the point of these permits and personally I think it is just the Japanese government’s way of collecting more money from foreigners. Japanese passport holders can come and go as they please. And I’ve never heard of any other country that adheres to this silly re-entry permit thing. Certainly not Australia!

The most annoying thing about this situation is that I had already applied for a single re-entry a couple months back when I went back to Australia for the summer holidays. Now I have to do it again, this time for a multiple since I’ll be traveling out twice. I could have saved myself 3,000 yen if I had applied for a multiple permit the first time around but I guess that was my own fault since I didn’t foresee that I would be traveling outside of Japan again before I went home. What a waste though, especially now the exchange rate is so bad!

Well anyway, besides getting your re-entry permits done (the immigration office is right behind Gifu Station, next to the manga store), you also have to sign a form at the International Student Exchange Division telling them that you are leaving the country. It doesn’t take long but it is a hassle to track down your student adviser and ask them to sign your permission slip. I guess it is so they can say they weren’t responsible if anything happened to you since you were out of the country and out of their jurisdiction. Smart, covering their backs.

All of these procedures feel very Japanese-ish and their love of beauracracy and doing every thing the right and proper way. It makes a lot of sense in the long run but when you are the one that has to run around needlessly, it kind of stinks. Just my opinion.