First of all, thank you Mike and Thomas, issue sorted.
And while some may find it short and unfriendly to point it out when a problem can be solved quite simply by either making a phone call himself or having his wife do it, it is nothing of the sort. In any case dealing with official matters (visa, registration, etc) it is always preferable to get authoritative information from those who are qualified to provide it and who will have to be dealt with anyway rather than risk getting some well-intentioned but potentially mistaken advice from strangers on the internet....who are sometimes rather clueless themselves but eager to make themselves feel good by jumping in to "help".
It would be nice if gaijins could quit acting like all knowledge and information in Japan is mysterious and unobtainable and just do what any adult would do in their home country with any question regarding a matter under the purview of City Hall....pick up the phone and call City Hall. Why is that so difficult to figure out? If I were Japanese I would find this particular gaijin quirk more than just a little insulting, right behind acting like they think they've pulled off some major accomplishment if they happen to stay more than a couple of years.
It's nice if you do help, Mike. Very generous if you make phone calls on behalf of others. What I just wanted to point out, is the nasty tone of some comments on this forum - there are many ways things can be communicated. I also don't like when people are treated as dumb-asses - I'd like to assume people do try to find out things themselves, make phone calls, etc, but like to
additionally also ask things on this forum, or ask
before they can confirm the information officially. I also
hope people have some sense of source criticism, and don't blindly trust everything said on these forums. It's quite common that people post similar questions related to their home countries as well, say, about taxation issues or different permits and such. Posting and asking doesn't mean the information is regarded as 'mysterious and unobtainable'. Communicating about these things on online forums is just perhaps a less hassle-free way of finding out information, before getting to the core of actually doing the things, checking other people's experiences, preparing one-self etc. Maybe you feel it's un-necessary or annoying, but I think it's only positive people try to find out information, in any way they can. It's then everyone's own responsibility to find out if what they read is accurate.
Now this simple question turned out to be bit more of a debate as I intended, but just to clarify (I don't like you're labeling me as one of those gaijins with a 'quirk'..):
- I didn't call, as like I mentioned,I don't have a phone right now.
- I asked the forum, as it might give me a quick solution to my problem, which I couldn't find by digging hours in the internet - (ward office web sites, immigration web sites, embassy websites, blogs, forums.. etc.)
- Asking from the forum might be a lot quicker than me quitting everything else I'm doing and taking a stroll few blocks to the nearest public phone to call. Also my Japanese isn't that fluent, so I might struggle on the phone.
- Emailing my embassy for example would be another option, but their response might yet again take a few days.
- Sure, I could ask my husband to call on my behalf, but he is working until midnight and don't want to bother him with this kind of stuff while he's busy at work.
- And yes, of course, if I didn't get an answer through this route, I would wait for the opportunity when I could visit the ward office in person to sort it out. This time, this was quicker, and as it turned out, I don't need to visit the ward office at all. Just as I thought it would be. Money and time saved.
One thing I really like about the Japanese is that they do try to help and be friendly,pretty much in any case, anywhere, even if they are not sure of the answer or do not know for certain. They also deliver negative messages with apologies and a smile. A trait I wish all of us gaijin would also adopt.
Peace.