Right after the Japanese government announced that all residents will receive a one-off relief payment of ¥100,000, I have been anxiously checking my mailbox twice a day.
When the application form arrived, I was so excited. My high spirits were dampened when I opened the envelope and found that everything was written in Japanese. The only thing in English alphabet (Romaji) was my name. Argh!
So, with the help of my trusty Google Translate app on my phone and the various websites looking after the welfare of #外国人 (gaikokujin - foreigner living in Japan) who is not fluent in #日本語 (Nihongo). These websites painstakingly translated each section and gave instructions in English. Since almost all prefectures followed the same format, I could use the template from Tokyo.
I practiced writing my address several times before I did it on the form. Since I just moved to a new place (totally different prefecture), I had some difficulty.
The most challenging part was the bank information. I had to write the Kanji characters of the bank name. Even after several practice, I just couldn't write it the way it's supposed to look like. I tried following the strokes. When it didn't work, I just pretended it was art that I needed to copy. But that too was to no avail. Since I knew I had to submit the form soon to be able to get the money earlier, I went to my bank.
The staff who greeted me didn't wait for my explanation. As soon as I whipped out the form in front of her, she asked for my passbook to confirm the details I've written and took a pen to write the name of the bank in Japanese. She smiled and handed the form to me after checking that everything was correct.
I guess I'm not the only one who did the same thing. :)
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