Changing the Address on your Driver's License

Here's just a short post to address a question that comes up fairly often.

When you change your address within Japan, you are required to update the address on your driver's license as well as your Alien Registration Card. City Hall doesn't handle this request. Rather, all driver's license procedures (besides the actual issuance of a license) are handled by your local police station.

Japanese Resume (Rirekisho) Forms

In Japan, there is a standard format for resumes/CVs. It's called a 履歴書 (rirekisho), and employers outside of the ALT and Eikaiwa arenas often require that applicants prepare a resume in this format.

Traditionally, applicants are supposed to fill every resume out by hand, so the employer can see that you specifically poured time into the application for his or her company. A handwritten resume also serves as a way for employers to peek at the quality of your handwriting. (And trust me, your application will be judged on this fact; if you proceed to the interview phase of hiring, almost every Japanese employer will make a comment about how they felt about the handwriting on your resume.)

Blank resume forms can be purchased at any convenience store, and often at department stores and grocery stores, too. They shouldn't cost more than 10 or 20 yen per sheet.

Or, you can print your own resume forms. We've hosted forms in a couple formats here at AccessJ:

Driving Test Tips: Manual Cars

If you are taking the driving test (in Japan) in a manual car, here are some special things to watch out for:

What Have I Gotten Myself Into?

Teaching in Japan... fun, boring, easy, hard, rubbish, awesome?

All of the above and hundreds more similarly narrow adjectives. I've got the time to write this blog at work, but others barely have a minute to plan the next lesson. My girlfriend and I found our jobs very easily, but our friends right now are staying with us because after six months of looking only one of them could find employment.

One thing is for sure, teaching here is really hard to predict. People lament the boredom of their "read and repeat" jobs while others solo-teach 8 50-minute lessons back-to-back.

If you're thinking of coming to Japan, BEWARE. Things may not be quite what you expect. This blog is, as I type, being created with the aim of giving you readers an insight into the various scenarios you may find yourself in, and how exactly things may progress for you.

However, be warned that you will still live in a world where the Japanese telepathically just know everything that is going on - where to be, what time, what to bring - and you will probably find yourself completely alone in the school or workplace wondering just where everyone has gotten to... or at an important event symbolising death with your clothes in front of unsympathetic co-workers...

Author:		Dom
This is Dom's fourth year living in Japan, where he is currently an elementary school ALT in Nagano prefecture. He is a co-founder of this website, its webmaster, and a wicked cool dude.