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Detail Before your Trip


 

Please READ before you come

There are several things you should take care (or you should be aware of ) before you come to Japan. Listed below are not all of them but only as much as I can think of.

shikaku Immigration related

  hito

You should know that getting visa could take a long time for residents of

some countries. (As much as 4 months because it requires many time-consuming processes in between.) You should find out these from the embassy of Japan in your country. Immigration rules change depending on political climate. So, prepare early.

 

shikaku Driver's license

If you can get an international driver's license according to Geneva agreement of 1949. you may drive in Japan for one year after the date of issue. Between the countries Japan has an agreement with., you could obtain a Japanese drivers license if you have a valid driver's license of your country.

car

You need to bring an official translation of the driver's license, picture, etc. and you must go through some test on physical fitness for driving, test on traffic laws and actual driving test sometimes.

More Detail ;

yellow Plaese visit the Tsukuba City Web page :http://tsukubainfo.jp/Main/Driving

yellow Changing to a Japanese driver's license (Ibaraki Menkyosho Center)
  　http://www.pref.ibaraki.jp/kenkei/03_menkyo/02_siken/document/change.pdf

yellow Regarding the start of English written tests :
  　http://www.pref.ibaraki.jp/kenkei/03_menkyo/01_info/englishtests.html

 

shikaku Medical care

  health

Cost for medical care is rather high. Coverage by medical insurance in your own country may or may not be sufficient to pay hospital bills in Japne. If you should be staying in Japan for more than one year, you are obligated to join the National Health Insurance Plan under govenment supervision.

This insurance, however, covers only up to 70% for the head of household,

60% for the remaining family members. if you can take care of the difference (30% or 40%) in some way, fine. If not, or if you will not be staying in Japan for longer than one year, it is recommendable that you will also enroll in a private health insurance plan in Japan to take cate of the difference. If you want to use health insurance coverage of your country, make sure that it can fully cover the Japanese medical cost.

Be Aware!

Buddhism and Shinto-ism are the dominant religions in Japan. As a consequence, practically no provisions for foods and daily routines that conform to any other religions.

Japanese food does not necessarily conform to that for strict vegetarians neither.