Am I a cheater for having a break in my stay in Japan? My blog says “one year work and travel in Japan” after all! No worries. It won’t be less than a year! However there are things which simply don’t fit into two backpacks. For instance a bulky bicycle with 28-inch-tires is not very helpful when couchsurfing in Tokyo where living space is very limited. Anyway in Tokyo you can’t take your bicycle with you on the metro unlike in many German cities. Even if you could, it would be impossible during peak times!
If you possess a visa for Japan which is valid for a few months and you want to leave Japan for a while but want to come back before the visa expires you’ll need a “re-entry permit” which you have to apply for while in Japan and it will be issued in Japan as well. If you leave Japan without this permit your visa will lose its validity and you’d have to apply for a new visa. In Tokyo the Regional Immigration Bureau in Shinagawa is responsible for this. You’ll also find such a bureau in the Saitama prefecture in Omiya. On arriving there you have the choice between a single re-entry permit and a multiple re-entry permit. A single permit costs 1,000 Yen whereas 6,000 Yen are being charged for a multiple re-entry permit.
The environment in which the immigration bureau can be found reminds me a bit on Ellis Island in New York. Should you come to Tokyo via ship this artificial island could be used as an interception base for unsolicited immigrants. I hope I won’t be deported and taken to the next ship to Hamburg if there’s something be wrong with my visa. Thank god the island only has a giant port of transshipment but no landing stage for passenger ships. Lucky me!
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