My Visa Made my Passport Fat!

Remember what I said about the Japanese being thorough? Upon the return of my passport, I knew it was going to have an addition to it... I was not quite expecting this. Usually Visas are more or less official stickers you collect in your passport. It tells the people in customs and immigration that you belong in a country while giving the traveler their first souvenir. It's not a bad deal.

How the Japanese differ; however, is that the visa sticker itself is apparently just one component. The certificate of eligibility is also attached. If it is actually necessary is not specified, so I am leaving it where it is for the moment. If I have learned anything from years of political science classes, you do NOT mess with government documents, regardless of how insignificant it may seem. Every country has their paper pushers and they usually have enough common sense to want their job preserved. The usually have some degree of authority and are seldom elected, so it is best to just play by their rules.

Even if it makes my passport look like it has gone down on some pork rinds while it was away for the week.

Yes, the week. And I am actually exaggerating here. I sent out my visa paperwork on Tues, March 2nd via priority mail with similar return. I need my passport back by the 23rd, so I wanted to ensure that it would be back with ample time. On Saturday the 6th, I had a priority mail envelope with my untidy scrawl and a fat passport enclosed. The Japanese are bureaucratic, but at least they are surprisingly efficient. Any fellow political scientists interested in looking into this? Compare and contrast the efficiency of government offices in various countries? I bet it could get funded by some grant out there.
                        

So I have my visa and am now official in the eyes of Japan to study in their country. Remember what I said about visas being the first travel souvenir? Well, Japan's is actually quite attractive. The picture I took really does not do justice for the subtle images in it. That said, I feel sorry for a man who has to keep their passport with them and potentially present an image laden with sakura petals in baby pink. It is very pretty, but definitively feminine.

Obtaining this though really makes me realize just how close I am to departing. I am excited and terrified at the prospect of being several thousand miles from anybody I know (I do have a friend in Kyushu, but that is quite a ways from the Kanto region). There's no turning back

at this point, and this is certainly a positive move in my life, but it is not as simple as packing up my bags and just going. Over the next couple weeks, there are many things that will be my lasts and it is going to be hard. The visa just reminds me of that coming up.